Anatomical and histochemical characterization of the vegetative organs of Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss.

Abstract

Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss. is popularly known as beldroega and bredo, its leaves are highly nutritious consumed as a substitute for spinach, presenting considerable concentrations of pro-vitamin A, calcium and iron. In addition, its leaves are used in the management of cardiovascular diseases, having immunomodulatory properties. In view of this, the objective of the study was to carry out the anatomical and histochemical characterization of the vegetative organs of T. fruticosum. For this, the usual methods in plant anatomy were used to make semi-permanent slides containing cross-sections of the root, stem, petiole and leaf blade and paradermal sections of the leaf blade of the species for analysis in optical microscopy light and polarized light. Histochemical tests were also performed using specific reagents in order to locate the metabolites in the fresh leaf blade through cross-sections. The main characters useful in identifying the species were: root with periderm with 4-5 cell layers and tetrarch vascular cylinder; stem with presence of angular collenchyma and druses in the parenchyma; petiole with open collateral vascular bundle and absence of collenchyma; amphistomatic leaf blade with paracytic stomata, midrib showing biconvex contour, uniseriate epidermis, annular collenchyma, mesophyll with 2-3 layers of palisade parenchyma and 5-6 layers of spongy parenchyma and presence of druses. In addition, through the histochemical study, the presence of lignin, druses of calcium oxalate and lipophilic compounds in the leaf blade was observed. The results presented are fundamental for the quality control of the plant drug and pharmacobotanical standardization of the studied species.