INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES,
ENGINEERING & PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Dr.Parmesh K. Dwivedi

Amity University, Uttar Pradesh

Trichosanthes dioica R., (Cucurbitaceae) is a tropical vegetable crop with origin in the Indian subcontinent. It is also known as parwal, palwal, or parmal. The fruit is the edible part of the plant which is cooked in various ways either alone or in combination with other vegetables or meats. Pointed gourd is rich in vitamin and contains 9.0 mg, 2.6 mg sodium, 83.0 mg potassium, 1.1 mg copper, and 17.0 mg sulphur per 100 gm of edible part. The plant is a perennial, dioecious, and grows as a vine. Roots are tuberous with long taproot system. Vines are pencil thick in size with dark green cordate simple leaves. Flowers are tubular white with 16–19 days initiation to anthesis for pistillate flowers and 10–14 days for staminate flowers. In the present study an attempt has been made to explore pharmacognostical and phytochemical aspects of leaves of Trichosanthes dioica R. Pharmacognostical aspects like transverse section, powder microscopy, powder analysis with various reagents, fluorescence analysis, pH determination, physical evaluation, leaf constant alongwith phytochemical aspects such as carbohydrates, proteins, fat, alkaloids, flavonoids have been reported. The further confirmation has been done by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC).