Pharmacognostic Standardization of Cymbopogon citratus (dc.) stapf leaves

Context: To ensure reproducible quality of herbal products, proper control of starting material is important. The first step towards ensuring quality of starting material is authentication. Thus, in recent years there has been a rapid increase in the standardization of selected medicinal plants of potential therapeutic significance. Despite the modern techniques, identification of plant drugs by pharmacognostic studies is more reliable. Objective: The present work has been designed to study the Pharmacognostic parameters of the leaves of Cymbopogon citratus. Materials and methods: Various standardization parameters like morphological characters, microscopic evaluation, physicochemical evaluations (loss on drying, ash values, extractive values), preliminary phytochemical screening and TLC chromatographic profile of the extract were carried out and the quantitative microscopy were reported. Results: The standardization parameters provide referential information for correct identification of the plant material and will also be useful in preparation of monographs on these plants.