Pharmacognostical and phytochemical standardization of Houttuynia cordata Thunb.: A potent medicinal herb of North–Eastern India and China

The relevance of pharmacognosy in standardization of herbal drugs was long been stressed. Many monographs based on pharmacognostical studies have emerged as an aid in the taxonomical and botanical identifications.[1] The process of standardization can be achieved by stepwise pharmacognostic studies. These studies will probably helps in the identification and authentication of the plant material. Houttuynia cordata Thumb. is a perennial herb with heart–like leaf and stoloniferous rhizome native to Japan, South–East Asia, and the Himalayas. It is a single species of the genus Houttuynia belonging to Saururaceae family and is restricted only to specialized moist habitats. H. cordata has been identified as one of the most potential medicinal and edible wild plant resources in China. Its young plants, including the aerial stems, leaves and underground stems are consumed as wild vegetable and its mature plants are commonly used as a kind of traditional medicinal herb in China, Korea, India, Vietnam and Thailand. In North–East India, this plant is eaten raw as a medicinal salad for lowering the blood sugar level and is commonly known by the name “Jamyrdoh” (Khasi and Jaintia tribes of Meghalaya). H. cordata contains six major classes of phytochemicals viz. essential oils, flavonoids, alkaloids, fatty acids, sterols and polyphenolic acids and these compounds exhibit a variety of pharmacological activities like anti–cancer,[2] anti–oxidant,[3] anti–diabetic,[4] anti–hypertension,[5] anti–inflammatory,[6] anti–mutagenic[7] *Corresponding author. Dr. (Mrs) S. Hemalatha Department of Pharmaceutics, Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, (U.P.) 221005, India Phone No: +919415256481