Abstract

COMPARATIVE MICROSCOPIC, HPTLC AND ANTI-CANDIDAL STUDIES OF APIUM GRAVEOLENS L. SEEDS WITH MORPHOLOGICALLY IDENTICAL PLANTS

*Rampratap Meena, Meera Devi Sri P., Mageswari S., Sadaf Subhani and Zaheer Ahmed

Abstract

Apium graveolens L. seed is commonly known as celery seed and belongs to the family Apiaceae. In Traditional system of medicines, the seeds are used for ailment of various diseases. In Unani system of medicine, it is called as Tukhm-e-Karafs and is one of the main ingredient in many pharmacopoeial formulations. But it is often confused with its other closely related spices seeds like Trachyspermum ammi (Ajwain), Trachyspermum roxburghianum (Radhuni) and Apium leptophyllum (Ajamoda) which are more or less similar in appearance. The present paper attempts to explore the existence of similarity and difference between all the four plant seeds by analyzing its macro microscopical characters, HPTLC finger print profile and its anti-candidal properties to know their potency. From the study, it is concluded that the seeds of Apium graveolens are morphologically similar to seeds of Trachyspermum ammi, Apium leptophyllum and Trachyspermum roxburghianum but its microscopical structure and phyto-constituents are different. Since, all samples exhibited anti-candial activity, other pharmacological activities needs to be thoroughly scrutinized as all the four seeds contains different phyto-constituents.

Keywords: Seeds of Apiaceae; macroscopy; microscopy; HPTLC; Anti-candidal activity.