Einzelzellbiologie

Abstrakt

Pharmacognostic analysis of Tinospora cordifolia (Thunb.) Miers with regard to dioecy.

Sayyada Khatoon, Saba Irshad, Vijayakumar M, Namrta Choudhry, Zaki Anwar Siddiqui and Nikhil Kumar

Objective: Tinospora cordifolia (Thunb.) Miers, Menispermaceae , is a dioecious vine, a plant of considerable medicinal importance in the traditional systems of medicine and is referred to as Rasayana in Ayurveda. Vegetative parts of this plant are used as medicinal substances, so it is important to select the right material for efficacy, especially when there might be gender differences in the content (both qualitative and quantitative) of the medicinally active or important constituents and metabolites.

Methods: Macromicroscopic studies, physicochemical parameters, HPTLC and in vitro antioxidant activity were performed according to standard methods.

Results: The current findings have shown that such differences do indeed exist. Male and female plants have different leaf and petiole shapes and lengths. Quantitative anatomical features also provide a basis for distinguishing between male and female plants. The size of the cortex region, the presence of starch grains and mucous canals were important features that differed significantly between the sexes. Total sugar, starch and tannin content were also high in female plants. In terms of antioxidant potential and tinosporoside biomarker, female plants performed better than male plants.

Conclusion: Our studies have shown that there are gender differences in morphology, anatomy, physicophytochemical profiles and antioxidant potential. This study highlights the importance of gender in all dioecious medicinal plants for their quality control.