MACROSCOPICAL, ANATOMICAL AND PHYSICO- CHEMICAL STUDIES OF EUPHORBIA HIRTA LINN. GROWING WIDELY ON EASTERN UTTAR PRADESH REGION OF INDIA

Traditional knowledge and ethno-botanical use of plants have been widely acknowledged all over the world. Certain people of India, using whole plant of Euphorbia hirta L . as an effective remedy for varities of diseasese. The documentation of traditional knowledge from eastern Uttar pardesh area reveals that it is highly widely used in Ayurveda. Pharmacological and physico- chemical details of E.hirta not available in authentic litrature including API (Ayurvedic Pharmacopea of India) So the validation and standardisation of whole plant of Euphorbia hirta . was carried out to establish its macro- and microscopical standards, physicochemical parameters, preliminary phytochemical investigation and TLC profiles to evaluate the characters of the plant. Macroscopic characters of E. hirta leaves shows composition of leaf is simple with dark green color about 2-6cm. long in size, T.S. of the leaf revealed the presence of stomata, upper and lower epidermis, vascular bundle. Powder characteristics revealed the presence of starch gran-ules, covering trichomes. The various diagnostic characteristic of leaf powder was coarse, dark green, which revealed the presence of lignified xylem vessel,anomocytic type of sto-mata, Physicochemical parameters were also evaluated. Preliminary phytochemical analysis indicated a high percentage of quercetine and flavonoids and this may be one of the reasons behind the anti diabatic and hepatoprotective activity of this plant. The above parameters, which are being reported for the first time in this plant, are significant towards establishing the pharmacognostic standards for future identification and authentication of genuine plant material used Ayurveda for various diaeases in eastern UP.