Cultivation
Careful cultivation of the correct species of Coleus forskohlii plants enables optimization of the quality of root material for forskolin content.
Climatic requirements:
C. forskohlii is a species native to subtropical and warm temperate habitats. It grows at 600-1800 m elevation on sun-exposed hill slopes and plateaus in arid and semiarid climatic zones
Soil requirements:
The species grows well in loamy or sandy-loam soil with a pH of 6.4 to 7.9.
Description of the plant:
 Arial Parts |
Herbaceous plant with annual stem and perennial rootstock. The root material may be tuberous, semi-tuberous or fibrous depending upon the growth conditions. Approximately 1-500 g of root material can be obtained from a single plant. The forskolin content of the roots varies from 0.07%-0.58% of dry matter. |  Root Parts |
Reference
- Virbala Shah and B.S. Kalakoti “Development of Coleus forskohlii as a medicinal crop” Proceedings of the International Conference on Domestication and Commercialization of Non-Timber Forest Products in Agroforestry Systems, hosted by ICRAF, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 19 to 23 February 1996.
Planting seedlings
The growing plants
The grown plants
Root material collection and preparation for processing
 |
 |
 |
 |
