Abstract:
Background: Juniperus virginiana L., commonly known as ‘red cedar’ in English is
a well‑known evergreen tree belonging to the family Cupressaceae. The leaves and
young aerial shoots are used for preparation of medicine in Homoeopathy.
Objective: Standardization is the quintessential aspect which ensures purity and
quality of drugs. Hence, the pharmacognostic and physico-chemical studies are carried
out to facilitate the use of authentic and correct species of raw drug plant material with
established parametric standards for manufacturing the drug.
Materials and Methods: Pharmacognostic studies on leaves and young aerial parts of
authentic samples of J. virginiana L. have been carried out; physico-chemical parameters
of raw drug viz., extractive values, ash values, formulation, besides weight per mL, total
solids, alcohol content along with High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC)
and ultraviolet visible studies have been worked out for mother tincture.
Results: The leaves are needles, narrow and sharp at tips; stems are round with
greyish white to brown bark possessing small lenticels and covered by imbricate leaves.
Epidermal cells in the surface have polygonal linear sides with pitted walls containing
crystals and starch. Stomata exclusively occur on the adaxial surface in linear
rows. Hypodermis of leaf in T.S. is marked with 1–2 layered lignified sclerenchyma.
2–4 secretory canals are present with one conspicuously beneath midvein bundle. The
young terminal axis is sheathed by two closely surrounding leaves while the mature
stem possess four leaf bases attached. Vascular tissue of stem possesses predominant
xylem surrounded by phloem containing sphaeraphides, prismatic crystals and starch grains. Uniseriate rays occur in the xylem. Mature stem possess shrivelled cork, followed by the cortex. Physicochemical properties and HPTLC values of the drug are standardized and presented. Conclusion: The powder microscopic features and organoleptic characters along with anatomical and physicochemical studies are diagnostic to establish the
standards for the drug.
