PHARMACOGNOSTICAL STUDY ON THE FRUITS OF SCINDAPSUS OFFICINALIS (ROXB.) SCHOTT. (ARACEAE)

In the present communication, physicochemical analysis, powder microscopy of fruit, fruits preliminary phytochemical screening, inorganic elemental study, metal study, preliminary phytochemical screening and fluorescence analysis have been described. The powder microscopical study reveals the presence of endosperm cells with starch grains inside, lignified sclereids and fragmented perienth. The total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash and chloroform soluble ash was found to be 6.29%, 1.797% 2.218% and 4.65% respectively. The alcohol soluble extractive, water soluble extractive and chloroform soluble extractive values were found to be 6.844%, 9.766% and 7.12% respectively. The loss on drying, crude fiber content and foaming index was found to be 3.524%, 6.661% and 110.52 correspondingly. Preliminary phytochemical screening of successive extracts of fruit reveals the presence of various secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, phenolics (ethyl acetate & 50% ethanolic extract), Alkaloids (ethyl acetate extract), saponins, tannins (50% ethanolic extract), glycosides, terpenoids, steroids (chloroform extract) and fat and oils (hexane extract). Total flavonoid and tannins content was estimated about 1.27 and 4.12 % w/w respectively. Inorganic elemental analysis on ash of the fruit showed the presence of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, sodium and sulphate. Metal analysis on the air-dried powder of the fruit showed the presence of calcium, chloride, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, sodium and zinc. Fluorescence analysis of drug powder and successive extracts with different reagents showed the different colours under UV light (254 nm and 366 nm) and day light. By the study we are sure that this work will be helpful to further standardization of the drug.