Pharmacognostic Studies of Pseuderanthemum Carruthersii (Seem.) Guillaumin (Acanthaceae) Leaf

Abstract

Background: Pseuderanthemum Carruthersii (Acanthaceae) is traditionally utilized in the treatment of stomach, lung, and liver cancers. This study evaluated the pharmacognostic and physicochemical properties of the leaves to establish quality control parameters.

Methods: Fresh leaves of P. carruthersii were collected, authenticated, air-dried, pulverized, and stored in glass containers. Standardized procedures were employed to assess microscopy, micromeritic properties, chemomicroscopy, fluorescence characteristics, soluble extractive values, moisture content, ash values, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the dichloromethane leaf extract.

Results: Microscopic analysis revealed the presence of hypostomatic stomata. Micromeritic evaluation indicated an angle of repose of 35.49°, Carr's Index of 34.83%, and  Hausner's ratio of 1.53. The water-soluble, ethanol-soluble, and methanol-soluble extractive values were determined as 19.3% w/w, 9.0% w/w, and 10.0% w/w, respectively. Fluorescence analysis exhibited varied coloration, suggesting the presence of diverse phytochemicals. The moisture content, total ash, acid-insoluble ash, and water-soluble ash values were: 12.67% w/w, 19.8% w/w, 1.3% w/w, and 5.8% w/w, respectively. Chemomicroscopic examination of the powdered leaf confirmed the presence of mucilage, lignin, starch, cellulose, and protein.

GC-MS analysis identified a total of nine phytochemicals, with five major components exhibiting prominent peaks: Octadecahydro-benzo[cd]pyrene (25.42%), Cyclopropaneoctanoic acid (11.51%), 1-Phenanthrenecarboxylic acid (11.40%), Ethyl iso-allocholate (11.07%), and Cis-11-Hexadecenal (10.48%). Minor constituents included Rhodopin (6.07%), Butyrolactone (7.31%), Hydroxyacetic acid (7.33%), and 9-Octadecene, 1-methoxy- (E) (9.37%).

Conclusion: This study provided essential quality control benchmarks for the authentication of fresh and powdered leaf preparations of P. carruthersii. These findings contribute to the standardization of herbal formulations derived from this medicinal plant.