Rauwolfia Serpentina Antihypertensive – Synonym, source, use

Rauwolfia Serpentina Antihypertensive – Synonym, source, use Welcome to our website here we are going to discuss about rauwolfia : rauwolfia synonyms , Biological source, rauwolfia family, Geographical distribution, Cultivation and collection, Preparations for market, Organoleptic Characters etc.

Rauwolfia serpentina

rauwolfia serpentina

Rauwolfia

below given information is all about rauwolfia serpentina a Antihypertensive drugs which is a indole alkaloids content. Read below regarding Synonyms, cultivation, Organoleptic Characters, uses etc. For more such information related to pharmacy https://t.me/bpharma123

Rauwolfia synonyms

Synonyms : Rauwolfia root, chhotachand, sarpagandha, snakeroot. These are the Synonyms for rauwolfia. These are the different names of rauwolfia in different regions.

Biological source : Dried roots of plants which are obtained from Rauwolfia serpentina.

  • It is collected in autumn from a 3 to 4 years old plant.
  • It contains 0.14% alkaloids which is a Reserpine.
  • It refers to the scientist Dr. Rauwolf and serpentina refers to the long snake-like structure of the root.

Rauwolfia family:

Apocynaceae is the family of rauwolfia.

Geographical distribution : It is distributed in wide large area :

  • Distributed in the tropical regions of Asia, America and Africa.
  • In India, it is cultivated in Uttar pradesh(UP),in Bihar, in Orissa, in Tamil Nadu, in west bengal, in Karnataka, in Maharashtra and in Gujarat.

Cultivates and collected in :

  • It grows in hot humid conditions and grows in shade.
  • It grows in a variety of souls, but for cultivation, clay, loamy soil, with humus.
  • The PH of the soil in which seeds are sown should be Acidic and around four ph.
  • The temperature ranges 10°C to 38°C.
  • Rainfall parameter ranges from 250 to 500 cm.
  • It can be cultivated by different methods like by seedling, roots, cutting, root stumps.
  • The seeds propagate with the choice of method.
  • To begin with the seeds are sown on nursery beds.
  • Germination of seeds is quite low so the sufficient seeds are sown.
  • Sowing is done in the month of May upto June.
  • Then seeds are transplanted in August maintaining a distance of 16 cm to 30cm.
  • 5 kg of seeds to produce seedlings to cover the area of one hectare.
  • Shrub of seedling is about 1 meter in height, with white or rose colored flowers and purple black fruits Various chemical fertilizers and manresa are given to plants for more cultivation.

How it is Prepared for market :

  • When the plants become three to four years old they are plugged.
  • The roots are cuted washed to remove soil and other earthly matters.
  • The yield on average of roots per hectare is 1200kg.

Organoleptic Characters :

  • Color : bark grayish yellow to brown and wood, pale yellow
  • Odour : odourless
  • Taste : Bitter Size : 10 to 15 cm long, 1 to 3cm in diameter
  • Shape : roots aresub-cylindrical, from sides slightly tapering, tortuous in shape

Microscopical characters :

  • The rauwolfia plant Cork has stratified cells followed by a phelloderm cells which is in a few rows of parenchyma.
  • Phloem is narrow in a line, parenchymatous with scattered sieve tissues.
  • Parenchyma cells contains starch grains and with some latex cells with brown resinous matter.
  • Secondary phloem contains embedded with calcium oxalate crystals.
  • Xylem is about fourth fifth of the diameter of the root and it consists of bundle vessels, tracheids, wood parenchyma and wood parenchyma and wood fibers.
  • Stone cells and phloem fibers are few or absent.

Chemical constituents of rauwolfia : It contains 30 indole alkaloids. Roots have 0.7% to 3 % depending on the source. Alkaloids are indole alkaloids, indoline alkaloids, indolenine alkaloids, oxyindole alkaloids, pseudo indoxyl alkaloids. Important alkaloids is Reserpine and rescinnamine. Also contains oleoresin, phytosterol, fatty acid, and unsaturated alcohol.

Rauwolfia serpentina uses

  • Depressant action on central nervous system shown by rauwolfia.
  • It has tranquilizing effect which leads to emotional calmness without producing hypnosis.
  • It lowers blood pressure as it is a Antihypertensive drug.
  • It is given parenteral route in the treatment for hypertension.
  • These is used for extraction of alkaloids like Reserpine, rescinnamine, ajamaline, etc. And also for the preparation of rauwolfia liquid extract.

You can Also read:

Senna leaves – senna leaves pharmacognosy link

Conclusion

This was all about rauwolfia which is a Antihypertensive drugs in pharmacognosy-and-phytochemistry-2-imp-questions and phytochemistry. I hope you get all about rauwolfia. Do comment other drugs.

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