This document provides information about the plant fenugreek. It discusses the pharmacognostic profile including botanical name, family, plant parts used, and habitat. It describes the macroscopic characters of the seeds and leaves. The microscopic characters of the seeds are explained with diagrams. The main chemical constituents including amino acids, saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, and carbohydrates are listed. The pharmacological profile notes several therapeutic effects such as analgesic, anticancer, antioxidant, and galactagogue effects. References are provided at the end.

1. FENUGREEK
Anirban Roy
BPHARM, 2nd Year, 4th
semester
Sec-A, Roll No.-06.
GURU NANAK INSTITUTE OF

2. CONTENTS
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Pharmacogonistic Profile
Macroscopic characters
Microscopic Characters of Seeds
Chemical Constituents
Pharmacological Profile

3. PHARMACOGONISTIC PROFILE
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BOTANICAL NAME
Trigonella foenum graecum
Fabaceae
FAMILY
PLANT PART USED
Seeds as well as the dried leaves
The Latin name for Fenugreek:
Trigonella, means "triangle shaped pale yellow flower", and
"foenum graecum" means "Greek hay".
• HABITAT
Indigenous to the countries on the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Cultivated in India,
Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and occasionally in England.

4. 3 leaflets
Fruit
Hard
yellowi
sh
brown
seed

5. MACROSCOPIC CHARACTERS
SEEDS
• Seeds are about 4-6mm long;
2-3mm wide & 2mm thick.
• They are hard; yellowish
brown in color.
• Irregularly rhomboidal in
outline & flattened, with a
deep furrow dividing into 2
unequal lobes.
• They are contained, ten to
twenty together, in
long, narrow, sickle-like pods.
• Taste, bitter and peculiar.
• Odour, spicy.
LEAVES
• long stalked leaves up to 5
cm long .
• stipules triangular,
lanceolate.
• leaflets about 2.5 cms long,
• obovate to obanceolate in
shape.

6. MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERS OF SEEDS
• Transverse section:
1. Testa—the outermost layer is covered with cuticle and composed
of thick-wall, cylindrical, lignified cells with conical projections, through
which a white line, linea lucida, extends across; middle layer of testa
composed of cells with thick-walls and wide intercellular spaces near
their tops; inner section of testa composed of a few layers of
narrow, tangentially elongated, compact, thin-wall parenchyma cells.
2. Endosperm—outer layer consists of rectangular to polygonal
thick-wall cells, full of aleurone grains; multiple layers of cells of
various shapes, large, full of mucilage.
3. Cotyledons—a layer of epidermal cells with thick walls; 3–4
layers of cells containing oil globules; a few layers of spongy tissue.
A. vertical section showing radicle, one of the
cotyledons & hilum, n.
B. transverse section showing radicle,r ; both
cotyledons, c ; & endosperm, e

7. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS
• Amino acids: 4-Hydroxyisoleucine, 4hydroxyisoleucine
lactone, arginine, histidine, and lysine.
• Steroidal saponins: Trigoneoside IIa, Ib;
graecunins H, I, J, K, L, M, N; trigofoenosides
A, D,F, G; protogracillin; protodioscin; and
diosgenin
• Alkaloids: Trigonelline, gentianine, and carpaine
• Flavonoids:
Apigenin, luteolin, orientin, quercetin, vitexin, an
d isovitexin
• Carbohydrates: Mainly mucilage

8. PHARMACOLOGICAL PROFILE
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Analgesic effects
Antiadhesive properties
Anticarcinogenesis effects
Antitumor activity
Antioxidant activity
Antiplatelet activity
Exercise recovery effects
Hepatoprotective activity
Lipid-lowering effects
Galactagogue effects

9. REFERENCES
• 1. Kirtikar and Basu; “Indian Medicinal plants” International
Book Distributors, 9/3, Rajpur Road (Ist floor) Dehradun248001, India, Vol. I, Page. No.700-701.
• 2. “The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India”, Part- I, volume
II, First edition , Govt. of India Ministry of health
Education, Page No. 107-108.
• 3. Prajapati, Purohit, Sharma and Kumar; “A Handbook of
Medicinal Plants- A Complete Source Book”, Published by
Agrobios (India), 2003, Page No.523.
• 4. Rastogi & Mehrotra, B.N.; “Compendium of Indian
Medicinal Plants”, PID, New Delhi, 1990, volume II, Page
No. 422.

10. THANK YOU