Bacopa Monnieri (Brahmi): Small stonecrop – big star!
One of the oldest and best-known plants in Indian medicine is Bacopa Monnieri - or Brahmi, as it is called in India. There it is traditionally very popular with students and scholars, but also with senior citizens. We took a closer look at the inconspicuous but amazing plant.
The leaves and flower of a Bacopa Monnieri.
Where does Bacopa Monnieri come from?
Bacopa Monnieri belongs to the genus of bacopa. It was first described by the French botanist and doctor Louis Guillaume Le Monnier - hence the pleasant-sounding name. In German, the plant is often simply called "small bacopa". However, it is better known by its Indian trade name: Brahmi. The swamp plant is one of the most widespread types of bacopa. It can be found in tropical regions around the globe, but is most popular in Africa and Asia, where it is also cultivated due to its use as a medicinal plant.
Brahmi in Ayurveda
Brahmi has been used in Ayurvedic medicine since ancient times. It is mentioned in the Charakra Samhita, the oldest surviving medical text in India. The respect for the plant is reflected in the word Brahmi, which refers to the god of creation, Brahma, who is associated with all forms of creativity in Indian culture. Brahmi is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The Lesser Stonecrop in Your Own Garden
The small stonecrop is an herbaceous plant with a slightly upright, but mostly creeping or hanging growth. Bacopa Monnieri grows in perennials that reach a height of ten to fifteen centimeters. It owes its name to the small, fleshy and oval leaves that grow opposite each other and are up to 20 millimeters long. Throughout the summer, the small stonecrop bears slightly fragrant flowers in white to light blue that are just one centimeter in size. The flowers develop into capsule fruits that are almost half as large, which in turn produce a large number of tiny seeds. As a waterside plant, the small stonecrop prefers a moist location: it is naturally found in swampy areas or on the edge of standing water. Since Bacopa Monnieri also tolerates slightly salt water, it sometimes grows near the sea. The small stonecrop is suitable for domestic use as an aquarium plant. It can be kept in a bright location or as a potted plant. The plant can spend the summer in the garden or on the balcony. Planting it out is not recommended, as the stonecrop is not winter hardy and feels most comfortable at temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius. The plant's small leaves can be harvested all year round.
Brahmi powder in a bowl.
How is Brahmi used?
Bacopa Monnieri can be used fresh as a kitchen herb, but sparingly due to its very bitter taste. The raw plant can be used in salads in particular. The leaves can, however, be dried. The easiest way to do this is to tie them together in small bundles, which are then dried in a warm but not sunny place. The dried plant parts can then be cut, shredded or ground into powder. The product can be easily mixed into quark or butter or smoothies. The well-known Brahmi tea is also more for fans of bitter notes. The concentration of the valuable ingredients in the tea is very low to begin with, and they are almost completely lost when heated. Bacopa Monnieri is therefore often bought in the form of concentrated extract in food supplements.
How is Brahmi extract made?
It is recommended to use it as a standardized extract. To do this, the leaves of the plant are carefully dried at a maximum of 42 degrees Celsius, ground into a fine powder and then cleaned and concentrated in several steps. During this process, the extract must be defatted and stabilized. With gentle processes, the extract thus receives a concentration of around 20 percent of the valuable bacosides. With less gentle chemical processes, even higher concentrations are possible, although less useful.
The process of extracting bacosides from Bacopa Monnieri.
What ingredients are contained in Brahmi?
The valuable character of the otherwise rather inconspicuous, small plant is due to its high content of various secondary plant substances. These are compounds that are not essential for the plant and only occur in certain cell types - in contrast to primary plant substances. Primary plant substances, on the other hand, are those that are directly involved in metabolism or cell structure. As with animals, these are: fats, proteins and carbohydrates - in other words, everything that makes plants nutritious for us. Chlorophyll and the wood substance lignin are also well-known representatives of this class. Caffeine and nicotine, on the other hand, are among the best-known secondary plant substances. Due to their influence on the human organism, they are also the focus of medical research. The small stonecrop contains a whole range of interesting substances, including the saponins bacoside A and B, the flavonoids luteolin and apigenin, the alkaloid brahmin and phytosterols.
Saponins (Bacoside A and B) – natural soaps
Saponins such as bacoside A and B are found in a wide range of plants, mainly in nutrient-rich parts of plants such as roots, tubers, rhizomes and leaves. They are believed to be used to ward off pests. Saponins are natural soaps. If you dissolve them in water and shake the solution, foam forms. Plants such as soapwort or Indian soapnut have been cultivated by humans for centuries for this reason. Saponins are responsible for the sweet taste of liquorice and are also a component of tea, ginseng and the herb of immortality.
Flavonoids – Attractants and Cell Protection
Flavonoids are the pigments in plants. The name comes from flavus , the Latin word for "yellow". They were first discovered in parts of the dyer's mulberry, which was used in earlier times to dye plants yellow. Flavonoids have different functions in plants. As pigments, they can deter predators or attract pollinators such as bees. Due to their structure, they are able to absorb light of certain wavelengths and thus protect underlying plant parts from the harmful effects of sunlight. In addition, some flavonoids have been found to have antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal benefits for plants. They therefore also serve to protect plants from pathogens. They are often concentrated in the peels of fruits, but also, for example, in the leaves of tea.
Alkaloids (Brahmin) – plant-based nerve agents
Alkaloids such as brahmin in Bacopa Monnieri are the funniest of the secondary plant substances. Unfortunately, almost all of them are poisonous. Of course, the old pharmacist's rule applies here too: the dose makes the poison. The best-known and most consumed alkaloids are caffeine and nicotine. Theobromine, which is found in cocoa and tea, is also an alkaloid, as is piperine, which is responsible for the typical peppery taste, and capsaicin, which is responsible for the spiciness of chilies. The first alkaloid, morphine, was discovered in 1804. Over 20,000 alkaloids are now known. The term alkaloid, introduced in 1819, goes back to the fact that the substances behave alkalinely, i.e. like a base. Most alkaloids probably serve as protection for plants against being eaten. Due to their specific and sometimes very intense effect on animal organisms, alkaloids are of great interest to medical research.
The chemical structure of bacosides in Bacopa Monnieri.
Phytosterols – plant cholesterol
Phytosterols are the plant counterpart to animal cholesterol. They are an important component of the cell membrane, stabilizing the membrane on the one hand and making it permeable to certain messenger substances on the other. Phytosterols are found primarily in fatty parts of plants such as seeds and kernels. To date, over 40 different phytosterols have been discovered. With a share of almost 65 percent, ß-sitosterol is the most common phytosterol found in food. A normal Western European diet consumes 160–360 mg of phytosterols daily. Vegetarians consume approximately twice that amount.
How does Bacopa Monnieri (Brahmi) work?
For centuries, Brahmi has been a success story in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. But Bacopa Monnieri is also becoming increasingly important in Western countries - as a so-called smart food or nooptricum. In numerous studies, researchers are investigating the influence of the plant and its ingredients on the brain and its performance, i.e. on concentration, memory, stress resistance and reaction time. A particular focus is also on diagnoses such as Alzheimer's or depression. We have linked some exciting studies for you under "External sources" at the end of this page. Since food supplements are not medicines, we as manufacturers are not allowed and do not want to summarize these results for you. The reason: manufacturers are only permitted to make health-related statements within the framework of the very narrowly defined "Health Claims Regulation". According to this regulation, statements about the effect are only possible for specific nutrients, not for plant extracts. We hope you enjoy further researching this inconspicuous but amazing plant.
External sources
- Encyclopedia of medicinal plants and drugs: Saponins (Spektrum der Wissenschaft)
- Dictionary of Biology: Flovonoids (Spektrum der Wissenschaft)
- Does Bacopa monnieri improve memory performance in older persons? Results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial (Annette Morgan et al., 2010 – English source)
- The chronic effects of an extract of Bacopa monniera (Brahmi) on cognitive function in healthy human subjects (C. Stout et al., 2001 – English source)
- Effects of a standardized Bacopa monnieri extract on cognitive performance, anxiety, and depression in the elderly: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Carlo Calabrese et al., 2008 – English source)
- Cognitive enhancement and neuroprotective effects of Bacopa monnieri in Alzheimer's disease model (Nongnut Uabundit et al., 2009 – English source)
