University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 1984 Pharmacognosy of the Saururaceae : microscopy of powdered drugs Prakash Vaman Mallya University of the Pacific Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds Part of the Life Sciences Commons, and the Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Mallya, Prakash Vaman. (1984). Pharmacognosy of the Saururaceae : microscopy of powdered drugs. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/481 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PHARMACOGNOSY OF THE SAURURACEAE: MICROSCOPY OF POWDERED DRUGS A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of the Pacific In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Master of Science by Prakash Vaman Mallya July 1984 This thesis, written and submitted by Prakash Vaman Mallya is approved for recommendation to the Committee on Graduate Studies, University of the Pacific. Department Chairman or Dean: Thesis Committee: Chairman Dated___.;~-----~-~//:,..;....,._, J_...:..,r...;._t+-,'f___ _ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express sincere gratitude to Dr. Madhukar G. Chaubal for his guidance and encouragement throughout this study. Thanks are due to Dr. Dale W. McNeal for his helpful suggestions, Dr. John K. Brown for objective criticisms and Dr. Paul R. Richmond for help in preparing the photomicrographs. Help from Mrs. Sandra L. McNett-McGowan in preparing the diagrams and plates is gratefully acknowleged. Some plants of the Saururaceae were collected in China by Dr. Hu Shih-Lin, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Peking, China. His help is specially acknowledged. I am indebted to Dean Reuben W. Smith, my brother Dr. Satish V. Mallya, and Drs. Nitin V. Sheth, Lohit V. Tutupalli and to Sas~, Rajesh and Mahmud for support and encouragement. Financial support from the School of Pharmacy, University of the Pacific is gratefully acknowledged. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES. v LIST OF FIGURES vi LIST OF PLATES. vii INTRODUCTION. 1 PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY. 3 THE FAMILY SAURURACEAE 4 FOLKLORE MEDICINAL HISTORY OF THE SAURURACEAE. 6 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 8 CLEARING OF POWDER FOR PHOTOMICROGRAPHS. 9 --------------'GbEARI~G-W~~H-~bQ&AL-H~DR~~E,~. ~. ~. ~~~~~~----M---------- PREPARATION OF SAMPLES FROM CLEARED POWDERED DRUGS. ·. 10 SIZE DETERMINATION OF MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS. 11 IMPORTANT DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES. 13 MICROSCOPIC ELEMENTS OF THE SAURURACEAE 20 ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNI CA LEAF 21 ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA STEM 26 ANEMPOSIS CALIFORNICA ROOT/RHIZCME 31 CIRCAEOCARPUS SAURUROIDES LEAF 36 CIRCAEOCARPUS SAURUROIDES STEM 41 GYMNOTHECA INVOLUCRATA LEAF. 46 GYMNGrHECA INVOLUCRATA STEM . 53 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA LEAF. 56 HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA STEM. 62 HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA ROOT/RHIZOME. 67 SAURURUS CERNUUS LEAF. 71 SAURURUS CERNUUS STEM. 77 SAURURUS CERNUUS ROOTjRHIZOME. 82 DISCUSSION. 87 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 101 APPENDIX .. 102 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 105 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Summary Features in the Saururaceae Leaf Powders. 88 II. Summary Features in the Saururaceae Stem and Root/Rhizome Powders 90 III. Starch Grains in the Saururaceae Plant Powders. 92 IV. Pollen in the Saururaceae Leaf Powders 94 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Calibration of Ocular Micrometer Scale. 12 2. Types of Stomatal Apertures . 18 3. POWDERED LEAF: ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA 24 4. POWDERED STEM: ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA 28 5. POWDERED ROOT/RHIZOME: ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA . 34 6. POWDERED LEAF: CIRCAEOCARPUS SAURUROIDES 39 7. POWDERED STEM: CIRCAEOCARPUS SAURUROIDES 44 8. POWDERED LEAF: GYMNOTHECA INVOLUCRATA. 50 9. POWDERED STEM: GYMNOTHECA INVOLUCRATA. 55 10. POWDERED LEAF: HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA. 59 11. POWDERED STEM: HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA. 65 12. POWDERED ROOT/RHIZOME: HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA . 70 13. POWDERED LEAF: SAURURUS CERNUUS. 75 14. POWDERED STEM: SAURURUS CERNUUS. 80 15. POWDERED ROOT/RHIZOME: SAURURUS CERNUUS. 85 16a. Identification 'keys' for the SAURURACEAE Leaf Powders·. 97 16b. Identification 'keys' for the SAURURACEAE Leaf Powders. 98 17. Identification 'keys' for the SAURURACEAE Stem Powders. 99 18. Identification 'keys' for the SAURURACEAE Root/Rhizome Powders. 100 vi LIST OF PLATES Plate Page i. ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA LEAF. RANUNCULACEOUS STOMATA. 25 ii . ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA STEM 29-30 A. RESIN CELLS B. SINGLE OIL GLAND C. MEDULLARY RAY CELLS iii. ANEMOPSIS CALIFORNICA ROOT/RHIZOME. RESIN CELLS AND LIPID DROPLETS . 35 iv. CIRCAEOCARPUS SAURUROIDES LEAF. ACICULAR RAPHIDES . 40 v. CIRCAEOCARPUS SAURUROIDES STEM . CALCIUM OXALATE PRISMS . 45 vi. A. CALCIUM OXALATE DRUSES B. FUNGAL HYPHAE AND GLANDULAR STALKS Ca. EXCRETORY PRODUCTS b. POLLEN c. RESTING SPORES vii. HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA LEAF .... 60-61 A. GLANDULAR TRICHROME HEADS B. CONE SHAPED TRICHROME C. UNIQUE TRICHROME D. CANDELABRA TRICHOM~ vii LIST OF PLATES (continued) Plate Page viii. HOUTTUYNIA CORDATA STEM ... ...... 66 A. GLANDULAR BODY B. LIVERWORT ix. SAURURUS CERNUUS LEAF. 76 A. COVERING TRICHOMES B. GRIT FILLED CELLS X. SAURURUS CERNUUS STEM. 8 1 A. GROUP OF SCLERIDS B. ELONGATED SCLERIDS xi. SAURURUS CERNUUS ROOT/RHIZOME. CALCIUM 0X~ bA~E-Mi eR0G RYS~-kbS~. --. --. --. --. --. -.--.--. --. ----~&6--------- viii INTRODUCTION Up to the time of recognition of pharmacognosy as a science, in the nineteenth century, the basis for the identification of crude drugs consisted entirely of morphological descriptions and drawings of the various medicinal plants (1) . Since these portrayals were used principally by the physicians or the apothecary in confirming the identity of the plants which he himself gathered and prepared for medicinal use, microscopic desririptions and dimensions of the anatomical elements were unnecessay . Currently drug plants and herbs are part of t he international commerce . The original plant_matE~al-moB~-------­ likely is collected and processed for preservation and transportations a great distance from the consumer e nd . The consumer, r e searchers, manufacturers and herbalists come across only the size-reduced or powde red plant material and require microscopic means of identification and confirmation. Several "keys" are currently available for the microscopic identification of powdered crude drugs: Krae mer ( 2), Newcomb, et al. ( 3), Ga the rcoal and Wirth ( 4), Jackson and Snowdon (5), Eschrish (6), Stahl (7), Iye ngar (8), Wallis 1 2 (9), and Tyler and Schwarting (10). However, in order to utilize these keys, i t is necessary, in most cases, for the analyst to be familiar with all elements and the botanical terms encountered in them. For example, a student beginning microscopic pharmacognosy is not well acquainted with all terms used . An even more difficult task confronts, for example, the analytical chemist whose interest lies principally in chemistry and who occasionally e ncounters powde r e d drugs in his work. There is a possibility that these persons may not recognize one or more of the elements used in the key; as a result, fail or have great difficulty in the identification of the powdered specimen. These keys for identification of crude and powdered p hrllt drugs us rra-l-ty-d-e1r:Lwtth- cummun--dru-gs-o-:E--cummer-c-e--a-rr;r+-- - -­ most frequently include "official" drugs only . Microscopic ide ntification of plant drugs not included in the keys is difficult . "H e rbal medicine" is currently in vogue. Many plant drugs and teas are promoted as remedies for a variety of ailments. These claims may or may not have scientific validity. A great deal of work yet needs to be done r e ­ garding the validation of purporte d physiologic-pharmacologic properties and values of herbal a nd folklore medicines . The difficulties of validation of medicinal value of he rbal medicines begin with establishing the correct identity 3 of the plant being used or examined. As previously stated, if one does not have microscopic data based on an authentic plant specimen, indentification of a commercially available powdered "herb" may be next to impossible (11). Purpose of this Study Plants of the family Sauruaceae are used in folk medicine in v~rious parts of the world. Chemistry of some plants of this family and their chemotaxonomy has been investigated in our laborato ry (12). It is very difficult to e stablish identity and authenticity of commercially available crude drugs and powders of the Saururaceae because a detaile d, collective study of microscopie features of these plants is not ava~lable. Or1g~nal papers estab~1sning plants o r-tl1is family (see later) do not include microscopic f eatures; they de scribe only gross morpholo gic and other classical f eatures required for systematics. The y are not useful for a pharmacologist in e stablis hing identity of comme rcial drugs . Therefore a detailed microscopic examination of powde r e d materials prepared in the laboratory from authentic crude drugs of the Saururaceae was undertaken . The observations are collectively presented in the form of "keys" which could be used by pharmacognosists and 4 others involve d in e xamination of crude drugs and h e rba l medic inals. The Family Saururaceae Saururaceae as here r ecognize d consists of five gen era a nd seven species: Saururus cernuus