MICROMORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS AND PHYTOCHEMICAL CONTENTS OF SOME PHLOMIS SPECIES FROM IRAN Original Article SOODABEH SAEIDNIA, MARJAN NIKAN, TAHMINEH MIRNEZAMI, AHMAD REZA GOHARI, AZADEH MANAYI* Medicinal Plants Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Email: manayi@sina.tums.ac.ir Received: 16 Sep 2015 Revised and Accepted: 18 Nov 2015 ABSTRACT Objective: Microscopic characterization of a plant is a valuable method for accurate identification of the plant powder. The plants of Phlomis genus (Lamiaceae) are mostly distributed in the north and west of Iran with about 10 endemic species. In the present investigation, microscopic characterization of some Phlomis species including Phlomis bruguieri, Phlomis rigida, Phlomis kurdica, and Phlomis olivieri were assessed along with their phytochemical contents. Methods: The powders of the mentioned plants were analyzed using Zeiss microscope attached to a digital camera. Phytochemical contents of the plants extracts including total phenol, tannin, and polysaccharide were measured as well as a radical scavenging activity using the 2,2-diphenyl-1- picryl-hydrazyl method. Results: The results of this study indicated that diacytic stomata, glandular trichome, stellate trichome, and crystals were the characteristic features of the examined species. Total phenol, tannins, and polysaccharides of the plants were assessed ranging 66.0-101.8 µg gallic acid equivalent in mg dry extract (µg GAE/mg EXT), 6.9-9.5 µg tannic acid equivalent in mg dry extract (TAE/mg EXT), and 512-559 µg glucose equivalent in mg dry extract (GE/mg EXT), respectively. Moreover, half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of radical scavenging activity of the extracts were calculated according to the plot of inhibition percentage against different concentrations of each extract as 218.6, 112.0, 113.3, and 58.7 µg/ml, respectively. Conclusion: The observed differences between Phlomis species can be applied in the accurate identification of these medicinal plants particularly in dried powdered materials regarding their microscopic characterizations and phytochemical contents. Keywords: Phlomis, Microscopic characterization, Phytochemical contents, Free radical scavenging. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) INTRODUCTION Accurate identification of a plant is a prerequisite step for scientists before using them for other applications. Although molecular assessment is attracted more attention, it is not sufficient for identification of plants as well as quality control. Botanical microscopy is a valuable method especially in the identification of dried plant materials, in which the characteristics were changed compared with the fresh materials while drying and fragmentation of the plant do not alter the most microscopic features [1,2]. In addition, chemical profile of a plant dramatically changed through drying and fragmentation processes, which can limit the usefulness of chemistry for the plant identification [2]. This method is also extremely valuable in the detection of adulterated plant materials with other plants and/or different parts of the same plant, as well as mixture of inorganic materials such as dirt, insect parts and rodent hairs that are not detectable using chemical assessment [2, 3]. For instance, specialized glandular trichomes (scales or hairs on the surface of the leaf) are typical characteristics of the family Lamiaceae. The presence of such glandular trichomes in a sample that belongs to another family indicates the adulteration of that sample with some types of mint. On the other hand, the absence of a particular trichome in an examined sample shows that the plant does not belong to the Lamiaceae family [2]. Therefore, knowledge of the diagnostic properties associated with the genus or family provides a direction toward identification of unknown samples. However, the microscopic characterization is appropriate only for identification not for quality assessment or the extracts evaluation [2]. In the microscopic characterization of a plant material, there are two major diagnostic parameters including cell types and crystals of calcium oxalate [4]. Soluble oxalic acid is detoxified by many plants to insoluble calcium oxalate, which crystallizes in characteristic forms like prismatic crystals, raphides, acicular crystals and cluster crystals that are critical for diagnostic purposes. Prismatic crystals are rhomboidal in shape. Cluster crystals or druses of calcium oxalate are spheroidal aggregates with numerous faces and sharp points [2]. The genus Phlomis belongs to Lamiaceae family with 17 species, 10 of which are endemic of Iran, distributed in the Azerbaijan, Fars, Gilan, Hamedan, Isfahan, Kurdistan, and Mazandaran provinces [5, 6]. The plants of this genus demonstrate several medicinal properties including wound healing, anti-tussive, sedative, tonic, carminative, astringent, anti-diabetic, diuretic along with ulcer treatment, hemorrhoids, and respiratory tract disorders [7-11]. Furthermore, recent studies indicated various activities for some species of Phlomis like anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, anti- nociceptive, anti-mutagenic, anti-allergic, antimalarial, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties [7, 12-16]. Phytochemical analysis of these plants resulted in the identification of several secondary metabolites comprising lignans, neolignans, alkaloids, terpenoids, iridoids, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds like phenylpropanoids, phenylethanoids, as well as their glycoside derivatives [10, 17-19]. In the present article, anatomical structures of the aerial parts of some Phlomis species including P. bruguieri, P. rigid, P. kurdica and P. olivieri along with their phytochemical contents and radical scavenging activities were clarified. MATERIALS AND METHODS Chemicals and reagents All the substances including solvents and reagents were purchased with the analytical grade. Solvents, glucose, gallic acid and Folin- Ciocalteu were purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). Plant materials and extraction All the Phlomis species in this study including P. bruguieri, P. rigida, P. kurdica, and P. olivieri were collected from Kurdistan province in the west parts of Iran. The plants were identified by Mr. Yousef Ajani International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN- 0975-1491 Vol 8, Issue 1, 2016