Pharmacognostical Characters of the Dried Roots of Punica granatum Linn.

The standardization parameters like macroscopical, microscopical characters, physiochemical parameters like total ash (4.66%), water soluble ash (3.66%), acid insoluble ash (0.65%), sulphated ash (0.50%), foreign organic matter, loss on drying, foaming index (>100), both successive and cold maceration in various solvents like petroleum ether (1.66%), benzene (1.00%), chloroform (1.33%), ethyl acetate (1.66%), methanol (6.00%). Cold maceration values, petroleum ether (1.00%), benzene (1.60%), chloroform (2.00%), ethyl acetate (2.30%), methanol (13.30%). Behaviour on treatment with different chemical reagents of the dried root, fluorescence characters under both visible and ultralviolet light (254 nm, 366 nm). Further preliminary phytochemical screening of different extracts of root revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, carbohydrates, steroids, flavonoids, fixed oil, tannin and phenols, proteins and amino acids.