Pharmacognostic and Phytochemical Screening of Desmodium Triflorum Linn

The plant of Desmodium triflorum Linn (Fabaceae) are reported to have great medicinal value. The aim of this study to evaluate pharmacognostic evaluation including examination of morphological characters, ash value, powder analysis, and extractive values were carried out. Phytochemical screening including chemical examination and chromatographic study were also carried out. This would help to scientifically justify its pharmacological activities of particular chemical constituents in different extracts. INTRODUCTION: Botanical Description: Desmodium triflorum is an ornamental plant commonly known as Jangali Methi, belonging to family Fabaceae. A small perennial much branched prostrate tailing herb with slender stems rooting at the nodes; leaves trifoliate, leaflet membranous, obovate, cuneate, truncate, or emarginate or rarely rounded; flowers pink or white, 1-5 fascicled in the exils of the leaves; fruits pods, with straight upper edge and indented lower edge reticulately veined 1 . Chemical Constituents: Leaf contains alkaloids (0.01-0.15%), beta phenylethaylamine, tyramine, hypaphorine, and flavonoids. Root contains (0.01-0.02%) alkaloids. Ursolic acid, vitexin, genistin (Chio and Huang et al.1995), fucosterol, 2-O-β-xylosylvitexin (Sreenivasan et al., 1984) and a rare diholosylflavone, 2-O-glucosylvitexin had been isolated from DF. QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.IJP.3(1).43-49 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpjournal.com DOI link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.IJP.3(1).43-49 The alkaloids of DF include hypaphorine, N, Ndimethyltryptophan, betaine, choline, βphenethylamine (a minor constituent), N, and Ndimethyltryptamine oxide 2 . Ethnobotanical uses: The plant is acrid, sweet, cooling, expectorant, and galactagogue, and used in vitiated condition of pitta, cough, bronchitis, wounds, abscess, sores, prutitus, dysentery, flatulence and burning sensation 1 . This plant also used in ache (stomach), dermatosis, dysentery, abscess, diarrhea, ophthalmia , rheumatism, sore, tonic, diuretic, and tumor . Reported Activities: Antioxidant and antiproliferative activity 4 , analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity 5 , anthelmintic action 6 , anticonvulsant activity 7 , antibacterial Activity 8 , antinociceptive Activity 9 . Classification of Desmodium triflorum plant: