Pharmacognostic and Preliminary Phytochemical Investigation of Leaves of Aralia Racemosa L.

Objective: Ethnomedicinally, the entire plant and its parts are generally utilized by local people for the treatment of different aliment conditions without standardization. The standardization of crude drug is a crucial part of establishing its correct identity. Prior to any crude drug can be included in an herbal pharmacopeia, pharmacognostic and physicochemical param­eters and standards to be established. Aralia racemosa L. perennial herb belongs to family Araliaceae. It is commonly known as American Spike­nard. It is traditionally used in the treatment of Rheumatism, Whooping cough, skin diseases, pleurisy, diaphoretic, diuretic, pulmonary diseases, asthma, rheumatism, diarrhea, stimulant, expectorant, syphilis, Inflamma­tion and Hay fever. In the view of lack of pharmacognostic study of leaf of Aralia racemosa L. Methods: The macroscopical, microscopical and physicochemical parameters were assessed according to WHO Quality Control Methods for herbal materials. The leaves of Aralia racemosa. L was subjected for successive solvent extraction and preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out, along with florescence analysis of leaf Pow­der with different reagents were evaluated. Results: Macroscopy of the leaves showed oval to rounded shape with tooted margin, cordate base and pointed tip. Microscopic studies revealed the presence of anisocytic stomata, bicolateral vascular bundles, lignified fibers, spiral vessels and rosette shaped calcium oxalate crystals. Physicochemical parameters such as moisture content, extractive values, ash content and fluorescent behav­ior of leaf powder were also determined. Preliminary Phytochemical analy­sis revealed the presence of various phytochemical constituents viz., glyco­sides, tannins, flavonoids, saponins and steroids. Conclusion: The results of current study could be served as a diagnostic tool for the standardization of this medicinal plant and will helpful in characterization of the crude drug.