Pharmacognostical and phytochemical studies on Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. – A Kazakh and Uygur ethnomedicinal plant

Context: Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. (Lamiaceae) is an annual or perennial herb or subshrub widely distributed from the Mediterranean to central Asia and Afghanistan. In Xinjiang, China, the whole herb has been used in traditional Kazakh and Uygur medicines as anti-febrile and detoxicating drug. Aims: To characterize macroscopical, microscopically of the overground part of the Z. clinopodioides, explore and establish the macro-morphology, micro-morphology, quality and physicochemical parameters standards for this plant. Methods: Pharmacognostical and phytochemical investigations were conducted in terms of macroscopic, microscopic and preliminary phytochemical parameters. Results: The vegetable material can be identified by structural features of the flowers, structural characteristics of the stem, specific pale brown hesperidin can be regarded as identification character. This crude drug showed the characteristic physicochemical values like total ash (7%), insoluble ash (1.3%), water soluble ash (3.7%), moisture (7.5%). The ethanolic extract contained flavonoids, organic acids, alkaloids, and glycosides. Conclusions: Various pharmacognostical characters that observed in this study can be an effective supplement to further research of this ethnomedicinal plant. Meanwhile, the results of this paper deal with pharmacognostical studies on the Ziziphora clinopodioides in an attempt to mitigate the adulteration to the crude drug.