Page 197 - Pharmacognosy 2 PG303 (1)

Pharmacognosy-2 (PG303) Level 2 Clinical Pharmacy-Pharm D

Collection and Preparation
The drug is collected in Bengal, Dehra Dun, Assam and Ceylon; the roots and
rhizomes are dug in the autumn from plants that are 3-4 years old; they are washed
and dried and the drug is sold in the Indian markets. It is exported in large quantities
to Britain and to the United States of America.

Macroscopical Characters
In external characters pieces of rhizome and of root closely resemble one
another and the only reliable method of distinction is to find the small central pith
of the rhizome having a diameter of only 1-2 mm., as seen in the smoothed
transversely cut surface; it may even be necessary to confirm its presence
microscopically. The majority of pieces of the drug are about 8-15 cm. long and
0.5-1.0 cm. thick; some pieces are as much as 40 cm. long and may be up to 2 cm.
in diameter; they are sub-cylindrical or slightly tapering, somewhat tortuous and
rarely branched; pieces of the rhizome are less uniform in diameter, rootlets are not
numerous and are usually broken off short, having a diameter of 0.5-1.0 mm. and a
tetrastichous arrangement, the outer surface is dull and grayish brown with faint
longitudinal ridges, in older pieces it is somewhat scaly and the bark exfoliates in
small patches, exposing the pale yellowish-white wood, short lengths of aerial stem
are attached to some pieces of the drug. The fracture is short and the smoothed
transversely cut surface shows a pale yellowish-white, finely radiate and compact
wood, which occupies about three-quarters of the diameter and has 3 to 8 growth
rings; the narrow yellowish-brown bark is about 0.5-2 mm. wide; all the tissues are
starchy. The drug is odorless and has a bitter taste. A 1 % tincture fluoresces blue
in ultra-violet light.

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