Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T02:51:18.820Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Botanical Characterization of Guiera senegalensis Leaves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2008

Olga Silva ,
Rita Serrano  and
Elsa Teixeira Gomes
Olga Silva*
Affiliation:
iMed.UL/CECF, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-019 Lisbon, Portugal
Rita Serrano
Affiliation:
iMed.UL/CECF, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-019 Lisbon, Portugal
Elsa Teixeira Gomes
Affiliation:
iMed.UL/CECF, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-019 Lisbon, Portugal
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Guiera senegalensis J. F. Gmel. (Combretaceae) is one of the most important West African medicinal plants, often used to treat a variety of microbial infections. The most frequently used plant part is the leaf, its medicinal use being corroborated by several in vitro antimicrobial activity studies. However, quality criteria for pharmaceutical use, including botanical identification, are not yet determined. Aiming the establishment of such criteria, the present work deepens today's knowledge on G. senegalensis leaf morphology and anatomy, the anatomical characters of both leaf transversal section and powdered leaves being hereby presented for the first time. The most useful characters for identification purposes are leaf isobilateral organization, with similar upper and lower surfaces and a palisade parenchyma on both surfaces; trichome insertion points on both epidermis, surrounded by polar arrangements of cells; tomentose indumentum on the upper epidermis consisting of compartmented and uniseriated trichomes with long, curved, or straight terminal cells; brown scales, isolated or inserted into the epidermis, formed by radially arranged cells surrounding a central cell, with a more or less circular form and a conspicuous base; calcium oxalate cluster crystals, isolated or inserted into the palisade parenchyma and absent in lateral veins.

Keywords

African medicinal plantbotanical identificationCombretaceaeGuiera senegalensispharmacognostic charactersplant drug analysis
Type
Biological Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 14 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 398 - 404
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Berhaut, J. (1974). Flore Illustrée du Sénégal, pp. 379–381. Dakar, Senegal: Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du Développement Rural, Direction des Eaux et Forêts.Google Scholar
EDQM. (2007). European Pharmacopoeia, 6th ed., vol. 1: General Monographs. Strasbourg, Germany: European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines, Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Exell, A.W. & Stace, C.A. (1966). Revision of the Combretaceae. Bol Soc Brot 40, 4–25.Google Scholar
Gomes, E.T., Silva, O., Diniz, M.A. & Martins, E.S. (2003). Plantas medicinais da Guiné-Bissau: Manual prático, pp. 17–20. Bissau, Guinea-Bissau: Acção para o Desenvolvimento (AD).Google Scholar
IDMA. (2002). Indian Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Mumbai: Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association.Google Scholar
Kerharo, J. & Adam, J.G. (1974). La Pharmacopée Sénégalaise Traditionnelle—Plantes Médicinales et Toxiques, pp. 353–356. Paris: Vigot.Google Scholar
OAU/STRC. (1985). African Pharmacopoeia. Lagos, Nigeria: African Unity Scientific Technical & Research Commission.Google Scholar
Pousset, J.L. (1989). Plantes médicinales africaines, utilisation pratique, pp. 84–86. Paris: Ellipses Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique.Google Scholar
Silva, O. (2004). Estudo etnofarmacológico de espécies da Flora da Guiné-Bissau com actividade antimicrobiana. PhD Thesis. Lisbon: University of Lisbon.Google Scholar
Silva, O., Barbosa, S., Diniz, A., Valdeira, M.L. & Gomes, E. (1997b). Plant extracts antiviral activity against Herpes simplex virus type 1 and African swine fever virus. Int J Pharmacognosy 35, 12–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva, O., Duarte, A., Cabrita, J., Pimentel, M., Diniz, A. & Gomes, E. (1996). Antimicrobial activity of Guinea-Bissau traditional remedies. J Etnopharmacol 50, 55–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silva, O., Ferreira, E., Vaz Pato, M.V. & Gomes, E. (1997a). Guinea-Bissau's plants in vitro susceptibility studies on Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Int J Pharmacognosy 53, 323–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva, O. & Gomes, E.T. (2003). Guieranone A, a naphthyl butanone from the leaves of Guiera senegalensis with antifungal activity. J Nat Prod 66, 447–449.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sousa, M.C., Silva, O., Gomes, E.T. & Poiares-Da-Silva, J. (2001). Antigiardial activity of Guinea-Bissau's medicinal plants. Clin Microbiol Infec 7, 1176.Google Scholar
Stace, C.A. (1965). The significance of the leaf epidermis in the taxonomy of the Combretaceae, I. A general review of tribal, generic and specific characters. J Linn Soc Bot 59, 229–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar