Preliminary Pharmacognostic Standardization of Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Mull. Arg. (Malayalam name – Kodiyaavanakku)

The drug Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Mull.Arg. is an indigenous part of the local flora in the Asian, Australian and African countries. It is known for its medicinal efficacy and is used widely in the folklore clinical practices. The drug is mentioned in the books Hortus Malabaricus and Yogamrutham. An entry point of this drug to the frontline Ayurvedic clinical practice is the validation of pharmacological efficacy of the drug before the scientific community. It can be done by initially by updating its pharmacognostic profile and making an easy access for the proper identification of the genuine drug. This also makes an initial footstep for taking over the research entities of the drug. The pharmacognostical evaluation was under three phases i.e. the macroscopical and microscopical evaluation of the fresh drug and powder, and the histochemical evaluation. The observation from the macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of the root, stem, leaves, inflorescence, fruit and seed was compared with that of the available descriptions of these parts in the authentic books and journals. Powder microscopical characters identified include the calcium oxalate crystals, sclreids, fibres, tracheids etc. This study resulted in providing an updated pharmacognostical standards for the drug Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Mull.Arg.