Pharmacognostical Standardization of Stem Bark of Adenanthera pavonina L.

Adenanthera pavonina L. syn. Red Sandalwood, (Fabaceae) is an unarmed deciduous tree and and its bark is traditionally used for treatment of various disease conditions in gonorrhea, haematuria, ulcers, it is astringent, vulnerary and aphrodisiac in nature. An attempt has been made to highlight this folk herbal medicine through present study which will assist in standardization for quality, purity and sample identification. Various standardization parameters like morphological characters, microscopic evaluation, physico-chemical evaluations (foreign matter, loss on drying, ash values, extractive values), preliminary phytochemical screening, TLC finger print, qualitative HPTLC of the extract and fluorescence analysis of powdered crude drug were carried out and the qualitative parameters were reported. These studies provided referential information for correct identification and standardization of this plant material.