Microscopic Investigations and Pharmacognosy of Striga orobanchioides Benth

Objective: To study delineate Pharmacognosy of the stem of plant Striga Orobanchioides Benth (Scrophulariaceae), prime plant in Indian system of medicine. A comprehensive account on standardization of herbal drug Striga Orobanchioides Benth by using microscopic as well as Pharmacognostic parameters. In the field of herbal medicines, the main issues are quality, purity, and effectiveness, as in many cases herbal drugs are knowingly or unknowingly substituted or adulterated with similar species or varieties. Methods: The macroscopy, microscopy, physicochemical analysis, preliminary phytochemical testing of the powder of plant stem and other WHO recommended methods for standardization was done. Results: T S of young as well as old stem was studied. T.S. of the young stem confirmed the presence of thin epidermal layer, fairly wide cortex and thin vascular cylinder having the pith disintegrated or retained as homogeneous parenchymatous tissue. T.S. of the old stem confirmed the presence of cortical cells, parenchyma cells, sclerenchyma cells, vascular tissue. The lower conical part of the stem has epidermis cortical zone and vascular cylinder continued from its wide upper part. The cortical zone consists of parenchymatous ground tissue with sealed masses of sclerenchyma cells. The xylem tissue becomes gradually narrow and thin in the end of the stem. It includes compact radial lines of vessels, filnes and xylem rays. Conclusion: The above parameters, being reported to the first time for the studied plant species, and are significant towards establishing the microscopic and Pharmacognostic standards for future identification and authentication of genuine herbal drug. It can be concluded that the Pharmacognostic outline of Striga Orobanchioides plant is beneficial in developing standards for quality, purity and sample identification.