In Vitro Conservation and Encapsulation of Coleus jorskohlii

Abstract

ColeusforskohliiBriq. (Lamiaceae) is an important plant in Indian Ayurvedic medicine because its roots produce a labdane diterpenoid, forskolin (Bhat et aI., 1977) which has a positive intropic effect on heart action, lowers blood and intraocularpressure and is an anti-inflammatory (Mukherjee et al., 1996). Forskolin is commonly purified from tuberous roots of wild or cultivated C. forskohlii plants. Indiscriminate collection of C. forskohlii has led to rapid depletion of wild populations listing it as vulnerable plant in India. Therefore