Pharmacognostic Evaluation and Phytochemical Studies on Stem of Clitoria ternatea linn.

Pharmacognostic evaluation is the first and foremost step to determine identity and to assess the quality and purity of the crude drug. The genus “Clitoria” includes about 48 species under the family “Fabaceae”. Clitoria ternatea a very common garden flowering plant is found all over India especially in southern India. C. ternatea have reported to possess a number of pharmacological activities such as nootropic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic. The roots, stems and flowers are recommended for treatment of snake bite. The current study describes some pharmacognostical and preliminary phytochemical investigations undertaken on the stem of one of those species namely Clitoria ternatea. Transverse section of Clitoria ternatea Linn. stem shows cork, cortex, pericyclic fibers, xylem parenchyma, xylem fibers and medullary rays. Quantitative pharmacognostic analysis of the powder of the stem revealed moisture content of 5.92 ± 0.23%, total ash of 3.76 ± 0.32%, acid-insoluble ash of 11.6 ± 0.09%, alcohol extractive value of 9.84 ± 0.19%, and water extractive value of 24.8 ± 0.22%.