Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, and molecular studies of an important medicinal herb Achillea millefolium L.

Background: Achillea millefolium L. is traditionally important medicinal herb used for the treatment of various ailments from the centuries. Recent studies showed its biological activities on hay fever, hepato-biliary disorders, and as appetite enhancing drug. It is also reported to be used for the treatments of skin inflammations, wounds, cuts, and abrasions.

Aim: To investigate preliminary pharmacognostical, phytochemical, and molecular parameters of aerial parts of the drug.

Materials and methods: A. millefolium was identified and collected from the Himalaya region. The material is properly dried, macro-and microscopic evaluation, phytochemical and molecular studies as per the standard quality control and WHO guidelines.

Results: The leaves are pinnately lobed, inflorescence compound corymbose. Nonglandular trichomes are uni-seriate, multicellular, and smooth walled; glandular trichomes are bicellular, present throughout the aerial parts. The endodermis is evident in the stem and leaf mesophyll is equifacial. The partial genome sequence analysis showed similarity toward studied species, which can clearly distinguish it from other species of the genus Achillea. The best chromatographic separation was observed with ascentis express C18, 2.7 μm, 100 mm × 4.6 mm. The flavonoids and phenolic acids have shown maximum absorbance at 330 nm. The system suitability parameters such as theoretical plate, tailing factor, and resolution met the acceptance criteria with United States pharmacopeia (USP).

Conclusion: The findings of this study will be helpful for the precise identification of the raw drug of A. millefolium from its closely allied species.