Pharmacognostical and nutritional assessment of Indigofera cassioides DC. flowers, an ethnomedicinal plant

Background: Indigofera cassioides DC.A deciduous shrub of family Fabaceae is an unexplored medicinal plant, being traditionally used in the states Kerala, Odisha, and Maharashtra. Different parts plant have been reported both as a food management chest pain, cold, asthma, diarrhoea, dysentery piles. Material methods: after proper authentication was collected from Paikemal (Odisha), during month March its flowers were studied for microscopic characters, physico-chemical analysis, secondary metabolites screening, nutritional values heavy metal analysis following standard protocol recommended by Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia India. Result: Powder microscopy shows presence simple trachoma, starch grain, pollen fibers, oil globules, epidermal cells on edge, group grains, yellowish brown content, parenchyma corolla, along with stomata, pleuri-cellular trichome. Physicochemical parameters including moisture ash value extractive flower powder reported. Nutritional evaluation that sample 1 (one year stored)has greater nutritive than 2 (fresh). Flowers tested negative metals (mercury, cadmium, arsenic lead). Conclusion: The present findings will be useful establishing pharmacognostic phytochemical standards identification well assessment purity quality this which definitely gaining relevance drug research establishment monograph.