PHCOG J. ORIGINAL ARTICLE Development of Quality Standards of Terminalia catappa Leaves Kadam P. V*, Yadav K. N, Narappanawar N. S,Shivatare R.S.,Bhusnar H.U. Patil M. J ABSTRACT Marathwada Mitra Mandal's College of Pharmacy, Thergaon (Kalewadi), Pune-411033 Sophisticated modern research tools for evaluation of the plant drugs are available today but microscopic method is one of the simplest and cheapest methods to start with for establishing the correct identity of the source materials. The leaves of Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) are reported to have good medicinal values in traditional system of medicines. But the pharmacognostic and Phytochemical standardization of the leaves were not validated till date. With the aim of drawing the pharmacopoeia! standards for this species, the present study deals with pharmacognostical parameters for the leaves of Terminalia catappa which mainly consists of Macroscopical and microscopical characters, physio-chemical constants, quantitative microscopy parameters and Preliminary phytochemical screening. This information will be of used for further pharmacological and instrumental evaluation of the species and will assist in standardization for quality, purity and sample identification. Key words: Pharmacopoeia! standards, Quality Standards, Standardization, Terminalia catappa. INTRODUCTION The usage of herbs to treat a variety of different ailments is universal, and exists in every human culture on Earth. Despite this, the largest use of medical herbs still occurs in societies which are not fully industrialized. Because of the high costs involved with manufacturing modern medicines, many people living in developing nations simply do not have the financial resources to pay for them, and as a result, they use natural herbs as an affordable alternative. There are a number of herbal systems that dominate the world today, and these systems are Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese herbs, Roman and Greek herbs and Shamanic herbs. The WHO has indicated that as many as 80% of all people living in the world make use of herbal medicine as their main source of healthcare [51. It is no wonder that the world's one-fourth population i.e. 1.42 billion people, are dependent on traditional medicines for the treatment of various ailments [81. Herbal formulations involve use of fresh or dried plant parts. Correct knowledge of such crude drugs is very important aspect in preparation, safety and Address for correspondence: E-mail: prasadvkadam@indiatimes.com; Mobile: 9850219875 DOI: 10.5530/pj.2011.26.4 efficacy of the herbal product [121 .However a key obstacle, which has hindered the acceptance of the alternative medicines in the developed countries, is the lack of documentation and stringent quality control. There is a need for documentation of research work carried out on traditional medicines. With this backdrop, it becomes extremely important to make an effort towards standardization of the plant material to be used as a medicine. The process of standardization can be achieved by stepwise pharmacognostic and Phytochemical studies. These studies help in identification and standardization of the plant material. Correct identification and quality assurance of the starting materials is an essential prerequisite to ensure reproducible quality of herbal medicine which will contribute to its safety and efficacy [161 .The leaves of Terminalia catappa belonging to family Combretaceae reported to posse's wide range of ethanomedical applications. In Suriname, a tea made from the leaves is prescribed against dysentery and diarrhea. It is also thought that the leaves contain agents for prevention of cancers and antioxidant as well as anticlastogenic characteristics and in Taiwan fallen leaves are used as a herb to treat liver diseases141. But the pharmacopoeial standards of the leaves were not produced till date.The current article describe some pharmacognostical, physicochemical and Phytochemical characteristics studied. The main objective of this study is to supplement some information with regards to its identification, Characterization and standardization of leaves of Terminalia catappa Pharmacognosy Journal I October 2011 I Vol 3 I Issue 26 19