Pharmacognostical and Analytical Standards of Dioscorea Esculenta Burkill.

Background: Dioscoria species is a Kanda Shakha (tuberous vegetable) useful as vegetable and grows abundantly around Udupi district, Karnataka, India. Dioscorea esculenta Burkill is one of the rare and costly tuber cultivated in very few areas of Udupi. Colloquially known as Duk-Genasu and Tuppa-Genasu the boiled tuber is used as a nutritional supplement for the children and is used in many forms of dishes. Aim: The study aimed at standardizing & authenticating the trial drug in accordance to international standards and quality control of Ayurveda drug. Materials & Methods: Pharmacognostical and analytical study including HPTLC finger printing of Dioscorea esculenta Burkill. was undertaken by making use of various parameters. Results: Physico-chemical tests revealed constants for routine analysis of Dioscorea esculenta Burkill. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of aqueous extract showed presence of carbohydrate, steroids, saponins, tannins, and coumarins. HPTLC finger print profile of ethanol extract of Dioscorea esculenta Burkill. showed maximum compounds under 254 nm frequency i.e. 13 compounds, while densitometry scan showed the maximum peaks at 366 nm i.e. 4 peaks. Conclusion: The present study carried out on Dioscorea esculenta Burkill. not only established the data that maybe utilized for identification, but also established the monographic data on purity and standard of the tuber sample.