Shigru (Moringa oleifera Lam..) is one of the most important plants having nutritional as well as medicinal value in Ayurveda. This present study has been carried out to establish the stem bark of plant for its morphological, microscopical and physicochemical characters with different phytochemical qualitative tests as per API and Sophisticated analysis such as High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC). Microscopy of stem bark showed Phloem, Rosette crystal, Resin duct, Stone cell, Medullary rays, Gum secretion, Crystal, Stratified cork. Powder microscopy of Shigru (Moringa oleifera Lam.) stem bark shows starch grain, Crystal fibres, Prismatic crystal, reddish brown tears of gum mass, Rosette crystal. Physicochemical parameters showed pH (6.28), loss on drying (6.28 %w/w), ash value (7.12 %w/w), Acid insoluble ash (1.05 %w/w), water soluble extractive (37.28 %w/v) and alcohol soluble extractive (19.10 %w/w). Preliminary phytochemical analysis for the presence of various functional groups such as Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Tannin, Saponin, Steroids were also studied. These observations can be helpful for identification and standardization of Shigru (Moringa oleifera Lam.).
Gabani et al. (Tue,) studied this question.