Research Paper July-August 2016 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 469 Macro, Microscopic and Preliminary Analytical Evaluation of Root and Leaf of Globba marantina Linn. - An Extrapharmacopoeial Drug of Ayurveda S. ROY*, R. N. ACHARYA, C. R. HARISHA 1 AND V. J. SHUKLA 2 Department of Dravyaguna, 1 Pharmacognosy Laboratory, 2 Pharmaceutical Chemistry Laboratory, Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar-361 008, India Roy, et al.: Microscopic and Analytical Evaluation of Globba marantina Root and Leaf Globba marantina Linn., an extra pharmacopoeial plant of Ayurveda, locally known as chhota rasna by tribal people of Orissa, belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. Ethnomedicinally roots and leaves of G. marantina is claimed to be used in the management of asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, cough, cold, snakebite and others. Though used traditionally, no proper scientifc evaluation of this plant for its pharmacognostical characters has been reported. Hence, the present study has been performed to establish the root and leaf of the plant for its microscopical and physicochemical characters along with different qualitative tests, as per Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Powder microscopy of the root shows ample amount of starch grain, prismatic crystal, lignifed fber, scalariform vessel whereas that of leaf shows monocot type III stomata, ample amount of prismatic crystal, fber and covering trichome. Surface study shows presence of more number of stomata as well as stomatal index, in lower surface, in comparison to upper surface. Physicochemical parameters show higher moisture content in leaf sample (9.8060±0.0265% w/w) than the root sample (9.505±0.465% w/w) and water soluble extractive value of both the samples has been found more in comparison to alcohol soluble extractive value. The observed data can be helpful to identify and standardize root and leaf of G. marantina. Key words: Chhota rasna, Gndhamardan Hills, Globba marantina, pharmacognostical evaluation, Zingiberaceae The knowledge about medicinally important plants has been scientifcally documented, and systematically presented in Ayurvedic samhitas, nighantus and other texts. Codifed information regarding plants of folklore origin has not been documented in the classical texts of Ayurveda. The plants which are not codifed in the classical literature of Ayurveda i.e. samhitas or in nighantus but are used traditionally to combat of different diseases are called as anukta dravya (undocumented)/extrapharmacopoeial plants in Ayurveda. These anukta dravyas are the contribution of the studies published through various ethomedicinal/ anthropological survey studies [1] . Globba marantina, Zingiberaceae, an extrapharmacopoeial plant is known as chhota rasna in Orissa and Dancing Girl Ginger in English. It is an erect or inclined herb, leaves oblong to lanceolate attached with sheathing base, inforescence compact, and fower yellow in colour in the axil of one or more of the upper bract. It is found in Eastern Himalayas, West Bengal, Khasia hills, Sri lanka, and Orissa [2-4] . Different parts of G. marantina have been claimed ethnomedicinally by traditional practitioners of Orissa in the management of different disease conditions like conjunctivitis, cough, cold, rheumatism, snake bite, asthma, leucoderma and others [2,3] . It is also used as spice and eaten as a seasoning in Malaya [4] . Inspite of its ethnomedicinal claims, this plant has not been evaluated scientifcally, to set standards of pharmacognostical and preliminary phytochemical characters for its proper identifcation. Hence, this *Address for correspondence E-mail: sudiptagau@gmail.com This is an open access article distributed under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows other the remix, tweak, and build up to the non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Accepted 13 July 2016 Revised 02 June 2016 Received 17 June 2015 Indian J Pharm Sci 2016;78(4):469-478