Pharmacognostical and phytochemical studies on Anacardium occidentale Linn. leaves.

Plants have been the basis of many traditional medicines throughout the world for thousands of years and continue to provide new remedies to mankind. Anacardium occidentale belongs to the family Anacardiaceae. The leaves possess antidiabetic, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory activities. Present work aims to highlight the pharmacognostical and phytochemical, standards of leaves of A. occidentale. The ethanolic extract was prepared by soxhlet apparatus. The total ash value, acid insoluble ash value, water soluble ash value, extractive values, loss of drying, fluorescence characters and phytochemical studies were performed. The total ash value, acid insoluble ash value, and water soluble ash value were found 4.85%,0.97% and 4.9% respectively The screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavanoids, tannins, carbohydrates, steroids and absence of saponins in the ethanolic extract of A. occidentale. The findings are useful in establishing a relationship between chemical composition of the leaf extract and previously reported activities of A. occidentale.