C. Beena* and P.V. Sindhu
All India Coordinated Research Project on Medicinal, Aromatic Plants & Betelvine,
College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University, KAU.P.O., Vellanikkara,
Thrissur -680656, Kerala, India
Email: beenac2@gmail.com
Received-01.06.2022, Revised-14.06.2022, Accepted-25.06.2022
Abstract: Plants, especially medicinal plants play an important role in the plant resource spectrum of Kerala. Out of estimated 4600 flowering plants in Kerala, about 900 possess medicinal values. Many medicinal plants are either endangered or on the verge of extinction due to over exploitation. Pseudarthria viscida (L.) Wight and Arn is an important medicinal plant from the family Fabaceae which is one among the famous “Dasamoola” (10 roots) plants and is a major component in many ayurvedic preparations. Its roots are used in the treatment of a wide variety of ailments being anti helminthic, antifungal, anti inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor, aphrodisiac, astringent, bitter, cardiotonic, digestive, diuretic, emollient, febrifuge, hypotensive as well as rejuvenating in nature. Increasing demand for this drug has naturally lead to adulteration or substitution in market raw drug samples. This study presents the results of quality analysis of the raw drug market samples of Pseudarthria viscida roots collected from different herbal markets of Kerala. Fifteen percent of the analysed samples were found as spurious.
Keywords: Adulteration, Pseudarthria viscida, Moovila, Thin layer chromatography (TLC)
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