Abstract

ADULTERATION: A MAJOR CHALLENGE ASSOCIATED WITH O. OCTANDRA IN THE TRADITIONAL SYSTEM OF MEDICINE IN SRI LANKA

M. G. D. N. Balasooriya*, W. D. C. K. Karunarathne

Abstract

Adulterants and substitutes are common malpractices in herbal medicine. Confusion in vernacular names, Lack of knowledge of herbal plants, similarity in morphology and color, and unavailability of authentic plants are some of the reasons for adulteration of medicinal plants. Osbeckia octandra (L.) DC, which belongs to the family Melastomataceae, known as ―Heen bovitiya‖ is an endemic plant to Sri Lanka and is widely used in traditional medicine, especially to treat jaundice and other liver disorders. One of the significant drawbacks of using O. octandra in the traditional therapeutic system in Sri Lanka is adulteration. This study was conducted to identify the most common adulterants of O. octandra and to determine how O. octandra can be morphologically differentiated from other adulterants. O. aspera and M. malabathricum have been identified as available adulteration materials for O. octandra. Both O. aspera and M. malabathricum are often misidentified by the public as O. octandra due to their similar vernacular names and morphological characteristics. According to the results, the species can be clearly distinguished from O. octandra and O. aspera using morphological characters. M. malabathricum was clearly separated from O. octandra and O. aspera in the TLC profile of ethanol extracts in the solvent systems of Hexane.

Keywords: Osbeckia octandra, Adulterations, Traditional Medicine.