Abstract

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL STANDARDISATION AND REVIEW ON CAPPARIS ZEYLANICA LINN., A COMMON SIDDHA HERBAL DRUG

*V. Gayathri Devi, Anitha John and S. Selvarajan

Abstract

Capparis zeylanica Linn. is a rigid, wiry and much branched shrub and widely distributed in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malaysia. (Family: Capparidaceae; Syn: Capparis horrida Linn.; Sanskrit - Kantakalatha; Malayalam – Karthotti; Tamil – Adondai). The root and leaves of Capparis zeylanica Linn. are widely used in the indigenous system of medicine. In Indian traditional systems of medicine, C. zeylanica is considered as an important remedy for the treatment of several diseases. To assure the quality of the drug, standardisation has become very essential and need of the present hour. Hence it was thought worthwhile to explore this plant on the basis of standardization parameters for the quality control of the drug. In the present paper, a detailed pharmacognostic study on Capparis zeylanica Linn. (leaves) based on its physicochemical and phytochemical studies were carried out to lay down the pharmacopoeial standards. The physico - chemical parameters such as moisture content, total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash, water soluble extractives, alcohol soluble extractives, pH of water extract, volatile oil and fibre content, were determined. The limit tests for arsenic & heavy metals were carried out and were found to be within the permissible limit which proves the safety of the drug material. The fluorescence characters of the drug in different solvents were detected in visible, short UV and long UV light. High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic (HPTLC) and Thin Layer Chromatographic (TLC) studies were carried out. A preliminary phytochemical study was carried out using different extractives of the plant material. Apart from these studies, this paper attempts to encompass the available literature on C. zeylanica with respect to its traditional uses, pharmacological activity and phytochemical aspects.

Keywords: Capparis zeylanica, Adondai, physicochemical, chromatographic, pharmacopoeial standards.