Pharmacognostical, Physicochemical and Phytochemical Studies of Some Marketed Samples of Roots used in Ayurvedic Medicines

Background: Kuth (Saussurea lappa), Nisotha (Operculina turpethum), Akarakara (Anacyclus pyrethrin) and Chitrak (Plumbago zeylanicum) are some common plants used in Ayurvedic system of medicines and herbal drugs. Objective: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the quality of the samples of same plant marketed into different area, on the standardization parameters given in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia. Methods: Three different marketed samples of these roots were subjected to pharmacognostic, physicochemical and phytochemical analysis and results were compared to the standards given in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia. Results: Variations were found in physicochemical and phytochemical parameters of two samples in each case of Saussurea lappa, Operculina turpethum, Anacyclus pyrethrin and of one sample in case of Plumbago zeylanicum. Pharmacognostical parameters were found same as given in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia for all the samples. Conclusions: The outcome of the study suggested that there is a lot of difference in the quality of the same drug marketed in different parts of country which may also cause variation in products prepared from them. These findings may be very useful for the identification of the species which may be useful to pharmaceutical industries for the quality control of the commercial samples.