Pharmacognostic studies and physicochemical analysis of leaves and stems of coccinia indica wight and arn

The Leaves and stems of Coccinia indica are reported to have good medicinal values in traditional system of medicine. Coccinia indica belonging to family Cucurbitaceae is distributed all over India, it is commonly known as Ivy gourd and the leaves, roots, fruits and bark has been used for various disorders in traditional and folk medicine.
The present study highlights the pharmacognostical as well as phytochemical studies including parameters such as macroscopic, microscopic characters, physical evaluation and preliminary phytochemical studies of the leaves and stems. These observations will help in the pharmacognostical identification and standardization of the drug in the crude form and also to distinguish the drug from its adulteration.