Physicochemical evaluation of male and female plants of Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers)

Abstract

Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers.) is a dioecious creeper, commonly known as „Giloe‟, with significant medicinal importance in the traditional systems of medicine. The plant is dioecious, however, this factor is not given proper consideration while collecting the plant material for medicinal purposes. Minimal studies are available on male and female varieties of Guduchi and no published information on the comparative physicochemical study of these varieties is available so far. Considering this, the present study is planned to comparatively evaluate the physicochemical profiles of male and female varieties of Guduchi. Both male and female varieties were collected, authenticated and subjected to morphological/organoleptic screening, relevant physico-chemical parameters, qualitative testing for various functional groups, and quantitative estimation of total alkaloids, total starch and mucilage contents. The present study differentiated both male and female varieties in morphological and organoleptic characters. The values of water and alcohol soluble extractives was found relatively higher in male variety, while the total alkaloid, total starch and total mucilage contents were higher in female variety. All functional groups were found to be same in both varieties; however, more extensive works on quantification of chemical constituents and secondary metabolites are needed.