Asiatic pennywort [Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.]: little-known vegetable crop

Centella asiatica, the Asiatic pennywort, is an herbaceous perennial indigenous to the southeastern United States. In some Asian countries, it is valued as an important vegetable and is widely cultivated. In addition, it is considered an important medicinal herb due primarily to the pentacyclic phytochemical, asiaticoside, which effectively treats a variety of skin diseases. Information on the botany, photochemistry, medicinal, nutritional value, and cultivation of the crop is reviewed. This species may warrant preliminary field and consumer acceptance tests as a speciality vegetable in the United States.