International Journal of Drug Development and Research

Key words

Sauropus androgynus, traditional medicine, pharmacognostical, priliminary phytochemical

INTRODUCTION

Plants have been one of the important sources of medicine since ages. In spite of developments in the field of allopathy, plants still remain as one of the major sources of drugs in modern as well as in traditional systems of medicine throughout the world. Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. belonging to family Euphorbiaceae is an erect shrub, sometimes cultivated in gardens[1]. Leaves are used as vegetables [1, 2]. In traditional system of medicine the leaves are used to treat various disorders like epistaxis, oriental sores, used as application for oral thrush in infants, paste is applied over nasal ulcers and yaws, erythema and measles [3]. The leaves pounded with milk are applied topically for hair growth and decoction taken orally for hypertension [4]. Apart from its traditional medicinal use it is used by local folk healers to treat debility, anemia etc. Locally it is called as ‘Multivitamin plant’. The present work provides information on pharmacognostical evaluation and preliminary phytochemical screening of leaves, aiming to aid the identification of plant material.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Collection of Plant Materials

Fresh leaves of Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. were collected from authenticated plant source. Voucher specimens (No. RMRC 614) were prepared and deposited in herbarium repository of RMRC Belgaum for future reference.

TS of midrib, Lamina, Epidermal Characters and Determination of Leaf Constants

Fresh leaves of Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. were used for microscopic sectioning. Sharp razor blades were used to take transverse section passing through midrib and lamina. Numerous temporary and permanent mounts of the sections were made and examined. Sections were treated with phloroglucinol and Conc. HCl to examine lignified tissue. Upper and lower epidermal layers were peeled to study the epidermal characters [5]. Fresh leaves of Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. were used for microscopic sectioning. Sharp razor blades were used to take transverse section passing through midrib and lamina. Numerous temporary and permanent mounts of the sections were made and examined. Sections were treated with phloroglucinol and Conc. HCl to examine lignified tissue. Upper and lower epidermal layers were peeled to study the epidermal characters [5].

Microphotographs

Microscopic descriptions of tissues were justified with microphotographs mentioned with appropriate scale bars, photographs were taken with Olympus BX-41 microscope.

Organoleptic characters, Physicochemical analysis and Extractive values

The collected leaves were washed, shade dried and pulverized. Powder obtained by pulverization was used for organoleptic characters to evaluate color, texture, odour and taste. Physicochemical parameters were done to evaluate the percentage of loss on drying, total ash content, acid insoluble ash and water soluble ash. Extracts of powdered leaves were prepared with different solvents for the study of extractive values [8, 9].

Preliminary phytochemical analysis

Aqueous and ethanol extracts were prepared to find out the presence of secondary metabolites performing various tests [10, 11].

Results and Discussions

TS of midrib, Lamina, Epidermal Characters and Leaf Constants

The Transverse Section (TS) passing through midrib is dorsiventral in nature (Fig 1). It has prominent adaxial hump which is composed of collenchymatous tissue and wide semi circular abaxial part. The vascular bundle composed of xylem and phloem in the form of an arc spreading towards lower surface, a band of collenchymatous pericycle found at the lower side of the arc.

Epidermal characters:

The lamina of leaf shows three distinct regions namely adaxial epidermis, abaxial epidermis and mesophyll tissue (Fig 2). The adaxial epidermis is single layered consisting of squarish to rectangular cells bearing cuticle. Abaxial epidermis is composed of rounded cells. The mesophyll tissue is differentiated into two regions namely, an upper palisade parenchyma and a lower spongy parenchyma. Palisade parenchyma is composed of single layer of elongated, compactly arranged cells beneath adaxial epidermis. This region is devoid of intercellular spaces, the cells contain chloroplasts. Spongy parenchymatous region composed of 3 to 5 layers of loosely arranged spherical or oval cells with intercellular spaces. These cells contain chloroplasts, some cells are embedded with microsphinoidal crystals of calcium oxalate (Fig 3). The adaxial epidermis is composed of irregular shaped cells with wavy walls (Fig 4a, 4b). The size of the epidermal cells and number of epidermal cells per unit area are mentioned in Table 1 The abaxial epidermis is composed of irregular shaped wavy walled cells with paracytic stomatas (Fig 5a, 5b). The size of the epidermal cells and number of epidermal cells per unit area are mentioned in Table 2. Leaf constants viz. stomatal number, stomatal index, vein islet number, vein termination number and palisade ratio are mentioned in Table 3.

Organoleptic Characters, Physicochemical Analysis and Extractive Values

The results are mentioned in Table – 5, 6, and 7

Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis

Ethanol and aqueous extracts were treated with various reagents to detect the phytochemicals. The results of tests for the detection of phytochemicals are mentioned in Table 7.

CONCLUSIONS:

Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. belonging to family Euphorbiaceae is used to treat various disorders in traditional system of medicine [3, 4]. The study also showed that food preparations made out of the leaf were highly palatable and acceptable, scores for acceptability being around 80%. Merely because the leaf contains good amounts of all the nutrients and the food preparations were highly acceptable [2]. The present study provides the information regarding standardization parameters which will help in identification of plant material. These parameters will be helpful for authentication of drug and also differentiation from substitutes or adulterants.

Acknowledgment:

Authors are indebted to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for funding the study through the internal funds of RMRC. Authors are thankful to Mr. Bhoopal Talwar, Lab Attendant, RMRC Belgaum, for his assistance.

Tables at a glance

Table 1	Table 2	Table 3	Table 4
Table 5	Table 6	Table 7

 

Figures at a glance

Figure 1	Figure 2	Figure 3	Figure 4	Figure 5

 

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