Authentication of herbal drug Tukhm‐e‐balango (Lallemantia royleana Benth.) using microscopic, pharmacognostic, and phytochemical characterization

Abstract

The study is aimed to provide a comprehensive account on authentication of herbal drug named as Tukhm‐e‐balango (Lallemantia royleana Benth.) from the seeds of Ocimum basilicum by using microscopic, pharmacognostic, and phytochemical characterization. The crude medicinal plants and their parts are often adulterated or substituted in market due to improper identification by the consumers while among herbal plant sellers, taxonomic confusion is caused due to morphological similarities of the plant parts and lack of a standard identification system.In microscopy, both herbarium and fresh specimens were studied using qualitative and quantitative morphological characteristics of leaves, seeds, and pollen. For pharmacognosy, solubility, fluorescence, and physicochemical characterizers were analyzed whereas a total phenolic and flavonoids contents was determined in addition to DPPH radical scavenging activity. In current study, microscopic, pharmacognostic, and phytochemical characterization clearly differentiated L. royleana from O. basilicum. The major problem in herbal drug industry is caused due to confusion and controversy of certain synonyms used for more than one or two drugs. Sometimes, under the same common or local name, entirely different taxa are being sold in herbal markets. It is concluded that correct and proper identification of medicinal plants is very crucial to ensure the safety and efficacy of herbal medicines, as many medicinal plants are intentionally or unintentionally adulterated with similar species or varieties. In herbal market, the seeds of L. royleana are adulterated with seeds of O. basilicum due to their similar morphology.

Pollen morphology of selected melliferous plants and its taxonomic implications using microscopy

“…In the last several years, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has had a major impact on various disciplines of biological study (Khan et al, 2018; Rahman et al, 2019; Ullah, Ahmad, et al, 2019; Ullah, Ahmad, Jabeen, et al, 2021; Ullah, Ahmad, Zafar, et al, 2021; Ullah, Nasar Shah, et al, 2019; Ullah, Zafar, Ahmad, et al, 2021; Ullah, Zaman, et al, 2019). Furthermore, improved microscopy techniques can not only play an important role in this discipline by examining the ultrastructure of plant specimens (Alam et al, 2019; Kalsoom et al, 2019; Lubna et al, 2019; Rashid, Ahmad, et al, 2019; Rashid, Zafar, et al, 2019) but also in related filed of biological sciences (Ahmad et al, 2018; Shaheen et al, 2018; Rashid et al, 2018).…”

“…The pollen surface has been greatly enhanced attributable to scanning electron microscopy (Akhtar et al, 2021; Aziz et al, 2022; Niazi et al, 2021; Rahman et al, 2019; Rozina Ahmad, Khan, et al, 2021; Rozina Ahmad, Zafar, et al, 2021). Scanning microscopy pollen research is also utilized to generate new terminology for defining pollen ornamentation, a statistical approach to pollen sculpturing, and even data analysis of the exine (Ijaz et al, 2022; Kanwal et al, 2022; Rashid, Ahmad, et al, 2019; Rashid, Zafar, et al, 2019; Hussain et al, 2021; Shah et al, 2021; Shahzad et al, 2021; Waheed et al, 2021; Yousaf et al, 2021).…”

Taxonomic Implications of Leaf Micromorphology Using Microscopic Analysis: A Tool for Identification and Authentication of Korean Piperales

“…Micromorphological characteristics of leaves have been applied in systematic studies for different taxonomic groups such as bryophytes [3,4], ferns [5][6][7], gymnosperms [8][9][10][11], and angiosperms [12][13][14][15]. Recently, leaf micromorphology using microscopic analysis has also been used to facilitate accurate authentication and quality control of medicinal plants [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Although leaf micromorphological characteristics are commonly used in the identification and authentication of plants, no comprehensive studies have investigated the leaf micromorphology of the order Piperales, which contains many important medicinal herbs.…”

Evaluation of diagnostic morphological and anatomical features of Ocimum americanum (Lamiaceae) raw material

“…The most justified is complex approaches using pharmacognostic analysis of plant raw material (Hordiei et al, 2023;Rustemkulov et al, 2023). Pharmacognostic standardisation and correct identification of plant material in the context of quality assessment are crucial to providing the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines due to inter-and intra-species diversity (Maurya et al, 2019;Rashid et al, 2019). Besides the phytochemical characterisation, it is essential to provide a comprehensive morphological and anatomical authentication of plant raw material, which is often adulterated due to improper identification (Simmler et al, 2018;Rashid et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2021;Mykhailenko et al, 2022).…”

“…Pharmacognostic standardisation and correct identification of plant material in the context of quality assessment are crucial to providing the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines due to inter-and intra-species diversity (Maurya et al, 2019;Rashid et al, 2019). Besides the phytochemical characterisation, it is essential to provide a comprehensive morphological and anatomical authentication of plant raw material, which is often adulterated due to improper identification (Simmler et al, 2018;Rashid et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2021;Mykhailenko et al, 2022). For instance, microscopy is a traditional pharmacopoeial method used to identify plants (Ichim et al, 2020;Rustemkulov et al, 2023).…”