ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants are plants in which one or more of its organs contains substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes. They are plants used in herbalism or herbal medicine. Standardization of herbal medicines and raw materials is very important. WHO emphasis includes the physicochemical and phytochemical evaluation of crude drug materials for developing standardized quality control profiles of herbal medicines. Hence this study, which was designed to determine some quality control profiles of the aerial part of Justicea carnea.
The aerial part of J. carnea was collected and some quality control profiles for the plant material were determined using standard methods of analysis.
Macroscopical examination revealed a simple and petiolated leaf. Microscopy showed the presence of wavy walled epidermal cells, anomocytic stomatal arrangement, multicellular trichomes and xylem vessels. Transverse section of the midrib showed an isobilateral tissue arrangement. Chemomicroscopy showed the presence of lignin, cellulose, starch, mucilage and fatty oils. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of glycosides, saponins and steroids; with absence of alkaloids, tannins and cyanogenetic glycoside. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) showed the presence of a number of phytoconstituents. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) identified some important components such as phytol, campestrol, alpha and beta amyrin, quinindoline, apigenin, etc. The results of proximate analysis were as follows; moisture content (15.70%), total ash content (14.18%), crude fat (8.50%), crude fiber (7.39%), crude protein (22.09%) and carbohydrate (48.44%). Elemental analysis showed the presence of Cu, Fe, Mg, Na, K, Ca, Mn, Cr and Zn while Pb, Cd and Ni were below detectable limit (BDL). Foaming index was <100 and swelling index was 5 mL/g.
From this work, data have been provided pharmacognostically that will help in the correct identification of the plant, ensure genuineness of the collected plant and eliminate adulteration.
