Aspects of pharmacognostic evaluation of the herbs for a traditional antimalarial (maloff-hb) powdered formulation in ogbomoso, Nigeria

Maloff-HB is a documented traditional oral powdered herbal drug in Ogbomoso, Nigeria whose botanical constituents, ascorbic acid and mineral elements composition have been quantified but there is inadequate information on the pharmacognostic properties of the nine herbal materials for its formulation. This study therefore sought to elucidate the bark and wood anatomy of eight of the nine herbs used in the formulation, and identify the diagnostic markers for their authentication. The conventional anatomical techniques of transverse sectioning (TS) and tissue maceration (TIM) were used to draw out 21 characteristics from the root barks of the eight woody species studied. In addition, 41 features of the wood in the roots of three of the species were drawn using TS, transverse longitudinal sectioning (TLS), radial longitudinal sectioning (RLS) and TIM. Following staining, mounting and microscopic examinations, the observed qualitative and quantitative features were taxonomically described in accordance with the provisions of International Association of Wood Anatomists, and their diagnostic values among the medicinal herbs were explored. Bark anatomical markers that are clearly diagnostic of the species studied included features of the secondary cortex, phloem rays, axial parenchyma, sclereids and resin ducts. In the wood, these included features of the vessels in the TS and variable ray characteristics in the TLS. The two artificial keys obtained from discontinuities in qualitative and quantitative features observed in the barks and the woods are useful tools for reliable identification of the herbal materials studied.