Pharmacognostic, Physicochemical and Phytochemical Investigation of Tagetes Erecta Linn Flowers (Asteraceae)

Standardization is used in herbal medicine to try to make extracts of the same herbs as similar to each other. It is used to describe all measures which are taken during the manufacturing process and quality control leading to a reproducible quality. Among the various techniques, identification of plant drug by pharmacognostic study is more reliable. The plant locally known as Genda Phul (Marigold) belongs to the family Asteraceae. The flower has numerous pharmacological activities such as antipyretic, astringent, carminative, stomachic, scabies. It is used as wound healing, reducing inflammation, soothing and softening the skin and thus in skin care products, as it has unique properties and assists the cell rejuvenation. The present work deals with Pharmacognostic evaluation for the flower of Tagetes erecta includes macromorphology and microscopical characters, physicochemical constant and phytochemical screening. These findings will be useful towards establishing pharmacognostic standards on identification, purity, quality and classification of the plant, which is important in plant drug research.