Pharmacognostical and preliminary phytochemical studies of achyranthes aspera linn.

The whole plant of Achyranthes aspera has been used as remedy for a number of diseases such as dropsy, strangury, cough, kidney stones, dysentery and bowel complaints, According to traditional practice, a kheer prepared from the seeds of this plant is used to treat brain disorders. An attempt was made to fix the macroscopical, microscopical parameters of the leaf quantitative microscopy, physical constants, and behaviour of the powder with chemical reagents and preliminary qualitative phytochemical studies of Achyranthes aspera were investigated. The phytochemical tests revealed the presence of sterols, flavanoids tannins and carbohydrates.