Comparative pharmacognostic study of leaves of two varieties of Piper betle L. namely Calcutta Bangla and Assam Kapoori.

Abstract

A large number of varieties of P.betle (family- Piperaceae) are used as a source of essential oil, medicine and in day to day life for chewing and other purposes. These varieties represent landraces and hence pose problem in taxonomic identification and classification. Pharmacognostic studies like organoleptic, macroscopic, microscopic characters and anatomical features provide supporting data for this purpose. Comparative study of two varieties ofP. betle namely Calcutta Bangla and Assam Kapoori are presented here. These studies indicated stomata and trichome characters can be used to distinguish these two varieties even in crude powder form.