Pharmacognostic Studies on Two Himalayan Species of Traditional Medicinal Value: <i>Allium wallichii</i> and <i>Allium stracheyi<i/>

Abstract

The present research was aimed as a pharmacognostic study of whole plants of Allium wallichii and Allium stracheyi, both of which are very important traditional medicinal plants of North-West Himalayas. This study was carried out in terms of macroscopic and microscopic analyses and standard histochemical methods were followed for detecting starch, calcium oxalate, tannins, total lipids and alkaloids. Allium wallichi can be distinguished from A. stracheyi by possessing polyarch roots, mycorrhizal fungi in the outer cortical cells and triangular leaf midrib. The present study is the first to describe the pharmacognosy in terms of anatomical and histochemical features of these two Himalayan Allium species. Although they are listed in Ayurvedic database, the API so far has not given an account on these two species and hence this work is of high importance. Also, the herbal industries, researchers and traditional medicine can now use the distinguishing characters of these species listed in the current paper, while specifically acquiring them from local markets without any confusion.

Palynological diversity of highly medicinal rare, endangered, and threatened plants from Western Himalaya, India

“…Pollen grains were analyzed for various quantitative and qualitative characters (Table 2). (Gaur, 1999) Himalayan region of India, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Tibet, 1500-3300 m asl (Balkrishna, 2012) Gangnani, Uttarakhand 2199 30°56.14ˈ 78°41.08ˈ Asparagales Amaryllidaceae Amaryllidaceae Amaryllidaceae Amaryllidaceae Allium stracheyi Baker/23772 23772 23772 23772 Farn Endangered (Mohan et al, 2019) Western Himalaya in India, Nepal and Pakistan, 2500-3625 m asl (Singh and Sanjappa, 2006;Rawat et al, 2016;Tiwari et al, 2014) Saroli The Himalayas in India, Cultivated in India (Chopra et al, 1956;WOI, 2000) CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, J&K Inner ranges of the Himalaya from Kashmir to Sikkim; 1800-4000 m asl (Gaur, 1999;Khare, 2007) Chattergalla, Doda, J&K 3125 32°52.69ˈ 075°43.65ˈ…”

Stomatal Analysis of <i>Allium wallichii</i> Kunth Leaves: An Experimental Finding through Quantitative Microscopy

“…For a long, the plant is very useful and highly neglected during current research. Only few studies including pharmacognostic and phylogenetic have been carried out in past 7,10,39 . However, no any studies so far conducted for revealing the stomata type, stomata number and stomatal index.…”

Ethnomedicinal and traditional application of Allium wallichii Kunth (Himalayan Onion): An unexplored and underutilized nutraceutical plant foods from Himalayan regions.

“…Interestingly, several species of Allium genus including onion and garlic are mostly utilized for the source of vegetable and medicine throughout world. Among these Allium wallichii Kunth (Family: Amaryllidaceae; Locally known as Jimbu or Himalayan onion) are one such fewer known species (with rare and endangered status in some places) having high medicinal and culinary value and are commonly used by Himalayan tribal communities (Tiwari et al 2014;Mohan et al 2019). As per records, Allium polyastrum, Allium bulleyanum and Allium praelatitium are some of the common synonyms known for the plant (Quattrocchi 2016).…”

“…In brief, A. wallichii is a perennial herb of higher altitude (between 2700 to 3600 m elevations) having single, conical, and short bulb (flowering during August and September and having garlic like odor), majorly habitat in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Southwestern China, respectively (Chhetri & Gupta 2007, Rana & Samant 2010, Huang et al 2014Chen et al 2021). The detailed pharmacognostical and phylogenetic studies revealing various identification characters has been carried out in the recent past (Tiwari et al 2014, Huang et al 2014, Paul et al 2019, Tang et al 2021. A study conducted on 110 informants suggested strong aroma for A. wallichii by 100%.…”

“…Additionally, the plant has mixed aroma of both onion and garlic, attains 40-65 cm of height, having undeveloped insignificant cylindrical bulb, linear to lanceolate (or oblong) leaves, with old fibrous leaf covered stem base, roots are thick, rhizomatous and elongated and densely flowered (Tiwari et al 2014, Pandey et al 2022. Particularly, the occurrence of thickened fleshy roots as storage organs and the lack of true bulbs or rhizomes are the major identification features (Huang et al 2014, Hanelt & Fritsch 1994.…”