Comparative pharmacognostic study of the roots of the most common species of plants of the genus arctium

Abstract

The aim is to carry out a comparative pharmacognostic study of the roots of A. tomentosum and A. minus with the root of A. lappa to confirm or deny their interchangeability. Materials and methods. A Delta optic BioLight 300 microscope (Poland) was used to study the macro- and microscopic features of plant raw materials. The method of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to identify and quantify organic, including fatty, acids. Quantitative content of amount of organic acids, ascorbic acid, total polyphenols and amount of hydroxycinnamic acids was determined by using spectrophotometry. The content of polysaccharides was determined by the gravimetric method. The results. For the first time, a comparative morphological and anatomical study of the roots of A. tomentosum and A. minus in comparison with the root of A. lappa was carried out. As a result, a distinctive diagnostic microscopic feature of the roots was established: the shape of the receptacles of the schizogen type. For the first time, the component composition of organic, including fatty acids, for the roots of A. tomentosum and A. minus was determined in comparison with the root of A. lappa, which is the same. The content of 11 organics and 12 fatty acids in plant raw materials of 3 Arctium species was identified and determined. The quantitative content of the amount of organic acids, ascorbic acid, polysaccharides, total polyphenols, and amount of hydroxycinnamic acids in the roots of A. tomentosum and A. minus in comparison with the root of A. Lappa was established, and these indicators are comparable. Conclusions. For the first time, a comparative pharmacognostical study of the roots of A. tomentosum and A. minus in comparison with the root of A. lappa was carried out which showed minor differences between the roots of these Arctium species and confirms their interchangeability at this stage, especially when harvesting wild plant raw materials, when identification of the species at the botanical level is impossible