Vol 1/Issue 4/July-August 2012
PhTechMed
ISSN: 2278-1099
Pharmacognostical Studies of Litchi chinensis Sonn. Seeds Roshan Patel*1, Naveen K. Mahobia2, Rupesh Gupta3 and Jalpa R Sanandia4 1
Department of Pharmacognosy, Shree Leuva Patel Trust Pharmacy Mahila College, Amreli, (Gujarat), India. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Shree Leuva Patel Trust Pharmacy Mahila College, Amreli, (Gujarat), India. 3 Department of Pharmacognosy, J. K. College of Pharmacy, Bilaspur, (C.G.), India. 4 Department of Pharmacognosy, Shree H. N. Shukla Institute of Pharmaceutical education and research, Rajkot, (Gujarat), India. 2
Abstract Lychee is an evergreen tree reaching 10–28 metres tall, the lychee bears fleshy fruits that are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and 4 cm (1.6 in) wide. The outside of the fruit is covered by a pink-red, roughly textured rind that is inedible but easily removed to expose a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh. Lychees are eaten in many different dessert dishes, and are especially popular in China, throughout Southeast Asia, along with South Asia and India. The pharmacognostical studies of these plants were done by evaluating its microscopical studies, physicochemical evaluation, phytochemical screening and flourescence analysis the seeds with different reagents. The microscopical studies revealed the specific characters in the seed. It has obsereved and identified. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, steroids, glycosides and tannins are present in the seed. Flourescence analysis of seed powder shows diffrent colours with different reagents. The above pharmacognostical and preliminary phytochemical studies will be beneficial for proper identification and authentification of seed of Litchi chinensis Sonn. Keywords Microscopy, phytochemical, Litchi chinensis. Introduction Litchi chinensis is an evergreen tree that is frequently less than 10 m (33 ft) tall, sometimes reaching more than 15 m (49 ft). The bark is greyblack, the branches a brownish-red. Leaves are 10 to 25 cm (3.9 to 9.8 in) or longer, with leaflets in 2-4 pairs. Fruits mature in 80–112 days, depending on climate, location, and cultivar. Fruits reach up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and 4 cm (1.6 in) wide, varying in shape from round, to ovoid, to heart-shaped. The thin, tough inedible skin is green when immature, ripening to red or pink-red, and is smooth or covered with small sharp protuberances. The skin turns brown and dry when left out after harvesting. The fleshy, edible portion of the fruit is an aril, surrounding one dark brown inedible seed that is 1 to 3.3 cm (0.39 to 1.3 in) long and .6 to 1.2 cm (0.24 to 0.47 in) wide. Address for Correspondence E-mail:
[email protected] Tel: 09974756126 Received: 18/07/2012 Accepted: 21/08/2012 www.pharmtechmedica.com
The lychee contains on average a total 72 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit. On average nine lychee fruits would meet an adult’s daily recommended Vitamin C requirement.
Fig 1: Seeds of Litchi chinensis A cup of lychee fruit provides, among other minerals, 14% Daily Value (DV) of copper, 9% DV of phosphorus, and 6% DV of potassium.[1] Like most plant-based foods, lychees are low in saturated fat and sodium and are cholesterol free. Lychees have moderate amounts of polyphenols, shown in one French study to be higher than several other fruits analyzed. On the phenolic composition, flavan-3-ol monomers and dimers 145
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were the major found compounds representing about 87.0% of the phenolic compounds that declined with storage or browning. It contains anthocyanin mainly cyanidin-3-rutinoside, malvidin-3-acetylglucoside, cyanidin-3[2] glucoside. Friedelin, stigmasterol and stigmasteryl acetate is isolated from plant. [3] It also declined with storage or browning. Small amounts of malvidin-3-glucoside were also found. Excessive consumption of Lychee can, in certain extreme cases, lead to fainting spells or skin rashes.[1] The seeds in the Malay Peninsula are used by the Chinese as an anodyne and are prescribed in various neuralogic disorders and in orchitis.[4] Fruits also used as anticancer[5], antioxidant[6]. However, no work has been carried out on the stem of this plant, which contains potentially useful ethnomedicinal drugs. Therefore, the present work was undertaken to study the pharmacognostic aspects of Litchi chinensis seeds. Materials and Methods Plant collection and authentication The fruit was selected for all the plant and seed was separated from the fruit. It was identified and authenticated by Department of Botany, Smt. U. B. Bhagat Science Mahila College, Amreli, Gujarat. A voucher specimen has been deposited at the museum of the institute. Chemicals and Instruments Simple microscope, compound microscope, common glassware were the basic apparatus and instruments used for the study. Photography was done by using microscopy camera 130UMDModel. Various staining reagents were used for histochemical tests. Morphology and microscopy analysis Morphological studies were carried out by using simple determination technique, the shape, size, colour, odour, taste, surface and fracture. Microscopic studies were carried out by preparing of thin hand section of seed. The sections were cleared with alcohol and stained as per the protocol. Histochemical reaction were applied with concentrated Hydrochloric acid and phloroglucinol and were mounted in glycerine for identification of lignified elements, iodine solution for identification of starch grains, sudan red-III for identification of cutin.[7-8] Physicochemical standards Physicochemical parameters of the powdered drug such as ash value, extractive value, loss on drying were performed.[9] Extracts were prepared by various solvents by maceration and percentage of www.pharmtechmedica.com
Patel et al
dry extract was calculated in terms of air dried seed powder. Fluorescence analysis Fluorescence characteristics of the powdered drug with different chemicals were observed in daylight and ultraviolet light.[10-11] Phytochemical investigation The Methanolic (MELC) and aqueous (AELC) extracts of L. chinensis were subjected to preliminary, phytochemical investigation. [9] The percentage yield of MELC and AELC were calculated. Results and Discussion Morphological characteristics of seed The morphological studies revealed the seeds to be dark brown colour, odourless, mucilaginous taste, oval shape, varying size, smooth surface and hard fracture. [Fig.1] Microscopical characteristics of seed The transverse section of the seed of Litchi chinensis is irregularly circular shaped. The testa consists of single layered irregular rectangular sclerenchyamatous cells. Testa is followed by irregularly arranged parenchyamatous cells containing brownish matter. Endosperm is composed of simple irregular parencyamatous cells surrounding the embryo. [Fig. 2] Physicochemical analysis The important physicochemical constants like ash value and extractive value of seed powder of plant were estimated and the values are shown in Table 1 and 2 respectively. The results revealed that the seed of the plant was having 16.1% w/w total ash, 2.25% w/w acid insoluble ash, 0.625% w/w water soluble ash and 11.2% w/w sulphated ash. The alcohol soluble extractive value is higher (0.86% w/w) as compared to water soluble extractive value (0.42%). Fluorescence analysis The mucilage of all the seeds produce different colours and fluorescence in under day light and UV light (254nm and 365nm) with various reagents [Table 3]. Phytochemical investigation The phytochemical tests revealed that the aqueous extract contained carbohydrates, proteins, steroids, tannins and glycosides; methanolic extract had only tannins. [Table 4]
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ISSN: 2278-1099
Table 1: Ash values of seed powder of Litchi chinensis Parameters Avg. Values Of Ash Total ash 16.1% w/w Acid insoluble ash 2.25% w/w Water soluble ash 0.625% w/w Sulphated ash 11.2% w/w Table 2: Extractive values of seed powder of Litchi chinensis Solvent Avg. Extractive Values Water 0.42% w/w Alcohol 0.86% w/w Table 3: Fluorescence analysis of seed powder of Litchi chinensis Treatment Day Light Uv Light (254 Nm) Powder as such Brownish-black Brownish Powder + 1N NaOH (Aqs) Reddish Fluorescent green Powder + 1N NaOH Dark red Reddish (Alcoholic) Powder + 1N HCl Faint pink Faint green Powder + 1N HNO3 Faint pink Pink Powder + Ammonia Wine red Fluorescent dark green Powder + Iodine Bluish-black Black Powder + FeCl3 Bluish-black Fluorescent green Powder + Acetic acid Faint pink Fluorescent green Powder + 50% KOH Black Dull green
Uv Light (365 Nm) Black Dull brown Dull red Blackish Dull pink Dull green Black Dark black Dull green Black
Table 4: Phytochemical screening of seed powder of Litchi chinensis Tests Aqueous extract (AELC) Methanolic extract (MELC) Carbohydrates + Proteins + Steroids + Glycosides + Tannins + + Alkaloids Remaining common constituent are absent in both extracts
Fig. 2:T.S. of seed of Litchi chinensis www.pharmtechmedica.com
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Conclusion As there is no pharmacognostic / anatomical work on record of these local plants, the present work was taken up with a view to lay down standards which could be useful to detect the authenticity of these medicinally useful plants. REFERENCES 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee. 2. Anonymous. The Wealth of India – A Dictionary of Indian Raw Materials and Industrial Products, First Supplement Series (Raw Materials), Vol.-4: J-Q, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources, CSIR, New Delhi, 2003: 47-48. 3. Rastogi R.P., Mehrotra B.N. Compendium of Indian Medicinal Plants, Vol.-2, 197079, CDRI, Lucknow and NISC, New Delhi, 1999: 419. 4. Kirtikar K.R., Basu B.D. Indian Medicinal Plants, Vol.-I, International Book Distributiors, Dehradun, 1999: 636-37. 5. Wang X., Yuan S., Wang J., Lin P., Liu G., Lu Y., Zhang J., Wang W., Wei Y. Anticancer activity of litchi fruit pericarp extract against human breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol., 2006; 215: 168–78. 6. Takuya S., Hiroshi N., Hajime F., Norihiko N., Takako K., Zsolt R., Tetsuya I., Shukoh H., Hideki O. Antioxidative Effects of a New Lychee Fruit-Derived Polyphenol Mixture, Oligonol, Converted into a Low-Molecular Form in Adipocytes. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 2008; 72(2): 463–476. 7. Kokate C.K. Practical Pharmacognosy. New Delhi: Vallabh Prakashan, 1999, 11521. 8. Khandelwal K.R. Practical Pharmacognosy: Techniques and Experiments. 17th ed. Pune: Nirali Prakashan, 2007, 130-56. 9. Anonymous. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Part-I. Vol.-III. 1st ed. Govt. of India. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. New Delhi: Department of Indian Systems of Medicine & Homeopathy, 2001; p. 234–37. 10. Ushir Y.U., Chidrawar V.R., Singh S.K., Patel K.N. Comparative pharmacognostical standardization of genus Anisomeles Linn. R. Br. (Lamiaceae) species in India. International www.pharmtechmedica.com
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Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. 2010; 1(11): 65-73. 11. Patel R., Mahobia N., Waseem N., Upwar N., Singh S. Phyto-Physicochemical Investigation of Leaves of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour) Spreng. Pharmacognosy Journal. 2010; 2(13): 53642.
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