PHYTOPHARMACOGNOSTICAL STUDY OF STEM OF GYMNOSPORIA MONTANA: A NATIVE OF GUJARAT Research Article

Currently there is lot of interest all over the world in drugs used in Ayurvedic therapeutics and many are being used. Internationally, in consonance with the present scientific ambience it is important to undertake an evaluation of plant drug like Gymnosporia montana belonging to the family Celeastraceae commonly known as Vikalo. Ethanomedicinally fresh leaves of Vikalo are chewed in tribal regions of Gujarat to cure jaundice. Pharmacognostical evaluation including examination of morphological and microscopical characters, determination of quality control parameters such as ash values, extractive values, moisture content, foreign matter, and microbial contamination were carried out of Gymnosporia montana stem. Phytochemical screening including qualitative chemical examinations was also carried out. Hence, the present attempt was undertaken to investigate the Phytopharmacognostical study of stem of Gymnosporia montana. The study revealed the presence of epidermis, cortex with starch grain and crystals of calcium oxalate, a band of yellowish colour matter, broken ring of pericyclic fiber, phloem region associated with dark colour matter and uniseriate medullary rays, composed with phloem parenchyma, and pith showed parenchymatous cells containing starch grain, dark colour matter in the stem of G.montana. Phytochemical screening of stem of G.montana showed the presence of phytoconstituents like phenol, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins.