Pharmacognosy Journal | November 2010 | Vol 2 | Issue 16 15 ORIGINAL ARTICLE PHCOG J. Address for correspondence: Sawant Laxman Email: laxmanpsawant@gmail.com Telephone: +919869686164 Fax: 91-22-26185422 DOI: **** Pharmacognostical Standardization of Enicostemma littorale Blume Sawant Laxman*, Prabhakar Bala, Kachwala Yusuf, Pandita Nancy School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, SVKM’s NMIMS, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai- 400056, India ABSTRACT Enicostemma littorale (Chota-Kirayat or Chota-Chirayata) is a glabrous perennial herb belongs to family Gentianaceae. activities. The present study deals with the pharmacognostical evaluation of Enicostemma littorale Blume. Macromorphology and microscopy were studies to establish the salient diagnostic features. The preliminary phytochemical analysis and thin layer chromatography has also been performed. The results of this study could be Key words: Enicostemma littorale INTRODUCTION Enicostemma littorale Blume. (Gentianaceae) is commonly known as whitehead. This species is globally distributed in West Indies, tropical Africa, India and Sri Lanka. It is found almost throughout India up to an altitude of about 450 m. [1] This plant has been widely used in traditional system of medicines for the treatment of diabetes, malaria and fewer. [2] effects, anticancer activity, hypoglycemic, antioxidant and hypolipidemic potential in newly-diagnosed non-insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus. [3-5] The plant is also useful in dipepsia, abdominal ulcers, skin diseases; glycosuria and snake bite. [6] It is reported to contain glycosides, tannins, triterpenoids and alkaloids. [7-9] The present investigation of Enicostemma littorale Blume. is taken up to establish purity of the drug in crude form. [10-11] MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection and authentication of plant material Enicostemma Littorale Blume. was collected as the wild plant from Mumbai, India, and authenticated by the Piramal Life Sciences Ltd, Mumbai, India. The plants were collected in the month of Aug-September. At that time, plants bear of plant with leaves and stems were collected, washed, cut in to small pieces. The collected material is dried under the sunlight. Then the dried material subjected to the powder form. The powder was passed through an 85-mesh sieve and stored in an airtight container at room temperature (28 ± 2°C). Reagents and Chemicals All reagents and chemicals used for testing were analytical grade obtained from Fisher Chemicals Ltd., Mumbai and Loba chemie, Mumbai, India. Organoleptic Evaluation The freshly collected different part of the plant were spreaded on a dry plastic sheet and investigated different organoleptic features by repeated observations using magnifying glass and ruler and then recorded. Macroscopic study The macroscopic characters of the different part of Enicostema littorale Blume. were studied according to standard methods and reported in the results. [12] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54