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Coleus forskohlii is an important medicinal plant native to India. It grows wild across a wide range of altitudes in the Indian Himalayan region and contains some important phytochemicals that possess remarkable medicinal properties. This plant is the only known source of a medicinally important terpenoid, forskolin, found in its roots. This study was conducted looking at its availability over a wide altitudinal range and medicinal importance. Samples of the five C. forskohlii populations were collected from five altitudes of Uttarakhand, India. HPTLC and HPLC were employed for metabolic diversity analysis. Secondary metabolites were extracted using the Soxhlet extraction, followed by HPTLC fingerprinting and HPLC. Significant differences observed in the HPTLC chromatograms across altitudes. Maximum bands were observed in the HPTLC chromatogram of Gopeshwar population (1488 m a.s.l.). HPLC revealed differences in forskolin quantity among studied populations with the Pipalkoti population (1339 m a.s.l.) showing highest forskolin accumulation. Thus, the present study confirms that altitude and changing environment can affect the nature and quantity of secondary metabolites in C. forskohlii and might be contributory factors for intraspecific metabolic diversity. The Pipalkoti and Gopeshwar populations were found suitable for forskolin and other metabolite production; further, these two populations can be propagated for commercial use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to determine protective effects of Coleus forskohlii hydroalcoholic leaf-extract along with its fractions against fructose-induced cataract rat model. The Coleus forskolii leaf extract was subjected to silica gel column chromatography and fractions were collected. A major high yielding fraction of the leaf extract, designated as fraction B6 was pharmacologically evaluated in Sprague Dawley albino rats at three doses 0.1, 1 and 10 mg/kg respectively. Compound B2; isolated from B6 fraction, identified as 'gallic acid' was also pharmacologically evaluated at three different doses. Cataract was induced by concurrent administration of fructose solution (10% w/v, per oral, dissolved in drinking water) for eight consecutive weeks. Mean arterial pressure, blood glucose level and lenticular opacity were determined. At the end of eight weeks, C. forskohlii leaf extract fraction and gallic acid reduced mean arterial pressure and glucose level in a dose dependent manner. In addition, C. forskohlii led to significant restoration of lens antioxidants enzyme level and reduced cataract formation in rats. These results showed the concentration dependent protective effect by C. forskohlii leaf extract against cataract formation due to restoration of oxidative stress markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New economic, easy, specific, accurate, robust, validated high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and high performance liquid chromatography methods with good range of linearity and sensitivity were developed for quantification of forskolin in ten samples collected from different regions of Indian subcontinent, which showed a large variation among samples (0.074–0.282%, w/w). Metabolic diversity of all the samples using HPTLC fingerprint method showed a total of 16 well separated spots. There is no significant metabolic diversity among the samples collected from different locations of Indian subcontinent, which was obtained from HPTLC fingerprinting. The results of locational variation showed highest content of forskolin in Bengaluru sample by both analytical methods. The validated quantification methods and fingerprint profile together can act as a good authentication tool for coleus as well as for other medicinal plants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since 2005, a wilt disease on Coleus forskohlii of high severity has been observed in Tongcheng County, Hubei province, China, with the annual crop area affected estimated to be over 100 ha. Symptoms of disease, which included leaves wilting, stem brown discolouration and root rot, were observed after seed germination of C. forskohlii during the spring and summer growing seasons. After isolation and pathogenicity testing, the pathogen was identified as Fusarium oxysporum on the basis of morphological and cultural characteristics. Subsequent analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA and the β-tubulin gene sequence confirmed F. oxysporum as the causal agent. This is the first report of F. oxysporum infecting C. forskohlii worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Root-rot and wilt caused by Fusarium chlamydosporum affects the cultivation of Coleus forskohlii, a medicinal plant grown for its roots, which contain a pharmaceutically important compound called forskolin. In this study, management of this disease under low and high inoculum levels was assessed with four arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and a strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens. The AM fungus Glomus fasciculatum and P. fluorescens were the most effective treatments that reduced the severity of root-rot and wilt of C. forskohlii by 56-65% and 61-66%, respectively, under lower and higher levels of pathogen F. chlamydosporum. G. fasciculatum increased the dry shoot and root weight by 108-241% and 92-204%, respectively, while in plants treated with P. fluorescens, an increase of 97-223% and 97-172% in dry shoot and root weight, respectively, was observed. Although P. fluorescens was effective, it gave higher root yields only under lower inoculum level of the pathogen. G. fasciculatum performed equally well under both lower and higher inoculum levels. Increase in yields with both the biocontrol agents was accompanied by increase in P uptake (230-303%) and in K uptake (270-335%). The forskolin content of the roots was significantly increased (14-21%) by G. fasciculatum, P. fluorescens or G. mosseae under lower inoculum level of pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new diterpenoids, forskolins I and J, have been isolated in our further investigation on Coleus forskohlii (Willd.) Briq. collected in Yunnan Province. Their structures have been determined as 1α,6β-diacetoxy-7β,9α-dihydroxy-8,13-epoxylabd-14-en-11-one (1) and 1α,9α-dihydroxy-6β,7β-diacetoxy-8,13-epoxylabd-14-en-11-one (2) by spectral methods (including 1D and 2D NMR techniques). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]