Pharmacognostical Characters of Dried Flowers of Nymphaea stellata Willd.
Sachin Uttam Rakesh*, Priyanka R Patil, VR Salunkhe, PN Dhabale and KB Burade
Govt. College of Pharmacy, Vidyanagar, Karad- 415 124, Satara, Maharashtra, India,
*Corresponding Author E-mail: sachinrakesh@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT:
The macroscopic characters of the dried flowers, physical constant values, extractive values, behavior on treatment with different chemical reagent, fluorescence characters under ultra violet light after treatment with different chemical reagents of the dried powder of flowers of N. stellata Willd. (Nymphaeaceae) were studied to fix some pharmacognostical parameters. Preliminary phytochemical studies on different extracts of the dried flowers were also performed.
INTRODUCTION:
Nymphaea stellata Willd. (Nymphaeaceae), a medicinal plant has been mentioned for the treatment of liver disorders in Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine. The flowers of plant contains1 flavanoids, gallic acid, astragalin, quercetin and kaempferol. And the seeds also contains proteins, pentosan, mucilage etc. The flowers are solitary, 7.5- 15 cm in diameter, usually pale Violet, less commonly light blue or purple, sometimes faintly fragrant, open all the day, peduncles long, sepals many veined, not ribbed, oblong- lanceolate acute or subacute, streaked with purple lines. The leaves, roots and flowers have a wide range of pharmacological activities and are used for diabetes, eruptive fevers and as cardiotonic, emollient, diuretic, narcotic and as an aphrodisiac2,3,. The flowers are said to be refrigerant and alleviatative of cough, billiouseness, vomiting, giddiness, worm infestation and burning of the skin. The decoction of the flowers is used in palpitation of heart, and as a narcotic; syrup of the flowers is used in high fever, apoplexy, inflammatory diseases of the brain as also in dysuria. The filaments of the plants are used as astringent and cooling agent used in burning sensation of the body, bleeding piles and menorrhagia. Leaves are applied topically in erysipelas, whereas the macerated leaves are used as a lotion in eruptive fevers. The seeds are said to be stomachic and restorative. The plant has been reported to have antihepatotoxic4, antidiabetic5, antihyperlipidaemic6 and antihyperglycaemic7 activities.
The present investigation deals with the studies on some important pharmacognostical properties of the dried flowers extract of N. stellata and its powdered form.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Plant materials:
The flowers of N. stellata were collected from Satara Ayurvedic Arkshala, Satara during the month of July. The herbarium of Nymphea stellata Willd. was identified and authenticated from Satara Ayurvedic Arkshala, Satara having voucher no. 648/A dated 30- 06- 2008 and from Prof. B. D. Patil, Department of Botany, Sant Gadage Maharaj College of Science, Tal. Karad, Dist. Satara, M. S. India, having voucher no. SGM/BDP/03/2008.
The flowers were shed dried, powdered and kept ready for further use.
Reagents:
All the reagents were of analytical grade and purchased from Loba Chemie Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai.
Methods:
The macroscopic characters (colour, odour, size, shape, taste, surface, texture) of the dried flowers were observed8. The ash values of dried flowers were determined by Pharmacopoeial methods9. The extractive values were determined by successively starting from petroleum ether (60- 800 C), chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and hydro alcohol (ethanol 70% and water 30%) by using Soxhlet extraction apparatus. The dried extractives were obtained after evaporation of Solvent under reduced pressure. The behaviors of the powdered flowers with different chemical reagents were studied and the fluorescence characters were also observed under ultra violet at 254 nm10. Preliminary phytochemical tests of different extractives were performed by specific reagents11,12.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
The macroscopic characters are shown in Table 1. The physical constant values includes, total ash, acid insoluble ash, alcohol (90%) and water soluble extractive are reported in Table 2.
Table 1: Macroscopic character of flowers of N. stellata Willd.
Colour |
The fresh flowers are blue to bluish violet, dried flowers are grayish to white grayish in colour, internally slight blackish. |
Odour |
Fresh flower has sometimes faintly fragrant, dried flower has no specific odour. |
Size |
Fresh flower is 7.5- 15 cm in diameter and dried flower is 3.5 to 6 cm in length. |
Shape |
Peduncles long, sepals many veined, not ribbed, oblong- lanceolate acute or subacute, streaked with purple lines |
Taste |
Slightly bitter |
Table 2: Physical constant values of N. stellata. Flowers.
Parameters |
Percentage |
Total ash |
5.5% |
Acid insoluble ash |
1.2% |
Alcohol (90%) soluble extractive |
35% |
Water soluble extractive |
25% |
Loss on drying |
1.2% |
Foreign organic matter |
- |
The water soluble extractive is less as compared with alcohol (90%) soluble extractive. The extractive values obtained after successive extraction is reported in Table 3.
Table 3: Extractive values of N. stellata.
Solvents |
Percentage of extractive values |
Colour of extract |
Petroleum ether (60- 800 C) |
4.5% |
Yellowish green |
Chloroform |
7.7% |
Pale green |
Ethyl acetate |
10% |
Yellowish brown |
Methanol |
13% |
Blackish |
Hydro- alcohol (70%) |
15% |
Brown |
The petroleum ether shows minimum extractive value, whereas hydroalcohol shows maximum, extractive. The results of preliminary phytochemical tests for the presence of active constituents are reported in Table 4. It is confirmed that dried flowers contain reducing sugar, sterol, saponin, flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins. The behavior of the powdered flowers on treatment with different chemical reagents and the fluorescence characters of the same under ultra violet light are shown in Table 5 and Table 6 respectively.
Table 4: Preliminary phytochemical tests for the presence of active constituents in N. stellata
Name of test |
PE |
CH |
EA |
ME |
HA |
Test for carbohydrates: a) Fehling test (for reducing sugar) b) Barfoed test (for monosaccharides) c) Non reducing sugars |
- - - |
- - - |
+ - - |
+ - + |
+ - + |
Test for Steroids a) Salkowski reaction b) Liebermann Buchard test |
+ + |
+ + |
- - |
+ + |
+ + |
Test for Glycosides a) Cardiac Glycosides 1. Keller Killani test 2. Legal`s test b) Anthraquinone Glycosides 1. Borntrager`s test c) Saponins 1. Foam test |
- -
-
- |
- -
-
- |
+ +
-
- |
+ +
+
+ |
+ +
+
+ |
Test for Flavanoids a) Shinoda test b) Lead acetate test |
+ + |
+ + |
+ + |
+ + |
+ + |
Test for Alkaloids a) Wagners test b) Dragendorffs test |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- + |
- + |
Test for Tannins a) Ferric chloride test |
- |
- |
- |
+ |
+ |
PE- Petroleum ether; CH- Chloroform; EA- Ethyl acetate; ME- Methanol; HA Hydroalcohol; + Present, - Absent.
Table 5: Colour of the powdered flowers of N. stellata on treatment with different reagents.
Reagents |
Colour of Powder |
Picric acid (Saturated aqueous solution) |
Yellowish |
Nitric acid (specific gravity 1.42) |
Reddish |
Hydrochloric acid (specific gravity 1.16) |
No change |
Sulphuric acid (80%) |
Brownish black |
Glacial acetic acid |
Grayish |
Sodium hydroxide (5 N aqueous solution) |
Yellowish |
Iodine (aqueous solution) |
Reddish |
Ferric chloride (aqueous solution 5%) |
Brownish black |
Antimony trichloride |
Brownish |
Powder as such |
Brownish |
Table 6: Fluorescence characters of the powder of flowers of N. stellata under ultra violet light.
Treatment |
Fluorescence |
Powdered mounted with nitrocellulose |
Yellowish white |
Powder treated with sodium hydroxide in methanol |
Green |
Powder treated with sodium hydroxide in methanol- dried and mounted with nitrocellulose |
Yellowish brown |
Powder treated with hydrochloric acid |
Green |
Powder treated with hydrochloric acid- dried ad mounted with nitrocellulose |
Reddish |
Powder treated with sodium hydroxide in water |
Greenish |
Powder treated with sodium hydroxide in water dried- and mounted with nitrocellulose |
Brown |
Powder treated with nitric acid diluted with equal volume of water |
Brownish |
Powder treated with sulphuric acid diluted with equal volume of water |
Greenish |
Powder as such |
Brownish |
CONCLUSION:
Finally, it is concluded that the preliminary phytochemical tests are also important for identification of crude drugs and determination of impurity in that. These pharmacognostical parameters can also used for fixation of standards in official book.
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Received on 08.06.2009 Modified on 03.08.2009
Accepted on 12.09.2009 © RJPT All right reserved
Research J. Pharm. and Tech. 3(2): April- June 2010; Page 406-408