Ethnomedicinal and pharmacognostic studies on the stem bark of Erythrina variegata Linn.

Aftab Alam Khan^a & Kiran Shukla^b*
^aDepartment of Botany, Karim City College, Jamshedpur.
^bDepartment of Botany, G. S. College for Women, Jamshedpur.
Received 3rd January, 2011; Revised 26th February, 2011

Abstract : Erythrina variegata Linn is an important ethno-medicinal plant of Jharkhand used by the local tribal and ethnic population of this area. This investigation was aimed at documentation of ethno-medicinal uses of the plant and pharmacognostic evaluation of the stem bark.Microscopic studies of stem bark showed prism shaped calcium oxalate crystals, various shapes and sizes of sclereids and presence of starch grains in cortical cells. These findings can be utilized in quality control of the crude drug of stem bark.

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