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Pharmacognostic evaluation of the leaves of Dissotis
rotundifolia Triana (Melastomataceae)
T. A. Abere1*, D.N. Onwukaeme1 and
C.J. Eboka2
1Department
of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin,
Benin City, Nigeria.
2Department
of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University
of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author: E-mail:
eseabere@yahoo.com.
Tel.: +2348023395616
Accepted
26 December, 2007 |
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Dissotis rotundifolia Triana (Melastomataceae), a native of tropical West
Africa is known to have many uses in ethnomedicine.
Establishment of pharmacognostic profile of the leaves will
assist in standardization which can guarantee quality,
purity and identification of samples. Evaluation of fresh,
powdered and anatomical sections of the leaves was carried
out to determine the macro-morphological, micromorphological,
chemomicroscopic, numerical and phytochemical profiles.
Macroscopically, the leaf was linear in shape, with a
glabrous texture, a short petiole, margin entire, apex and
leaf base acute with pinnate venation. Microsco-pically,
stomata was anomocytic, epidermal cells were straight and
polygonal with uniseriate and multiseriate covering
trichomes. Chemomicroscopic characters present included
lignin, starch, mucilage and calcium oxalate crystals while
phytochemical evaluation revealed the presence of alkaloids,
cardiac glycosides and saponins. The investigations also
included the moisture content, ash values as well as
palisade ratio, stomata index, vein – islet and veinlet
termination numbers. These findings should be suitable for
inclusion in the proposed Pharmacopoeia of Nigerian
medicinal plants.
Key
words:
Dissotis rotundifolia, pharmacognostic evaluation,
pharmacopoeia. |
