Pharmacognostic and Phytochemical Studies of Leaf Gall of Terminalia chebula Retz. Used as Karkatashringi in South Indian Markets

摘要

Karkatashringi is an important crude drug employed in various indigenous systems of medicine against several diseases, and the drug has diverse medicinal properties. The present study provides a detailed account of the pharmacognostic investigation carried out on leaf galls of Terminalia chebula used as karkatashringi. The study includes macro- and micromorphological characters of gall, fluorescence study of powder, physicochemical studies and preliminary phytochemical screening. In physicochemical studies the moisture, total ash, acid insoluble ash, alcohol soluble, water soluble, petroleum ether extractive and tannin content was found to be 10.06, 6.18, 1.13, 27.36, 31.01, 1.33 and 17.4 percentage respectively. The results of the study help to establish the authenticity of the drug, differentiate the drug from other species and drawing the pharmacopoeial standards for this species.