UTINGANA (Seed)
Utingana consists of dried mature seeds of Blepharis persica (Burm. f.) O. Kuntze. Syn. B. edulis Pers. (Fam. Acanthacem), a shrub, occurring in Punjab.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Uttingana
Assamese : —
Bengali : Ucchata
English : —
Gujrati : Utingun, Chopunivel
Hindi : Utangan
Kannada : Utangana
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : Utigana, Utungana
Marathi : Utangan
Oriya : Utingana
Punjabi : Uttangan
Tamil : Uttanjana
Telugu : Uttangan
Urdu : Utangan
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Seed occurs as entire or broken, 0.4 to 0.6 cm long, 0.3 to 0.4 cm broad; heart shaped, rough due to network of coarse hairs; cream to light yellow, flat; when soaked in water, hairs swell and produce viscid mucilage; mucilagenous on chewing.
b) Microscopic
Seed shows 4 to 6 layers of tangentially elongated, hyaline, thin-walled, parenchymatous seed coat, multicellular, multiseriate columnar, elongated hairs with twisted tips present towards outer side of the seed coat; embryo having two cotyledons with upper and lower epidermis; upper epidermis followed by 4 to 5 layers of oval to polygonal, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells and 2 or 3 layers more or less radially 2 elongated, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells respectively; beneath this a single layer of palisade-like cells present; lower epidermis covered with thick cuticle and consisting of rounded, isodiametric cells that are larger than those of the upper epidermis.
Powder – Yellowish-brown; shows fragments of hairs with mucilage, palisade-like oval to polygonal, thin-walled, parenchyma cells isolated or in larger or smaller groups.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 16 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
Water-soluble extractive Not less than 23 per cent, Appendix 2.2.7.
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 7 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 1.5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
T.L.C.
T.L.C. of alcoholic extract on Silica gel ‘G’ plate using Chloroform : Methanol (80:20) shows in visible light four spots at Rf. 0.17 (grey), 0.25 (light grey), 0.79 (light yellow), 0.87 (yellow). Under U.V. (366 nm) six fluorescent zones are yisible at Rf. 0.09, 0.17 (both black), 0.23 (light black) 0.33, 0.69 (both light blue) and 0.90 (dark blue). On exposure to Iodine vapour seven spots appear at Rf. 0.13, 0.18, 0.26, 0.36, 0.64, 0.75 and 0.90 (all yellow). On spraying with Dragendorff reagent followed by 5% Methanolic-Sulphuric acid one spot appear at Rf. 0.87 (orange). On spraying with 5% methanolic sulphuric acid eight spots appear at Rf. 0.14, 0.22, 0.33 (grey), 0.64 (violet), 0.71 (yellowish), 0.75 (brownish), 0.81 (yellow), and 0.90 (brown).
CONSTITUENTS – Glycosides and Tannin
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Madhura, Tikta
Guna : Guru, Picchila, Snigdha
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Madhura
Karma : Vrsya, Mutrala
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Kumaryasava
THERAPEUTIC USES – Mutrakrcchra, Klaibya
DOSE – 3-6 gm of the drug in powder form.
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