Abstract

Very little information is available about the pharmacognosy of Lantana wightiana, Premna tomentosa and Synedrella nodiflora. The aerial part powder of these plants and their extracts in various solvents were examined under ordinary light and also under Ultra-Violet light. These powders were also treated with various chemical reagents and the changes in color were recorded. Further, the percentage of loss of weight on drying, total ash, water-soluble ash, acid-insoluble ash, and their residue on ignition were recorded following Pharmacopoeia of India Methods. The percentage of extractive values in petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, methanol and water extracts of the plants were also determined. The fluorescence analyses of the aerial parts of L. wightiana show almost the same UV fluorescence characters when viewed under UV light. An orange fluorescence was noticed under UV light in petroleum ether extract of L. wightiana. A brown at the centre and orange fluorescence at the edge of the extract is noticed for P. tomentosa powder with 1N ethanolic NaOH and shows similar fluorescence when they viewed under UV light. S. nodiflora powder shows a characteristic orange fluorescence for petroleum ether and benzene extracts of S. nodiflora. Loss of weight on drying is high S. nodiflora and similar kinds of results are also observed for total ash, water-soluble ash and residue on ignition contents. Acid-insoluble ash content was higher in S. nodiflora than by L. wightiana and P. tomentosa. Maximum extractive value obtained for L. wightiana in methanol and water extracts of both P. tomentosa and S. nodiflora. Keywords: Medicinal plants, areal parts, Pharmacognostical characters, Solubility, Fluorescence Acknowledgment: This research was partially conducted within the project Biofeedstock funded by MIUR D. D. 2054/2018