Microscopic Authentication of Pakistani Commercial Herbal Plants of Family Lamiaceae

Abstract

Herbal medications become extremely crucial for global healthcare. Herbal plants are sold and utilized all over the world for their supposed or predicted health advantages, but their growing popularity culminated in a rise of accidental contamination or purposeful adulteration. The medicinally important, Ocimum bascillum member of the family Lamiaceae can be investigated using microscopic and pharmacognostic parameters. Microscopic characterization can be done by section cutting and observing under a light microscope (LM), but most magnified structures describing their anatomical features and morphology can be viewed using SEM (scanning electron microscope). While, pharmacognostic characterization is done by fluorescent analysis, solubility, and physiochemical analysis.  Today’s critical issue faced by the herbal market is uncertainty and conflict produced by the same synonyms used for more than one or two drugs. In herbal marketplaces, distinct species are sometimes marketed under the same common or local name, resulting in adulteration. Hence, it is concluded that as each plant has its own peculiar internal structures and chemical compounds. So, this article helps to compare the anatomical and powder structures with the already known structures in order to minimize the risk of adulteration.