WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

Cortex Phellodendron
with numerous scars of lenticel. Smooth inner surface yellow to dark yellow-brown,
with fine vertical lines. Texture light and hard, fracture fibrous
and bright yellow (1−4).
Organoleptic properties
Odour: slight; taste: very bitter, mucilaginous and imparts a yellow colour
to the saliva on chewing (1–4).
Microscopic characteristics
Transverse section reveals a thin yellow outer cortex, scattered with stone
cells appearing as yellow-brown dots. The inner cortex is thick, with primary
medullary rays expanding its width towards the outer end; the
phloem appears as a nearly triangular part between the medullary rays in
the secondary cortex, with many medullary rays radiating and gathering
at the tip of the triangle. Brown phloem fibre bundles aligned in a tangential
direction and crossing over the secondary medullary rays, forming a
latticework (2–4).
Powdered plant material
Bright yellowish to yellow powder, containing fragments of yellow, thickwalled
fibrous bundles or isolated fibres; often accompanied by rows of
crystal cells; some groups of stone cells together with idioblasts; fragments
of parenchyma cells containing starch grains and oil droplets; fragments of
medullary ray and phloem; mucilage cells and mucilage masses; numerous
solitary crystals of calcium oxalate, 7–20 m in diameter; starch grains;
simple grains (2–6 m in diameter) and 2–4 compound grains (2–4).
General identity tests
Macroscopic and microscopic examinations, microchemical tests, and
thin-layer chromatography (1–4).
Purity tests
Microbiological
Tests for specific microorganisms and microbial contamination limits are
as described in the <strong>WHO</strong> guidelines for assessing quality of herbal medicines
with reference to contaminants and residues (9).
Chemical
To be established in accordance with national requirements.
Foreign organic matter
To be established in accordance with national requirements.
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