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Review Article

Botanical pharmacognosy of stem of

Gmelina asiatica Linn
R. Kannan, K. Prasant, U. V. Babu
Research and Development Center, The Himalaya Drug Company, Bangalore, India

are large, nodding, in terminal densely pubescent racemes

ABSTRACT:
Gmelina asiatica Linn(G.parvifolia Roxb.) is a large shrub
or a small tree. Roots and aerial parts are used in Ayurvedic
medicine and also have ethnomedical uses. Root is reported
as adulterant to G. arborea roxb roots. Pharmacognostical
characters of root were reported. Owing to the shortage of
genuine drug and everincreasing demands in market, it becomes
necessary to search an alternative with equal efficacy without
compromising the therapeutic value. Nowadays, it becomes a
common practice of using stem. In case of roots phytochemical
and pharmacological analysis of stem was reported. However,
there is no report on the pharmacognostical characters of stem
and to differentiate it from roots. The present report describes
the botanical pharmacognostical characters of stem and
a note to differentiate it from root. Hollow pith, faint annual rings
in cut ends, alternatively arranged macrosclereids and bundle
cap fibers, and presence of abundant starch grains and calcium
oxalates in pith and in ray cells are the diagnostic microscopic
characters of stem. Stem pieces can be differentiated from roots
by absence of tylosis.
KEY WORDS: Botanical pharmacognosy, ethnobotany,
Gmelinaarborea, Gmelina asiatica, pharmacognosy, root, stem
INTRODUCTION
or panicles.
Roots are considered to be medicinal and useful in
traditional medicine. Though the root bark and wood of
the root are the official drugs,[1] leaves and young shoots are
also useful in medicine.[2] Use of leaves and aerial parts in
treatment of jaundice and other hepatic diseases by some
tribes in Tamil Nadu[3] and another tribe for body heat[4]
were reported. Roots, bark, fruit, leaves, and young shoots
are used in various medicines in Sri Lanka.[5] Its roots are
considered as a substitute for Gmelina arborea.[6] It is also
reported that this is one of the Anukta Dravya drugs.[7]
Microscopical characters of root were described[1] and
compared with G.arborea root.[6] Roots possess antioxidative
properties,[8] and stem are also reported as a potential source
of antioxidants.[9] Few major active constituents were
identified from aerial parts by using GCMS.[10] Stem bark
showed hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic effects.[11]
Antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity in chloroform
and ethanol extracts of aerial parts was reported. [12]
Nowadays, it becomes a common practice of using stem
incase of root, and also, it was analyzed and found that the
stem of the same plant can be used instead of roots.[1315]
Reports on phytochemistry and pharmacology are available

G melina asiatica Linn(Syn: G.parvifolia Roxb.) is called as

Vikarini in Sanskrit, Badhara in Hindi, Nilakumil
or Kumil in Tamil and Malayalam, Adavi Gummudu or
for aerial parts of the plant. There is no report on the
pharmacognostical characters on aerial parts. In practical,
with our experience, aerial parts of a shrubby plant that too
Challa Gummudu in Telungu and Asian Bushbeech in
has fever leaves, the market sample might be of stem pieces.
English. It belongs to the family Verbenaceae, and after
Hence, the present study is on the macromicroscopical
phylogenetic studies, it is now being classified under the
characters on stem of Gmelina asiatica. The characters were
family Lamiaceae. It is commonly found in peninsular India
compared with the previously published characters of roots,
and parts of Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Especially found
in dry lands, wastelands, as a live fence in agricultural lands
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and also on road sides. It is a much branched, deciduous
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or a semideciduous, largesized bush, or rarely grows to Website:
a small tree. It has many irregular puberulous or slightly www.ancientscienceoflife.org
hairy branches, often much shortened and spinous at the
ends, bears small simple opposite leaves. Leaves are ovate DOI:
to elliptical, chartaceous, with cuneate base, entire or lobed 10.4103/0257-7941.107347
margin, and obtuse apex. Petiole is up to 1cm long. Flowers
160 Ancient Science of Life / Apr-Jun 2012 / Vol 31 / Issue 4
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Kannan, etal.: Botanical pharmacognsoy of stem of gmelina asiatica
to differentiate them in the market samples, in whole form
or in powdered form.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plants were collected from two different locations,
outskirts of Bangalore(N1305.555; E7721.622) and
Tirunelveli (N8 28.358 E77 54.835). They were identified
with local floras,[16,17] and stem pieces were collected.
Herbarium was prepared and archived in inhouse archive
in pharmacognosy lab. As per the general practice of
raw material processing, in commercial scale, in India,
collected raw material was reduced in size and sundried.
Organoleptical, macroscopical, and microscopical characters
were studied with the dried pieces as described in quality
control methods,[1820] which is being followed in herbal
drug industries for standardization of herbal raw materials.
RESULTS
Macroscopical and organoleptical characters
Stem pieces are up to 4cm in thickness. In many of the
pieces, bark was detached off and found separately.
They are up to 2mm in thickness on matured pieces and
papery in young pieces. Outer bark is grayishbrown to
yellowishgray, and inner bark is mild reddishbrown to
yellowishbrown in color. Numerous dots of pale gray or
buffcolored lenticels are abundant on the barks surface.
Many of the matured and thicker pieces have grayish
longitudinal streaks on the surface. Cut ends of the wood
are white to yellowish in color. There was no difference of
heart wood and sap wood. Cut ends on close observation
shows faint circles of annual rings. Innermost region or
the central portion, even in young and thin pieces, is
hollowpith. In longitudinally split pieces, parenchyma
cells are found as blackcolored dried masses or streaks
attached on the inner surface of the hollow pith. Thin and
young stem pieces have decussately opposite spines of
up to 5mm long in the nodes. In general, the stem pieces
are mild bitter in taste and do not reveal any typical,
noticeable odor. Fracture is impossible, as they are very
hard to break.
Microscopical characters
In TS, matured stem[Figure 1a] shows typical dicot
structure with outer fissured or cracked cork cells made of
suberized wall with lenticels, followed by secondary cortex,
secondary phloem, wood and central pith. Secondary cortex
is parenchymatous with starch grains as cell inclusions.
However, it is completely collapsed in dried materials,
Ancient Science of Life / Apr-Jun 2012 / Vol 31 / Issue 4
and further details could not be observed. Even in many
pieces, a thick, darkcolored band represents the cortex.
Secondary phloem consists of patches of bundle cap fibers
from primary vascular bundles, alternatively with groups
of few macrosclereids, which has tiny lumen, and other
phloem elements. Wood consists of vessel elements, fibers,
and tracheids. Annual rings are clearly visible, demarked
with thin tracheids with narrow lumen. Usually, rays are
biseriate. Pith cells below the xylem elements are larger,
and inner is hollow. Parenchyma cells of secondary phloem,
ray cells, and pith cells are filled with starch grains and
calcium oxalates. Starch grains are simple or compound
without clear hilum, rounded or oval, and up to 16.5 in
size. Calcium oxalates are prismatic, square or rectangular,
especially abundant in the pith cells and ray cells, and are
up to 12 in size. RLS and TLS of the stem also reveal the
typical dicot structure. The pore size in matured stem is 90
and in young stem, it is 70 .
TS of spines[Figure 1b] are more or less similar as of
stem. 34 layered suberized cork cells are followed by
parenchymatous cortex, which is not collapsed as in stem.
Secondary phloem has patches of fibers with narrow lumen.
Xylem region has more fibers and tracheids and fewer vessel
elements. Pith is large and filled with parenchyma cells.
Powder microscopy
Powdered material is pale brown in color with streaks or
pieces of mild reddish bark. Under microscope, xylem
elements are abundant and commonly seen in all fields.
Under close observation, it shows the fragments of vessel
elements[Figures 1ce], lignified pith cells[Figures 1f and g],
macrosclereids from secondary phloem region[Figures 1h
and i], fragments of groups of tracheids[Figure 1j] or
fibers[Figure 1k], and calcium oxalates[Figure 1l]. Starch
grains and cork cells are observed here and there.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Following are the diagnostic characteristic features of stem
of Gmelinia asiatica:
Hollow pith, even in thinner stem
Faint annual rings in cut ends
Alternatively arranged macrosclereids and bundle cap
fibers in secondary phloem
Abundant starch grains and calcium oxalates in pith and
ray cells.
In Sri Lanka, the plant has yellowishwhite bark
and blooms in September. In local floras, it was
mentioned that the flowering season is from February
161
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a
b
c d e sustainable collection methods, stem will be in use instead
f g h i
j k l
Figure 1: Microscopical characters of G. asiatica stem (a) TS of
matured stem (a portion), (b) TS of spine, (c-l) stem powder shows the
various cell elements, (c-e) powdered stem shows vessel elements,
(f and g) Powdered stem shows cork cells, (h andi) powdered stem
shows stone cells, (j and k) powdered stem shows patches of fibers,
(l) powdered stem shows calcium oxalates
to August oralmost throughout the year. In our
observation, bark was grayishbrown bark and blooms
during MarchApril.Thismight be due to the general
geographical variations.
It was reported that the rays are up to 3seriate in roots. We
observed biseriate rays in stem and uniseriate in spines.
This can be a diagnostic feature to identify the stem and
roots in microscopical characters. However, it cannot be
used as a diagnostic character if the material is powdered.
Similarly, the pore size in root was reported as an important
162 Ancient Science of Life / Apr-Jun 2012 / Vol 31 / Issue 4
Kannan, etal.: Botanical pharmacognsoy of stem of gmelina asiatica
characteristic feature to differentiate between G.arborea and
G.asiatica roots. In our observation, in matured stem, the
average pore size is 90 and 70 . Thus, pore size cannot
be a character to identify the roots and stem if they were
powdered.
It was reported that numerous vessel elements of roots has
tylosis. In our observation in stem, there was no tylosis,
even in the much thicker and oldest stem pieces, and also
there was no differentiation of heartwood and sapwood.
This might be an important character to identify the stem
and roots in commercial samples.
After a comparative analysis of phytoconstituents, of barks
from stem and root, in case of Brihatpanchamoola, it is
concluded that root bark can be effectively substituted
by stem bark. It is also commented that, in practical,
aerial portions are being used and sold instead of roots.[16]
Modern researches substantiate that the whole plant or
aerial parts are equally effective in case of Sida cordifolia,
when compared with roots.[17] Likewise, when looking for
of root, and the present method of differentiation provides
key to differentiate the stem and root in microscopical and
powder characters.
The present pharmacognosy report reveals that the basic
pharmacognostic details of stem of G.asiatica to Identify or
authenticate them. Few pharmacological and phytochemical
studies also reveal that stem can be used instead of roots.
Further research is advised to substantiate the use of stem
instead of root in case of G.asiatica or G.arborea has to be
find out.
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Address for correspondence:
Dr.R Kannan,
The Himalaya Drug Company, Makali, Tumkur Road, Bangalore, India.
Email:dr.kannan@himalayahealthcare.com
How to cite this article: Kannan R, Prasant K, Babu UV. Botanical
pharmacognosy of stem of Gmelina asiatica Linn. Ancient Sci Life
2012;31:160-3.
Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared.

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