MEDASAKAH (Stem Bark)
Medasakah consists of stem bark of Litsea chinensis Lam. syn. L. glutinosa (Lour.) C.B. Robins, L. sebifera Pers. (Fam. Lauracem), an evergreen shrub or tree, upto 25 m in height and about 1.5 m in girth with a clean bole, found throughout India, ascending upto an altitude of 1350 m in outer Himalayas.
SYNONYMS
Sanskrit : Medasakah
Assamese : —
Bengali : Kukurchite
English : —
Gujrati : Meda Lakdee
Hindi : Maida Lakdee
Kannada : —
Kashmiri : —
Malayalam : —
Marathi : Meda Lakdee
Oriya : —
Punjabi : Medasaka
Tamil : Medalakavi
Telugu : Meda
Urdu : —
DESCRIPTION
a) Macroscopic
Pieces of bark 1.5 to1.6 cm in length; 0.1 to 0.5 cm in width; external surface rough, corky, greenish – yellow to yellowish – brown; internal surface smooth, longitudinally striated, dark brown to black; fracture, short and uneven.
b) Microscopic
T.S. shows broad zone of cork, 5 to 8 layered; secondary cortex consisting of patches of sclereids, fibres, parenchyma, occasionally containing rhomboidal crystals of calcium oxalate, abundant starch grains, cells containing tannins and mucilage; starch grains spherical to oval, single or in groups, simple or compound, measuring from 1.5 to 8 n; fibres long, lignified with tapering ends, measuring from 370 to 630 n in length and 23 to 35 n in width.
Powder – Light brown in colour, odour strong, bitter and mucilaginous showing cork tissue, starch grains, sclereids, fibres, cells containing tannins and mucilage; sclereids round to oblong, laterally compressed, with narrow lumen, and showing radiating pit canals.
IDENTITY, PURITY AND STRENGTH
Foreign matter Not more than 2 per cent, Appendix 2.2.2.
Total Ash Not more than 8 per cent, Appendix 2.2.3.
Acid-insoluble ash Not more than 1 per cent, Appendix 2.2.4.
Alcohol-soluble extractive Not less than 5 per cent, Appendix 2.2.6.
T.L.C.
T.L.C. of the alcoholic extract on silica gel ‘G’ plate (0.2 mm thick) using chloroform: methanol: acetic acid (80:20:2) shows Under UV (254 nm) three spots at Rf. 0.07 (brown), 0.15 and 0.23 (both violet). Under UV (366 nm) two fluorescent spots appear at Rf. 0.68 (pink) and 0.89 (blue). On exposure to iodine vapour five spots appear at Rf. 0.15, 0.20, 0.23, 0.30 and 0.82 (all yellowish brown). On spraying with 5% ferric chloride solution four spots appear at Rf. 0.07 (violet), 0.15 (blue), 0.23 and 0.30 (both faint green).
CONSTITUENTS – Alkaloids (Laurotetaline, actinodaphine, boldine, norboldine, sebiferine and litseferine).
PROPERTIES AND ACTION
Rasa : Katu, Tikta, Kasaya
Guna : Laghu, Snigdha
Virya : Usna
Vipaka : Katu
Karma : Dipana, Kaphahara, Stambhana, Vatahara, Bhagnaprasadhaka
IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS – Asthisandhanaka Lepa
THERAPEUTIC USES – Sula, Agnimandya, Sotha, Atisara, Vatavikara, Raktasrava, Asthibhanga
DOSE – 5-10 g powder.
Latest Govt Job & Exam Updates: