The Pharmacognosy of the Bark of Ficus glomerata Roxb.

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The Pharmacognosy of the Bark of Ficus glomerata Roxb.

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S. L. NAYAR & B. S. BISHT Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow

Manuscript received 25 June 1958

The macroscopic and microscopic characters of the bark of Fieus glomerata Roxb, are described.

F

^{1CUS glomerate} Roxb. (Hindi: Gular; Sanskrit:

Udambara) belongs to the family Moraceae.

It is an evergreen spreading tree, of moderate to large size, found throughout the greater part of India in moist localities. It is found also on rocky slopes, sometimes almost gregariously. It is often cultivated around villages for its edible fruit.

The bark of the tree is employed in the indigenous systems of medicine for a variety of purposesv-, The bark is astringent, and an infusion of it is em­

ployed as a mouth wash in spongy gum condition.

The bark is antiseptic, antipyretic and vermicide, and .a decoction of the bark is used in various skin diseases and ulcers. It is used as a plaster in inflammatory swellings and boils. It is reported to be efficacious in the treatment of piles, dysentery, asthma, gonorrhoea, gleet, menorrhagia, leucorrhoea and haemoptysis, and in urinary diseases.

Material

Fresh bark was collected from locally growing trees by making longitudinal and transverse incisions through the outer layers round the circumference of the stem and Branches and peeling it off.

Macroscopic characters

The outer surface of the bark (PI. I, Fig. 1, os) is grey, rusty greenish to rusty brownish in colour, fairly smooth and soft and is generally covered with minute and very thin exfoliating flakes of whitish tissue, The flakes are somewhat translucent, circular

\ or oblong in shape and about 2-3 mm. wide and can be easily scraped off by a gentle rubbing. At some places small areas of the outer bark varying from 5 to 25 mm. in length and about 5-13 mm. in width, become hard and woody and exfoliate as thin slices, leaving shallow depressions. The innermost tissue of the bark (Fig. 1, is) is uniformly soft and dries to a firm dense layer, giving a hard and fairly smooth inner surface which is dark reddish brown or reddish brown III colour. The transversely cut surface of

the fresh bark shows the outer skin as a thin brownish streak, while the rest of the bark, consisting of cortex and phloem, has a light fleshy colour which becomes lighter on drying. The thickness of the bark varies from about 6 to 18 mm.

On drying, the pieces of the bark become curved or channelled. The fracture is hard; the transverse fracture is rough and light brownish in colour.

The bark has an indistinct odour and an astringent taste.

Microscopic characters

The cork consistsrof 3"8. layers of rectangular to somewhat tangentially elongated, suberized cells (Fig. 3A, ck), "which . appear polygonal in surface view (Fig. 5, ck) and measure R

=

12 to 16 to 20 fL,T

=

12 to 25 to 40 fLand L = 12 to 22 to 32 fL. Internal to the cork, one or two layers of thin­

walled and slightly tangentially elongated cells form the phellogen (Fig. 3A, Ph). The phelloderm is a well-marked, compact tissue within the phellogen, of some 15-25 cells in radial thickness in which the majority of the cells are parenchymatous (Fig. 3A,

pal

and others sclerotic. The individual parenchymatous cells as well as the sclereids are arranged more or less in radial files with the corres­

ponding phellogen and cork cells. The parenchyma­

tous cells are thin-walled, round or slightly tagen­

tially elongated and measure R = 8 to 17 to 24 fL, T = 10 to 23 to 30 fL and L = 16 to 29 to 40 fL.

Sclereids occur isolated or in small groups (Fig. 3A, scl), particularly in the inner region of the phelloderm;

the individual sclereids have lignified walls with simple pits and a large lumen and are somewhat slightly tangentially elongated and measure R = 13 to 19 to 28 fL, T = IS to 31 to 46 fLand L = 16 to 33 to 46 fL. Several of the parenchymatous cells in the phelloderm have a single prism of calcium oxalate (Fig. 3A, cr) or some brownish content (Fig. 3A, bc) which is stained bluish black with ferric chloride solution.

15

J. SCI. INDUSTR. RES., VOL. 18C, JANUARY 1959

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PLATE I - Ficus gtomerata BARK [Fig. 1 (macroscopic characters): as, outer surface; is, inner surface. Fig. 2: Plan of tissues in a t.s. X 8. Fig. 3 (t.s.}: A, cork, phellogen and phelloderm; B, cortex; C, outer phloem; D, inner phloem (all X 143).

Fig. 4 [r.l.s.}: Inner phloem X 143. Fig. 5: Macerate X 143. Fig. 6: Powder X 180. a, starch; be, brownish content; ck, cork;

CY, prism of calcium oxalate; f, fibre; lat, latex duct; my, medullary ray; pa, cortical parenchyma; Ph, phellogen; phe, phello- derm; p.f, phloem fibre; p.p, phloem parenchyma; sci, sclereids; s.p, sieve plate; s.t, sieve tube]

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NAYAR & BISHT: PHARMACOGNOSY OF THE B¥K OF F. GLOMERATA ROXB.

The cortex is a fairly wide zone and consists of abundant sclereids, together with thin-walled paren­

chyma. The sclereids are isolated or arranged in groups of various shapes and sizes (Fig. 3B, sel);

individual sclereids are rectangular, slightly isodia­

metric, irregular or tangentially elongated with ligni­

fied walls traversed by well-marked simple pits and measure R = 12 to 34 to 55 !J., T = 24 to 49 to 109 !J. and L = 16 to 32 to 55!J.. The cortical paren­

chyma cells (Fig. 3B, pa) are thin-walled, tangen­

tially elongated, spherical or oblong and measure R = 16 to 25 to 36!J. and T = 32 to 55 to 79!J.. Some of the cortical parenchyma cells contain prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate (Fig. 3B, er), some have a brownish content (Fig. 3B, be), and many of them show very few small, rounded granules of starch (Fig. 3B, a). The cut ends of several latex ducts which contain a light brownish granular material can be made out in the cortical region. Endodermis and pericycle are not distinguishable. Unlignified fibres occur singly or in small groups in the cortex, which are identical with those found in the phloem region and are described below.

The phloem is composed of sieve tubes, com­

panion cells, phloem parenchyma, sclereids, phloem fibres and medullary rays and occupies about seven­

tenths of the entire thickness of the bark. It can be subdivided into two unequal regions. The outer region is the larger of the two and contains abundant sclereids, chiefly in its outer part, either singly or in small groups, without any regular arrangement. In­

dividual sclereids have lignified walls with simple pits and a large lumen (Fig. 3C, set) and are of various shapes, mostly elongated, rectangular or slightly isodiametric and measure R

=

16 to 27 to 48 !J., T

=

16 to 34 to 51 !J. and L

=

20 to 50 to 91 !J..

Scattered throughout this region occur unlignified fibres with narrow lumen, either isolated or in groups

~'f 2-6' (Fig. 3C, p.f) and measure' 2200 to 4200 to 5800 !1. in length and 12 to 21 to 29 !J. in diameter;

at times, these fibres are associated with sclereids and/or with cells containing calcium oxalate crystals.

The inner region of the phloem is comparatively smaller; in this region very occasionally isolated unlig­

. nified fibres are met with but the sclereids are absent.

In the more recently formed phloem the thin-walled sieve tubes are readily distinguishable with oblique, compound sieve plates (Fig. 3D and Fig. 4, s.P).

Phloem parenchyma (Fig. 3C, D,

p.P)

consists of thin-walled cells and contains very little starch.

Prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate and brownish

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contents also occur in numerous of the phloem paren­

chyma cells (Fig. 3C, D and Fig. 4, cr, be). The cut ends of several latex ducts (Fig. 3C, tat), which contain a light brownish granular material, are found in the phloem and measure up to 40 !J. in diameter.

The medullary "rays (Fig. 3C, D, mr) are 2-10 seriate and 15-25 cells in depth; the distal ends of some of these rays are very wide with large cells and almost extend to the periphery of the cortex. The individual cells of the rays are parenchymatous, thin-walled, radially elongated and wavy in outline.

When the medullary rays pass through sclereids, the cells become sclerotic. Starch is fairly abundant in the medullary ray cells (Fig. 3C, D, a) and occurs in simple or 2- to 4-compound grains; the individual grains are ovoid to spherical, measuring up to 8 !J. in diameter; some of the medullary ray cells also have brownish contents.

Powder - Light pink to light brown in colour;

odour faint; taste astringent. Under the microscope, it is characterized by the presence of abundant pris­

matic crystals of calcium oxalate (Fig. 6, er) of various sizes measuring up to 35 !J. in maximum length, ' either free or in detached parenchymatous cells;

sclereids (Fig. 6, sel) separated or more or less in small intact groups; individual sclereids of various shapes, rectangular, isodiametric, elongated or irregular with lignified walls with well-marked simple pits and a large lumen; portions of broken unlignified fibres (Fig. 6, f) with narrow lumen which are at times associated with sclereids and/or with cells contain­

ing calcium oxalate crystals; phloem parenchyma (Fig. 6,

p.P)

with thin walls; medullary ray cells (Fig. 6, mr) have a wavy outline and contain minute starch grains; starch grains (Fig. 6, a) spherical or ovoid, simple or 2- to 4-compound; occasional paren­

chymatous cells with brownish contents; cork cells polygonal in surface view (Fig. 6, eli).

Acknowledgement

Thanks are due to Dr B. Mukerji, Director, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, for his interest in the work.

References

1. Moos, N. S., Ayurvedic Flora Medica (Vaidyasarathy Press, Kottayam). 1953, 71-74.

2. KIRTIKAR, K. R. & BASU, B. D., Indian Medicinal prants.

Vol. III (Lalit Mohan Basu, Allahabad), 1935, 2327-28.

3. WATT, G., Dictionary of Economic Products of India, Vol. III (Government Press, Calcutta), 1890, 351-53.

4. CHOPRA, R. N., Indigenous Drugs of India (Art Press, Calcutta), 1933, 578-79.

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