WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

<strong>WHO</strong> <strong>monographs</strong> on selected medicinal plants
leaves up to 6 cm long with 3–5 pairs of leaflets, midrib ending in a mucro,
0.5–2 mm long; leaflets 6–22 mm by 2.5–9 mm, base obliquely rounded,
apex subacute, both surfaces silky, subsessile, stipules falcate, 3–6 mm
long, acuminate; pedicel 2–4 cm long, sepals narrowly lanceolate, 7–11 mm
long, apex acute, appressed hairy, caducous, petals obovate-cuneate,
1–2 cm by 1–1.5 cm, apex broadly rounded-truncate, bright yellow, stamens
subequal, anthers 1 mm long; cocci 4–5, spines stout, sharp, 2 lateral
ones largest, pericarp rather thick, corky, seeds 1–3 in each mericarp (6).
Plant material of interest: dried fruits
General appearance
A pentagonal fruit 7–12 mm in diameter consists of 5 mericarps, radially
arranged. Each mericarp often splitting into single hatchet-shaped,
3–6 mm long mericarp; dorsal surface yellowish-green, prominent, with
longitudinal ribs and numerous spinelets, bearing symmetrically a pair of
long spines and a pair of short spines; two lateral surfaces rough, with
reticular striations, greyish-white. Texture hard. Each mericarp contains
1–3 seeds (1–3).
Organoleptic properties
Odourless; taste: bitter and pungent (1, 2).
Microscopic characteristics
Transverse section of fruit shows small epidermal cells of each coccus
rectangular; unicellular trichomes in abundance; rilesocarp 6–10 layers of
large parenchymatous cells, rosette of calcium oxalate crystals abundant;
mesocarp followed by 3–4 compact layers of small cells containing prismatic
crystals of calcium oxalate (4).
Powdered plant material
Yellow-green. The fibres are lignified, with upper and lower layers in a
criss-cross arrangement, a few scattered singly, sometimes fibre bundles
connected with stone cells. Stone cells elongated-elliptical or subrounded,
occurring in groups. Testa cells polygonal or subsquare, about 30 μm in
diameter, walls reticulately thickened, lignified. Prisms of calcium oxalate
8–20 μm in diameter (1).
General identity tests
Macroscopic and microscopic examinations (1, 2, 4), thin-layer chromatography
(2) and microchemical test (3).
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