Study of Macroscopic, Microscopic Characters and Physicochemical Properties of Salid Roots (Telosma cordata (Burm.f.) Merr.)

Abstract

        Crude drug called Salid, is a dried roots of Telosma cordata (Burm.f.) Merr. The properties of Salid root is to induce vomiting, detoxification, and antidote of various toxins. It has been used as an ingredient in Thai herbal remedies for several ailments and often used for eye diseases. Currently, there is no standard specification of Salid, roots in Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia yet. Therefore, this research was aimed to study macroscopic characteristics and microscopic characteristics of powder drugs as well as chemical identification by thin-layer chromatography, and physicochemical properties of Salid’s roots. A total of twelve samples of Salid, roots six samples collected from natural sources and six samples provided from cultivating gardens in Thailand.The methodology was followed the methods according to the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia. The results showed that macroscopic characters of dried roots were cylindrical. The cross-section of roots showed that there were three layers, external layer marked with longitudinal wrinkles and grayish-brown color. The second layer was light yellow and the innermost was dark yellow, hard and sticky. The microscopic characters of powder drugs found 9 types of plant cells. The chromatogram of crude drugs by thin-layer chromatography exhibited the separation into 14 bands. Finally, physicochemical properties consist of the moisture content, total ash content, and acid insoluble ash content were proposed as not more than 8.5, 9.3, and 2.3 % (w/w), respectively. The ethanol-soluble extractive and water-soluble extractive were proposed as not less than 9.1 and 20.2 % (w/w). These results will be taken as standard specifications for quality control of root part of Salid prior to use as Thai herbal remedies.