PHYSICOCHEMICAL STANDARDISATION AND AN OVERVIEW ON CAESALPINIA BONDUC LINN., A WIDELY USED INDIAN TRADITIONAL DRUG

V. Gayathri Devi*, Anitha John and S. Selvarajan

ABSTRACT

Caesalpinia bonduc (L) Roxb. (Family – Leguminosae;) is commonly used in Siddha, Ayurveda, and other Indian traditional systems of medicine and is considered as an important remedy for the treatment of several diseases. It is a perennial plant growing as a hedge plant up to 15 m in height and widely distributed all over the world specially in India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Andaman-Nicobar Islands. Herbal drugs are attaining a significant role in health systems worldwide as potential source of therapeutic agents for maintaining proper health as well as in diseased conditions. It is worthwhile to explore this plant on the basis of standardization parameters for the quality control of the drug as well as phytochemical, pharmacological aspects etc. In the present paper, a pharmacognostic study on Caesalpinia bonduc Linn. (leaves) based on its physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical studies were carried out to lay down the pharmacopoeial standards. The physicochemical parameters such as moisture content, total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash, water soluble extractives, alcohol soluble extractives, pH of water extract, volatile oil and fibre content were determined. The limit tests for arsenic & heavy metals were carried out and were found to be within the permissible limit which proves the safety of the drug material. The fluorescence characters of the drug in different solvents were detected in visible, short UV and long UV lights. Apart from these studies, this paper attempts to encompass the available literature on C. bonduc with respect to its geographical distribution, botanical characters, cultivation, traditional uses, phytochemical aspects and pharmacological activities.

Keywords: Caesalpinia bonduc, Kazharchi, Physicochemical, Traditional Uses, Phytochemicals.