Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jarmap Pharmacognostic characterization and development of standardization parameters for the quality control of Entada africana Guill. & Perr Michael Frimpong Baidoo a , Evelyn Asante-Kwatia a, ⁎ , Abraham Yeboah Mensah a , George Henry Sam b , Isaac Kingsley Amponsah a a Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana b Department of Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Entada africana Pharmacognostic Physicochemistry Phytochemistry Microscopy ABSTRACT This study focused on establishing standard parameters for the identifcation and quality control of an in- digenous medicinal plant, Entada africana through macro and micro-morphological, physicochemical and phy- tochemical evaluation of the leaf and stem bark. Microscopy of the whole leaf revealed wavy and straight walled epidermal cells, hypostomatic paracytic stomata, an arch shaped collaterally closed vascular bundle, col- lenchyma, sclerenchyma and palisade cells. Prismatic calcium oxalate crystals, stone cells, fbres, pitted and scalariform xylem vessels were also identifed in the microscopy of powdered samples. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of glycosides, saponins, tannins, favonoids, coumarins, triterpenes and sterols. Physiochemical parameters such as the moisture content, ash content, mineral content, solvent soluble ex- tractives and pH of edible extracts were determined. Fluorescence analysis and UV fngerprints were also de- veloped for the methanol extracts. The current results provide necessary information for the correct identif- cation and quality assessment of E. africana crude drug or herbal products containing the plant. 1. Introduction Plant medicines play an important role in the health care of many people especially in developing countries. In Ghana for example, over 60% of the country’s population are reported to depend on herbal products for health care (Agbovie et al., 2002). The major drawback to the use of herbal medicine however is the lack of standardization. This paves way for wrong identifcation, unintentional substitution of clo- sely related species and intentional adulteration of genuine herbs with low grade ones, in order to meet the growing demands of the market (Chanda, 2014). Moreover, herbal drugs are liable to decomposition, contamination and variation in composition of constituents, which gives rise to little or no therapeutic efcacy. It is therefore important that standardization parameters be laid down for the correct identif- cation, extraction and purifcation of medicinal plants to ensure re- producible quality and efcacy (Aslam and Afridi, 2018). It is also imperative to evaluate qualitative and quantitative parameters that may be useful in preventing adulteration of the crude herbs and its formulations (Satyendra et al., 2012). Entada africana Guill. & Perr. of the family Mimosaceae, is a deciduous plant distributed in the savannah regions of most Sub- Saharan African countries. The tree is a popular traditional medicine commonly harvested from the wild for both local use and for sale in the local markets. The whole plant is known to have a general healing ef- fect. The root, stem bark and leaves have been used to treat malaria, arthritis, rheumatism, convulsions, gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin and sexually transmitted infections (Kerharo and Adam, 1974; Occhiuto et al., 1999; Maiga et al., 2005). In traditional pharmacopoeias, this plant is mostly indicated for its wound healing efect. The root decoc- tion (or powder) and leaves are often used as wound dressing to prevent suppuration (Burkill, 1985; Diallo et al., 2001). Scientifc reports have also confrmed its antioxidant (Guissou et al., 2010), anti-plasmodial, anti-infammatory (Owona et al., 2013), anti-nociceptive (Ezenyi et al., 2014), hepato-protective (Njayou et al., 2013) and antiviral activities against hepatitis C virus (Galani et al., 2014). Polysaccharides and tri- terpene saponins have been previously isolated from the roots (Diallo et al., 2001; Ciof et al., 2006). Despite the acceptance and wide use of E. africana, standardization parameters are not yet available for its authentication. Lack of such knowledge may afect its proper identif- cation and hence the overall efcacy and safety of the fnal product. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2018.11.003 Received 4 July 2018; Received in revised form 19 November 2018; Accepted 23 November 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: emireku@yahoo.com (E. Asante-Kwatia). Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 2214-7861/ © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Frimpong, B.M., Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmap.2018.11.003