Preliminary pharmacognostic screening of Achyranthes coynei stem

Abstract

Achyranthes coynei is a rare, endemic perennial shrub reported from Karnataka and Maharashtra states of India. The plant is used to treat various disorders by folk healers and was proven to have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. The present study was undertaken to evaluate microscopic and macroscopic characters of A. coynei stem, along with its physicochemical parameters. ProgRes® CapturePro and Microsoft Excel were used for statistical analysis. Perennial, shrubby nature and woody stem were the distinguishing morphological characters observed. Transverse section (TS) illustrated quadrangular outline of the stem and showed the presence of two types of trichomes on the thick-walled epidermis. TS also showed number of rosette calcium oxalates crystals; prismatic and microsphenoid crystals; conjoint, collateral open secondary vascular bundles; and two amphixylic medullary bundles in the pith. Ash and extractive values, micro and macro elements and nutritive factors were estimated in the present study. The presence of alkaloids, saponins and triterpenoids were observed in preliminary phytochemical screening. High-performance thin layer chromatographic analysis yielded different bands and also indicated the presence of oleanolic acid. The studied parameters for A. coynei stem will be useful for identification and authentication of the plant material.

Pharmacognostic screening of Piper trichostachyon fruits and its comparative analysis with Piper nigrum using chromatographic techniques

“…Sections of the fruits were taken using Leica Germany (Model no - CM 1850) cryostat following the procedure described by Upadhya, et al . [ 6 ] The sections were of the thickness of 20 ± 2 μ. Histochemical and powder studies were carried out by using reagents and stains like iodine, concentrated sulphuric acid, concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCL), ferric chloride, Sudan III, ruthenium red, and phloroglucinol with concentrated HCL (1:1). [ 7 ] Similarly, organoleptic characters such as color, odor, and taste were determined for the fruit powder.…”

“…Cell dimensions were represented as DST (length of line), Maj (length of large half axis for ellipse) and RDS (radius for circle) in microscopy as defined in ProgRes ® CapturePro 2.1.1-Jenoptik, software. [ 6 ]…”