WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

<strong>WHO</strong> <strong>monographs</strong> on selected medicinal plants
glabrous or with a few scattered hairs; lobes oblong, 1.5–2.5 mm, outside
glabrous or slightly farinose-pubescent, margins sometimes ciliate. Stamens
5. Ovary 2-celled. Fruiting head 14–18 mm in diameter, fruit a dry
capsule. The plant entwines other trees with its hooked thorns (6, 8, 9).
Plant material of interest: dried hook-bearing stem branch
General appearance
Cylindrical or subsquare, 1–4 cm long, 2–5 mm in diameter. Externally
reddish-brown to dark brown or yellow-brown with fine longitudinal
striations, glabrous, or yellowish-green to greyish-brown, sometimes
with white dotted lenticels, covered with yellowish-brown pubescence.
Transverse section: square to elliptical. Most nodes of stem branches with
two opposite downward curved hooks/prickles (sterile peduncles), some
with a hook only on one side and with raised scars on the other side;
hooks relatively flattened or rounded, apex acute, base relatively broad;
dotted scars of fallen petiole and ring-shaped stipule scars visible on the
branch at the hook base; transverse section oblong to elliptical. Texture
hard and tenacious, fracture yellowish-brown, bark fibrous, pith yellowish-white
to light brown or hollowed (1, 2).
Organoleptic properties
Odour: none; taste: slight (1, 2).
Microscopic characteristics
Transverse section of the prickle (hook) reveals vascular bundles in the
cortex, unevenly distributed and arranged in a ring. Parenchyma cells in
the secondary cortex containing crystals of calcium oxalate (2, 3).
Powdered plant material
To be established in accordance with national requirements.
General identity tests
Macroscopic examination (1–3), microchemical test (1–3), and highperformance
liquid chromatography for the presence of characteristic
oxindole alkaloids (2, 10–13).
Purity tests
Microbiology
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 (14).
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