Moringa oliefera Lam. or Moringa pterygosperma is one of the best known and most widely distributed and naturalized species of a monogenetic family Moringaceae. It is a small or middle sized tree, which is cultivated throughout India. The fruit of this tree is edible and constitutes one of the common vegetable dishes in India. Seed oil is known to be useful in treatment of leprous ulcers. Various parts of the M. oleifera tree have been studied for several pharmacological actions. Although the parts are utilized medicinally, pharmacognostical study of the plant part seed is not reported. Hence, seed of the plant were evaluated for its macroscopical, microscopical and phytochemical parameters. Macroscopical and microscopical investigations revealed that the plant was authentic as per the pharmacopoeial standards. Phytochemical investigation of seed shows foreign matter (0.70 gm/100 gm), pH (5.4), loss on drying is (6.5 mg/gm), total ash (4.81%), acid insoluble ash (0.70%), water soluble ash (2.10%), Sulphated ash (3.88%), water soluble extractive value (32.8%) and alcohol soluble extractive value (37.0%). The results of phytochemical investigations revealed that plant is authentic as per the pharmacopoeial standards.
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