Abstract

PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON TRICHOSANTHES DIOICA (R.) SEEDS

Nitin Kumar*, Girendra Gautam and Anurag Chaudhary

ABSTRACT

Trichosanthes, a genus of family Cucurbitaceae is an annual herb distributed in tropical Asia, Polynesia, & Australia. According to Ayurveda its seeds are used as antipyretic, anthelmintic, diuretic, cardio tonic & laxative etc. Physico-chemical studies of T. dioica seeds have set the some standard i.e. Ether soluble extractive value 16.15%w/w, alcohol soluble extractive value 10.11% w/w, water soluble extractive value 9.22% w/w, Total Ash value 6.21 w/w, acid insoluble ash value 1.32% w/w, water soluble ash value 4.29% & loss on drying 24.33% w/w etc. In the present study preliminary phytochemical screening was done and after achieving the idea of phytoconstituents group, thin layer chromatography studies were carried out for different organic solvent extracts. Medicinal plant materials normally carry a great number of bacteria and moulds, often of soil origin. While a large range of bacteria and fungi form the naturally occurring micro flora of herbs, aerobic spore forming bacteria frequently predominate. Current practices of harvesting, handling and production cause additional contamination and microbial growth. In the present study microbial load determination also carried out for crude seed powder of T. dioica.

Keywords: T. dioica, Pointed gourd, Anthelmintic, Laxative, Cucurbitacin.