Plant material (Ocimum americanum, Ocimum basilicum) was purchased from local nursery of district Amravati from Maharashtra. Plant material (Ocimum kilimandscharicum, Ocimum gratissimum, Ocimum sanctum) was purchased from Nagarjun Garden Dr. P.D.K.V. Akola. Identification and authentication was made from H.O.D, Botany department, Government Vidarbha Institute of science & Humanities, Amravati (Maharashtra) Phamacognostic evaluations Macroscopic evaluation Macroscopy of whole plant was studied by observing the organoleptic characters such as color, odor, size, shape, taste and special features including touch and texture etc. Organoleptic evaluations can be done by means of organs of special sense which includes the above parameters and thereby define some specific characteristics of the material which can be considered as a first step towards establishment of identity. 25-26 Microscopic evaluation Microscopic evaluation is very helpful in the initial identification of herbs as well as in detection of adulteration by characteristics tissue features. Every plant possesses a characteristics tissue structure which can be demonstrated through study of tissue arrangement, cell walls and configurations, when properly mountain in stains, reagents and media. Thus it determines the size, shape, and relative structure of different cell Microscopical parameters ABSTRACT There are about 150 species of Ocimum in the world and out of that 68 species are found in India. Comparative pharmacognostic study of these Ocimum species is unspecified. Growing demand of Ocimum plants demands quality standards for correct identification of desired Ocimum species. Objectives: Hence aim of present study is to establish comparative pharmacognostical, phytochemical and biological standards for most commonly found and morphologically confusing five species of Ocimum. Methods: Macroscopic, microscopic, preliminary phytochemical evaluations, extraction of essential oils, TLC analysis, in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potency of selected five species carried out and compared. Results: This comparative study reports that O. sanctum should be preferred in medicine use among selected five species based on phytochemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial potency.

Many ayurvedic natural products have properties to rejuvenate and protect the skin from environmental pollution, chemicals, atmospheric temperature fluctuation, UVA and UVB radiation, wrinkling, hyperpigmentation (excessive tanning) and inflammation. The present review focuses on properties and mechanism of action of photoprotective antioxidant phytoconstituents obtained from ayurvedic plants such as flavonoids, carotenoids, phenolics which can be useful in development of effective photoprotective herbal cosmetic formulation

Objectives:We aimed to develop, compare and optimise rapid and high yield extraction method for saponins of Safed musli using conventional extraction techniques and as well as modern microwave assisted solvent extraction method. Materials and methods: Roots of Safed musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) are extracted by maceration, soxhlet, sonication and microwave methods. Extract further fractionated to obtain total saponins. Microwave assisted solvent extraction (MASE) method is optimised using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array design. Total saponins are estimated by High Performance Thin Layer chromatography (HPTLC) from all extracts obtained by different methods. Results: Factors namely temperature, irradiation time, irradiation power and powder size which potentially affects extraction efficiency are considered while optimizing MASE by statistical orthogonal array design procedure and saponins are quantified using HPTLC. Under developed optimum conditions, MASE showed significantly higher yield (5.11%) and drastic reduction in extraction time (4 min) than conventional extraction methods. Conclusion: Saponins of Safed musli shown highest yield in MASE and then maceration, soxhlet and sonication followed. The developed and optimised method of saponin extraction by MASE can have huge industrial applications after scale up.

Introduction: Present study is focused to develop micro emulsion based nasal formulation of poorly water soluble antipsychotic/anti-schizophrenic drug Aripiprazole. Materials and Methods: Different surfactants and co surfactants are screened by implementing pseudo ternary phase diagram. Effect of concentrations of four independent variables-oil (X1), Surfactant (X2), co-surfactant (X3) and water (X4) on two dependent variablesparticle size (Y1) and drug content (Y2) is studied from surface response plots obtained by application of Box Behnken Design Experiment. QTPP and CQA mediated risk assessment applied to ensure desirable quality, safety and efficacy of developed microemulsion. Developed microemulsion evaluated for appearance, particle size, viscosity, drug content, pH, conductivity, drug release, zeta potential, polydispersity index, nasal toxicity and stability. Results: DoE based QBD approach lead development of suitable optimized batch of Aripiprazole micro emulsion with particle size 95.2 nm, viscosity 120 cp, pH 6.0, 90%, drug content and about 87.33% nasal permeability release within 4 hr. Risk assessment helped in identifying identification robust design parameters for rapid development of stable aripiprazole micro emulsion. The critical quality attributes (CQAs) like solubility and compatibility with excipients, dosage form, particle size, turbidity, drug content and drug release have greater impact on the stability and therapeutic performance of micro emulsion of aripiprazole. Conclusion: Aripiprazole containing intranasal micro emulsion is successfully developed by quality by design approach for understanding the critical quality attributes and microemulsion is better alternative over conventional delivery systems.

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A new simple, rapid, selective and precise high performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for simultaneous estimation of vasicine, glycyrrhizin, eugenol, and cineole in herbal cough syrup. The retention factors of vasicine, glycyrrhizin, eugenol, and cineole are 0.53, 0.44, 0.75, and 0.77, respectively. Chromatography was performed on 60F254 percolated TLC plate using n-hexane : ethyl acetate : glacial acetic acid (8.5 : 1.0 : 0.5 v/v/v). Methods are validated according to ICH guidelines and can be adopted for the routine analysis of vasicine, glycyrrhizin, eugenol and cineole in herbal cough syrup.

Objectives: Present communication deals with two-and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) QSAR studies of twenty saponin analogue for antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Methods: The 2D-QSAR model for the prediction was obtained by applying Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) method, giving r 2 = 0.8551 and q 2 = 0.7717 and Partial Least Squares (PLS) method, giving r 2 = 0.8551 and q 2 = 0.7717. 3D-QSAR study was performed using the stepwise variable selection k-nearest neighbour molecular field analysis (kNN-MFA) approach for both electrostatic and steric fields. Two different kNN-MFA methods (SA and GA) were used for the building of 3D-QSAR models. Results: The best model shows interesting result in terms of internal (q 2 > 0.62) and external (predictive r 2 > 0.52) predictivity for training and test set. Conclusion: Thus, QSAR models showed that hydrophobic and electrostatic effects dominantly determine the binding affinities. Hence the QSAR models proposed in this work would be further useful for development of new antifungal agents from medicinal plants and can help in the design of novel potent molecule.

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