PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF BARK EXTRACT OF ZMA AND ZME ZIZIPHUS MAURITIANA AND ZIZIPHUS NUMMULARIA (RHAMNACEAE)

Medicinal plants are used in traditional system of medicine to treat various diseases and many of these plants have been evaluated for their different pharmacological activities. Ziziphus mauritiana (ZM) (Rhamnaceae) is found wild and cultivated in many parts of India, Burma and Srilanka. Seeds of Ziziphus mauritiana have been reported to have sedative-hypnotic, hypotensive, antihypoxic, antihyperlipidemic and hypothermic activities. It is reported to contain minerals, alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols, tannins and saponins. Traditional medicine using herbal drugs exists in every part of the world. The major areas are Chinese, Indian and European traditions. The philosophies of these traditional medicines have some resemblance to each other but differ widely from modern western medicine. In view of the progress of western medicine not only new synthetic drugs but also herbal drugs have to fulfill the international requirements on quality, safety and efficacy. Herbal drugs have the advantage of being available for patients in the geographical area of the special traditional medicine. The development procedure of herbal drugs for world-wide use has to be different from that of synthetic drugs.