Pharmacognostical Evaluation of Roots of Pygmaeopremna herbacea (Roxb.) Mold.

Pygmaeopremna herbacea (Roxb.) Mold. (Verbenaceae) is a small herb or sometimes an undershrub arising from a perennial rootstock. The dry roots are dark muddy brown in colour having root nodules. Its extensively developed roots are widely used in tribal medicine. They are used as an aphrodisiac and for the treatment of gout, rheumatism and ulcers. This study deals with the detailed pharmacognostical evaluation of the dried roots and root nodules of P. herbacea which includes macro and microscopic studies, determination of physicochemical parameters and chemoprofiling of the extract using HPTLC fingerprint profiles. It was observed that the roots consist of a well developed cortical region consisting of tangentially elongated thin walled parenchymatous cells and contain polygonal stone cells as well as compound starch grains. Also the pith was parenchymatous. The HPTLC fingerprint profile of the methanolic extract showed the presence of seven major bands. Such an analysis may thus be utilized in identifying P. herbacea and in differenciating it from other species which are similar to it or are used as its adultrants/substitutes under the same vernacular name of Bharangi.