Nazeem Fahamiya

  Cucumis melo Linn. (family cucurbitaceae) is extensively cultivated throughout India particularly in the hot and dry North-Western areas. Its fruit pulp, root, seeds and seed oil are used for medicinal purposes. In Unani medicine, the seed kernel is commonly used to treat various disease conditions. Seeds are having diuretic, lithontriptic, laxative, demulcent and refrigerant properties. There are many varieties of melon available and they also show great diversity in foliage. Hence, adultration is very common with this plant. Standardization provides a more reliable, effective and high-quality product by confirming the presence of plant constituents qualitatively and quantitatively. Hence, efforts have been made to standardize the seed to provide scientific data for identification, authentication and distinguishing the plant from its adulterants. The morphological, microscopic, physicochemical and chromatographic studies of Cucumis melo seed will be useful for quality control of this drug in formulations and would serve as a standard reference for further studies. Key words: Adultration, Cucumis melo, flavonoid, phenolic, standardization

  Peucedanum grande is a succulent herb; about a meter in height. The fruits are used in medicine and have been reported to possess important biological properties. The objective of the present investigation was the development of quality standards and phytochemical analysis of P. grande. This included morphological and histological characters, pH of aqueous solution, ash values, extractive values, successive extractive values, and loss on drying, fluorescence analysis, preliminary phytochemical screening and HPTLC finger printing profile of secondary metabolites. The findings of this study might be useful to supplement information in regard to its identification parameters and laying down pharmacopoeial standards; as standardization of herbal medicines is essential and is the need of the today. Key words: Peucedanum grande, extracts, phytochemical screening, HPTLC.