Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) as functional food ingredient in food processing industry

Abstract

Brahmi is one of the oldest traditional ayurvedic medicines in India. It was originated in India more than 3000 years ago. Brahmi is known for enhancing memory, cognition, mood and other mental disorder. Saponins are the major compounds in Brahmi which is responsible to enhance the nerve impulse transmission. It has many long researched and proven for many beneficial medicinal and functional properties. Functional ingredients are the foods that have health benefits beyond normal nutrition. Brahmi has its own unique strong herbal taste and a bitter aftertaste. Due to change in lifestyles and growing consciousness for health there is a great demand of food products that are healthy as well as provide some functional benefits. An Ayurvedic herb such as Brahmi comes with many functional benefits. The present review enlightens the various such properties and use of Brahmi in various food systems.