Micrometric evaluation of two botanical source plants of Guduchi i.e. Tinospora cordifolia (Wild.) Miers and Tinospora malabarica (Lam.) Hook. f. & Thomson stem and leaf

Abstract

Background: Guduchi, also known as an Amrita, is one of the important medicinal plants used in Ayurveda. Though Tinospora cordifolia (Wild.) Miers, considered as the official botanical source plant of Guduchi other two species such as Tinospora malabarica (Lam.) Hook. f. &Thomson and Tinospora crispa (L.) Hook. f. & Thomson are also used as a source plant in different parts of India. Though it looks very similar in morphological characters, the micrometric differentiation of two species that is T. cordifolia and T. malabarica are still lacking. Aim: To differentiate the two species of Tinospora through micrometric analysis. Materials and methods: This study portrays both authenticate fresh stem and leaf and with their powdered samples standard histochemical materials, and other laboratory equipment. Result: T. cordifolia and T. malabarica are deciduous woody climbers. The Habitats of both plants are different. T. cordifolia having more prominent lenticels than that of T. malabarica. Main differentiating feature present in the leaf is the presence of trichomes. Most abundant uniseriate trichomes are present in T. malabarica. Trichomes are absent in T. cordifolia. Conclusion: Present data may encourage researchers to use the various dimensions of the research to flourish the different species of Guduchi.