Comparative Studies of Mucilage Cells in Different Organs in Some Species of Malva, Althaea and Alcea

Abstract

Distribution of Mucilage Cells (MC) in leaves and petals of two species of Malva L. : Malva neglecta Wallr and M. nicaeensis All, one species of Altheae L.: A. officinalis L. and one species of Alcea L: A. angulata (Freyn and Sint.) Freyn and Sint. ex Iljin, have studied. Except ofA. angulata that mucilage cells observed both in epidermis and mesophyll of leaves, in the others mucilage cells confined to epidermis cells. All of species have mucilage cells in the petals. The area of the mucilaginous elements in the leaves and petals of species determined planimetrically on definite cross-sections was studied as a comparative element to the mucilage content determined by extracting the raw mucilage by Hot Extraction Method (HEM) and then by comparing the dry weight, comparison between species was done. A correlation between the greater area of the mucilaginous elements and the mucilage content measured by methods mentioned was shown, basing on different microscopic examination of cross-sections of the organs fixed and stained with ruthenium red. The results were shown that mucilage content in the leaves of Malva neglecta was more than the others and mucilage content in petals of Malva neglecta was more than the others.

Identification of medicinal plants of Urmia for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders

“…The root of the Althaea officinalis plant has antitussive and pain relieving effects and is used in traditional medicine to decrease inflammation, chronic cough, angina, bronchitis (Bone, 1993;Mirhaidar, 2010). Althaea officinalis has effective ingredients such as flavonoids of the polyphenols group, polysaccharides, mucins, antocyanins, and fiber (Bradley, 1992;Razavi, 2003;Kardosova and Machova, 2006;Sutovska et al, 2007;Pakravan et al, 2007;ESCOP, 1996).…”

Organ-oriented phytochemical profiling and radical scavenging activity of Alcea spp. (Malvaceae) from Iran

“…Total mucilage content (TMC) was measured both in the flowers and herbage of the examined taxa. Results showed that this parameter was under the influence of the genetic structure [20], geographical condition [21] as well as the organ of choice [20]. TMC was predominantly higher in the flowers as compared to the herbage of the taxa (Table 2).…”

Standard microscopic slide preparation technique as a new and useful tool for analyzing mucilage content in marshmallow root

“…The main factor that determines the quality of the marshmallow root as the drug is the amount of mucilage. According to Pakravan et al (2007), the structure and size of secretory tissue in Marshmallow's root correspond with the content and chemical composition of its active substances. In many medicinal plants genetic and environmental factors may influence the concentration of plant secondary compounds and active component in drugs, therefore the quality control is one of the major problems in the rational use of herbal medicines.…”