African Journal of
Pharmacy and Pharmacology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Pharm. Pharmacol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0816
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJPP
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 2294

Full Length Research Paper

Chemotaxonomic clarification of pharmaceutically important species of Cyperus L.

Muhammad Zafar1, Mushtaq Ahmad1*, Mir Ajab Khan1, Shazia Sultana1, Gul Jan1, Farooq Ahmad2, Asma Jabeen3, Ghulam Mujtaba Shah1, Shabnum Shaheen4, Amin Shah5, Abdul Nazir1 and Sarfaraz Khan Marwat1
1Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan. 2Department of Botany, PMAS, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 3Environmental Sciences Department, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 4Department of Botany, Lahore College for Women University Lahore, Pakistan. 5Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Published: 31 January 2009

Abstract

The evaluation of the crude herbal drug which eventually enters the pharmaceutical market is obviously of considerable importance. This operation involves the identification of the material and determination of its quality, purity and of adulterated nature of the adulterants. The present paper is based on the above objectives which confined to chemotaxonomic authentication of Cyprus rotundus L. (Nagar mootha) and its other similar species. Chemotaxonomic techniques including morphology, organoleptography, palynology, anatomy and phyto-chemical analysis were carried out in order to clarify the pharmaceutically important species of Cyperus that is Cyperus rotundus, Cyperusalopecuroides, Cyperus difformis and Cyperus niveus. It is concluded from this study that the genuine source of herbal drug Nagar Mootha is C. rotundus instead of other species. Such type of studies is the need of herbal industry to ensure validation process which applied in the manufacturing of herbal medicines and phyto- pharmaceuticals. This will provide the credibility in the regulation and grown of pharmaceutically important herbal medicines for the foreseeable.

 

Key words: Cyperus L., chemotaxonomic, pharmaceutical.