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Introduction: Different parts of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre shows valuable pharmacological activities. The flowers are used as major ingredient of Pongam poo choornnam, a siddha formulation used for reducing the constant rise of body temperature due to veneral diseases. This study is a detailed pharmacognostic evaluation of the macro and microscopic characteristics to authenticate P. pinnata flowers. Methods: The flowers were collected from Siddha medical college campus Arumbakkam and detailed pharmacognostic study employing morphological, anatomical, quantitative and powder microscopy was performed following standard procedures to assess authenticity of P. pinnata flowers. Result: The detailed microscopy of flower showed the presence of mesophyll cells and vascular bundles on the floral parts; quantitative microscopy revealed the dense distribution of trichomes on both surfaces of calyx and corolla, the epidermal number, trichome number, vein islet and vein termination number were also recorded; powder microscopy showed the presence of characters like epidermal cells, trichomes, parenchyma cells, vessels, fibres and pollen grains. Conclusion: This work will serve as an informative record of macro-microscopic features of this valuable floral drug.

Traditional medical systems are advancing to the level of modern medicines in treatment and preventive aspects. The increased trade in medicinal plants provides income source for herbalists while substitution of rare ingredients with cheaper and more readily available species is misleading the end users. The prime cause of the problems associated with the standardization of medicinal plants is complex composition of herbal drugs used in the form of whole plants, plant parts or extracts. Deliberate adulteration of intended ingredients are posing difficulty in distinguishing the genuine resources. Authentication of medicinal plants by recent molecular techniques is inevitable for herbal drug industries, researchers and academia. Of late, herbal genomics, molecular studies of medicinal plants and powerful next generation sequencing techniques have been emerged to transform the current knowledge. A compilation of various molecular markers used, their efficiency in barcoding for the purpose of accurate authentication of herbal drugs has been attempted in this study. Data were collected from previous literature and online repositories like NCBI, Pubmed etc. There are various molecular techniques that can be exploited for authentication of medicinal plants such as Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR), Selective Amplification of Microsatellite polymorphic loci (SAMPL), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR), Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR), DNA barcoding, Next Generation Sequencing Techniques etc. Some of medicinal plants were reported having molecular data useful in plant identification. The genomic data of poly herbal formulations helps for scientific validation and universal recognition. Even though the challenges associated with reprehensibility, primer designing, amplification products of molecular markers and troubles related with DNA isolation and purification, become the major obstacle in front of researchers. It is high time to focus these novel strategies for proper identification to ensure the fidelity of traditional herbal products and there by promoting a step towards the global acceptance of our indigenous medicinal systems.

Siddha system of therapeutic medicine is largely practiced in the South India and is identified to be very closely related to Tamil civilization. A large number of plants are used for the manufacturing of formulations which are prescribed for various ailments. Root barks possess wide chemical compounds which has immense biological activity and medicinal values. Transformation of the crude drugs into medicine requires quality assurance to the upmost. Aim: Macro-microscopic detailing of three important root bark drugs in Siddha, Alangium salviifolium (L.f.) Wangerin (Azinjil verpattai) Senna auriculata (L.) Roxb. (Aavaram verpattai) and Catunaregam spinosa (Thunb.) Tirveng (Marukkarai ver pattai) has been proposed in the current research. Methodology: The root barks were subjected to morphological, anatomical and powder microscopic studies, with the help of Nikon ECLIPSE E200 trinocular microscope attached with Nikon COOLPIX5400 digital camera, following pharmacopoeial procedures. Results: Macroscopically the barks differed in their organoleptic characters. All the three samples showed distinct cork, cortex and phloem region but differed in the number of layers. Stones cells were present in only C. auriculata and C. spinosa. C. auriculata and C. spinosa contained tannin cells. The powder microscopy revealed the presence of different types of crystals in the three species druses in C. auriculata, prismatic in C. spinosa and C. catunaregam is rhomboidal. Discussion: The colour, cracks, fissures and fractures possess affordable useful characters in addition to the macro microscopic character for the identification. The detailed morphology, anatomy and powder microscopic characteristic features of root barks will prove to be an essential database for the accurate identification of these drugs. Conclusion: As these root barks form the major ingredients of a large number of Siddha formulations the study will substantiate to be a great contrivance in their correct identification.

Macro-microscopic characterization of the Punica granatum L. flower Punica granatum L. flowers called as Matulampoo in Siddha is a highly medicinal raw material used for the treatment of eye diseases, asthma, diabetes and diarohea. A study dealt with the morphology, anatomy and powder microscopy of P.granatum dried flowers revealed that the drug consists of bisexual and male flowers. The dried flower is dark red in colour, thick and leathery. Powdered flower drug is creamish white in colour with characteristic smell and taste. The microscopic features recorded from the study will help in authentication of this medicinal material with parameters employed in pharmacopoeial quality control. Divya et al.