Decalepis Hamiltonii Wt

Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., Vol. 87 B, No. 2, February 1978, pp. 37--48, 9 Printed in India. Pharmacognostical studies on the root of Decalepis hamiltonii Wt. and Am., and comparison with Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br.* R C NAYAR, J K PATTAN SHETTY, Z MARY and S N YOGANARASIMHAN Regional Research Centre (Ay.), Government Central Pharmacy, Bangalore 560 011 MS received 13 May 1977; revised 7 September 1977 Abstract. The roots of Decalepis hamiltonii Wt. and Am. are usedinSouth India as a substitute for the well-known Ayurvedic drug' Sariva' (Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br.) which has well-established therapeutic properties. The pharmacognostical details of the roots of D. hamiltonii with illustrations and its comparison with the roots of H. indicus which may be useful for distinguishing the two crude drugs are presented in this paper. Keywords. Pharmacognosy; Decalepis hamiltonii; comparison with Hemidesmus indicus. 1. Introduction Decalepis Wt. and Am. (Asclepiadaceae) is a monotypic genus occurring in pennin- sular India (Santapau and Henry 1973). The roots of D. hamiltonii with a strong aromatic odour and a sweet-sarsaparilla-like taste is considered as an appetiser and blood purifier; the roots consist of about 92% fleshy matter and the rest of woody core; the volatile principle responsible for the aroma and taste of the root is 4-0- methyl-resorcylaldehyde (m.p. 42~ the volatile principle has bacteriostatic and toxic properties and hence the root can be stored unaffected for long periods. The roots contain besides the aldehyde, inositol, saponins, a crystalline resin acid, an amorphous acid, a ketonic substance showing the characteristics partly of sterols and partly of resinols; the sterols consist mainly of stigma sterol and brassica sterol; amyrins and lupeols, both free and as esters are also present (Anonymous 1952). Further, it was gathered (personal communication) that in the Government Central Pharmacy, Bangalore and in some of the leading Ayurvedic pharmacies in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the roots of this taxon which is considered as ' Sariva Bheda ' (in Ayurveda) is used in place of the roots of Hemidesmus indicus (Sariva) in Ayurvedic preparations like Amritamalaka taila, Drakshadi churna, Shatavari rasayana and Yeshtimadhu taila. It finds popular use for pickles. Due to the remarkable similarity in the therapeutic properties of the roots of D. hamiltonii and H. indicus and the non-availability of the roots of H. indicus in bulk quantities as required by drug manufacturers and physi- *Paper presented by first author at the 29th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress, held at Waltair, December 1977. 37 P. (B)--3 38 R C Nayar et al cians, the roots of D. hamiltonii are used in South India as a substitute for the roots of H. indicus. Aiyer (1951), Datta and Mukerji (1950) and Prasad and Wahi (1965) have worked out the pharmacognosy of the root and root-stock of H. indicus while the pharmacognosy of Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) R. Br. and Cryptolepis buchanani Roem. & Schult., which are considered as two other substitutes (Krishna Sariva and Jambu- patra Sariva respectively) of 1t. indicus have been worked out by Wahi et al (197In,b). However, available literature shows that the pharmacognostical studies on the root of D. hamiltonii has not been recorded so far, which necessitated the present investi- gation; a detailed comparative pharmacognostic account of the root of D. hamiltonii and H. indicus is also provided which will help to distinguish them in crude drug form. 2. Morphology of the plant D. hamiltonii is a stout climbing shrub with jointed stems. Leaves opposite, simple, broadly ovate, coriaceous with unequal base. Flowers small, white, in branched pedunculate cymes. Fruits a pair of stout follicles, lanceolate, ridged; seeds tipped with a white coma (Gamble 1967 (repr. ed.); Ramaswamy and Razi 1973), (figure 1 A, C)--Makaliberu (Kannada), Makalikizhangu (Tamil). Herbarium specimen examined: S N Y Simhan and R C Nayar 0965, colleeted on 6th December 1976, flowering and fruiting, at about 750 m, from Banneraghatta forests, Bangalore district, Karnataka State and Yoganarasimhan 0056, collected on 7th February 1972, fruiting, at about 880 m, Arakanakadu forests, on the way to Malai Mahadeswara hills, Mysore district, Karnataka State, are deposited in the Herbarium of Regional Research Centre, Bangalore. The authentic and market samples of the crude drug are preserved in the crude drug museum of the centre. The plants climb over shrubs and trees; the roots enter deep into the soil, often traversing the crevices of large rocky boulders, making their collection arduous. Part used: Roots. 3. Materials and methods Freshly collected roots from forests of Banneraghatta surroundings, Bangalore district, Karnataka State, were fixed in 70 ~o alcohol (Johansen 1940) for microscopical studies. Microchemical studies were done on freshly-cut roots according to Johansen (1940), Kay (1938) and Wallis (1965, 1967). For chemical analysis, deter- ruination of physical constants and fluorescence analysis, the shade dried roots were powdered and sieved through 60 mesh following the Indian Pharmacopoeia (Anony- mous 1966) and Chase and Pratt (1949). 4. Macroscopic characters The roots are 3 to 4 m or more long, traverse deep inside the soil, _emit_a strong aromatic odour when fresh, gradually diminishing on drying; they are markedly Pharmacognosy of D. hamiltonii 39 Figure 1. D. hamiltonii: (A) Plant; (B) Roots; one cut longitudinally; (C) Fruit. Pharmacognosy of D. hamiltonii 41 Figures 2-7. T. S. of 2. root (diagrammatic); 3. portion of pcriderm; 4. secondary phloem and xylem; 5. wood showing meta- and protoxylem; 6. tangential section of wood showing medullary rays; 7. young root. CAM: cambium; MR: medullary rays; OC: oil cells; P: phellem; PD: phelloderm; PG: phellogen; PH: phloem; PI: pith; PX: protoxylem; S: starch grains; STC: stone cells; T: tracheids; TC: thick walled cells; V: vessels. 42 R C Nayar et al fleshy and cylindrical, 3-6 cm across, brownish outside, very pale yellow inside, the outer surface smooth when fresh, soon becomes wrinkled and longitudinally ridged on drying. The smooth transverse surface shows a thin cork and a hard white wood. Fracture is short and splintery (figure 1B). 5. Microscopic characters The roots are almost circular in outline in transverse section (figure 2). The phellem consists of 6-10 layers of narrow, rectangular, tangentially elongated cells; the cells get compressed excepting for a few inner layers. The suberised cork cells are polyhedral in surface view and are filled with brownish contents (figure 8a); phellogen is one to two layered. Phelloderm consists of 18 to 20 layers of polyhedral cells. In addition, certain thick-walled cells are also present in the phelloderm region. Secondary phloem consists of sieve tubes, companion cells, and phloem parenchyma and here and there a few stone cells (figures 4 & 8i). The cells of the phloem parenchyma are larger towards the peripheral region becoming smaller inside (figure 4). Figure 8. Macerate: (a) Cork cells; (b) Fibres; (c) Parenchyma ceils of phloem; (d) Starch grains; (e) Tracheids; (f) Laticiferous cell; (g) Wood parenchyma; (h) Vessels; (i) Stone cells. Pharmacognosy of D. hamiltonii 43 Laticiferous cells are non-articulated, branched (figure 8f) and are present in the phloem. Fibres are absent in the secondary phloem region. Wood consists of 3-4 growth rings, composed of vessels, parenchyma, tracheids, tracheid-fibres and medullary rays; all the elements are lignified. Vessels occur singly or in groups of 2-3. The vessels are usually cylindrical, drum-shaped with transverse or oblique articulations and well-marked perforations and much elongated with numerous simple pits (figures 5 and 8h). The tracheids are long with chisel-like tapering or truncate end walls and have simple pits (figure 8e). Fibres are with small oblique pits and thick-walled, elongated, have narrow lumens and tapering ends, forming peg-like outgrowths in some cases (figure 8b). Wood parenchyma cells are simple pitted and are rectangular (figure 8g). Medullary rays are 1-3 cells wide and 6-10 cells high, uni-to multiseriate, the former being more frequent; cells are oblong to radially elongated and are simple pitted (figure 6). Starch grains are present in the phelloderm, secondary phloem, phloem porenchyma and ray cells. They are simple or compound and spherical or sub-reniform (figure 8e, d). Pith is almost absent and the central space is occupied by protoxylem elements (figure 5). Young roots do not show much difference from the mature ones in the structural details but for the range in number of layers of tissues (figure 7). The measurements of different tissues and cells are provided in table 1. 5.1. Powder analysis The root powder when treated with different concentrated acids like sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acid did not show any reaction; however with glacial acetic acid it turns brown, with NaOH yellow and black with iodine-potassium-iodide solution. 5.2. Macerate Macerate consists of portion of cork cells, starch grains, phloem parenchyma cells, xylem fibres, tracheids, wood parenchyma, vessels and stone cells (figure 8 a-i). Table 1. Measurements of different tissues and cells in microns (t0. PheUem cells T=66-88--100x 26--33--40 M=40--66--78 x 20--26--42 Phelloderm cells T = 26-- 52 -- 72 • 26 -- 65 M = 40 -- 66- 80 • 27-- 40 -- 66 Vessels T=79--170-- 196 M = 150- 375-- 585 • 50-- 114-- 330 Tracheids T=79-- 170-- 196 M=375--420-- 585 • 22--30 Fibres M=600-- 800--930x 15--17--22 Wood parenchyma M =40-- 66-- 78 x 7-- 26-- 30 Xylem ray cells T=21--24--28 x 14--18--21 Pith cells T=14--21--28 Starch grains T=3--4--6 Vessels per sq. mm 120 -- 200 numbers T = measurements across; M =measurements of macerate. 44 R C Nayar et al 5.3.

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