Abstract

A REVIEW OF PHARMACOGNOSTIC AND PHYTOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF PLANT DESMODIUM GANGETICUM (L.) DC.

Honey Haridas*, Chinch Sara George, Devika Krishnan, Ashly Jose and Jayachandran T. P.

Abstract

In different countries approx. 20,000 medicinal plants are being used, out of which 10,000 (approx.) plants are used for phyto-therapy in Indian system of medicine, which has been compiled recently by World Health Organization (WHO). According to Biological Conservation Letter, more than 7,000 species of plants found in various ecosystems are said to be medicinal in the country. So, India is one of the world’s richest sources of medicinal and aromatic plants. Desmodium gangeticum (L) DC is an important medicinal plant. It is commonly used in ayurvedic formulations for the treatment of various disorders. Phytochemical evaluations, pharmacogonostic evaluation, including determination of ash value, acid soluble ash, water soluble ash, extractive values, powder size, organoleptic characters, TLC profile and FTIR profile was carried out to set them as diagnosticindices for the identification/validation of the raw material and standardization of the formulations. Preliminary phytochemical analysis showed the presence of active constituents which is necessary for the pharmacological activity. Organoleptic properties, phyto-chemical studies, powder analysis., showed the presence of adulteration in the powder.

Keywords: Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC., Organoleptic properties, phytochemical studies, powder analysis, pharmacognostic studies, TLC, FTIR.