www.wjpps.com Vol 3, Issue 6, 2014. 1958 Seema et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences PHARMACOGNOSTICAL STUDIES ON THE TUBER OF BRACHYSTELMA EDULIS COLL. AND HELMSL. - AN ENDEMIC TO PENINSULAR, INDIA. More Seema Rajaram 1 * and Jadhav Rathod 2 , Varsha Dilip 2 1&2 Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur-416004. ABSTRACT Brachystelma edulis Coll. and Helmsl. belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae. This species is not specifically mentioned for medicinal use in the literature, but many of the tuberous Brachystelma are known to be used medicinally for headache, stomachache and cold in children in Satara districts. The present paper deals with pharmacognostical, fluorescence and phytochemical analysis of the tubers of B. edulis. Moisture content showed 97.01 % fresh weight in the tuber. Transverse section showed presence of starch grains in the tuber of B. edulis. When the powder exposed to UV light alcoholic NaOH extract, acetone extract, aqueous extract and methanolic extract showed pale green fluorescence. Preliminary phytochemical studies show the presence of tannins, cardiac glycosides in methanolic extract. Presence of carbohydrates, proteins, flavonoides, alkaloids, ash indicate that the plant have medicinal and food properties, due to this its exploitation necessary. Keywords: Pharmacognosy, Preliminary phytochemical screening, Fluorescence analysis, Powder behaviour, Tuber, Brachystelma edulis. INTRODUCTION The genus Brachystelma R. Br. is represented by about 100 species of the world. There are 14 species in India and 3 species in Maharashtra. The name Brachystelma is derived from the Greek words ‘Brachy’ means short and ‘stelma’ means crown, garland, wreath (for the nature of the corona). This species is originally known from Burma and Siam (Thailand). The B. edulis is one of them belongs to family asclepiadaceae and commonly called as Galya or Hanuman batata. It is distributed on partially degraded hill slopes and open hill tops among WORLD JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES SJIF Impact Factor 2.786 V Vo ol l u um me e 3 3, , I Is ss su ue e 6 6, , 1 19 95 58 8- - 1 19 96 65 5. . R Re es se ea ar rc ch h A Ar rt ti i c cl le e I I S SS SN N 2278 – 4357 Article Received on 14 April 2014, Revised on 05 May 2014, Accepted on 27 May 2014 *Correspondence for Author More Seema Rajaram Department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur-416004