Useful for D.Pharm / B.Pharm / Pharm.D / M.Pharm

1. L E A F (DATURA ,
S E N NA)
Gayatri Patra
Assistant professor
EPCP, Bangalore

2. Datura (Leaf )
Synonyms :-Dhatura
Biological Source :- It consists of dried leaves of Datura metel Linn and other species of Datura,
belonging to family Solanaceae.
Geographical source:- It is found in India, England and other topical and subtropical regions.
Morphological characteristics:-
• The drug has a characteristic but unpleasant odour and a bitter taste.
• The drug contains entire , broken wrinkled , crushed leaves along with stem fragments and
floral parts.
• The entire leaf has length of 9 – 18 cm and width of 8 – 13 cm.

3. • The leaf is covered with minute hairs , lower
surface is slightly pale in colour and the leaf has a
thin texture.
• The leaf is unequal at the base with acute apex
and glabrous lamina.
• Each leaf has 3-4 coarse veins on each side and 4-
6 secondary veins on either side of the midrib.
• Flowers are reddish-purple on outer side and
whitish on inner side.
• Flowers are funnel shaped with pedicel which is
never erect.
• The stems as well as branches of drug are purple
coloured.

4. Cultivation and Collection
• Seeds are collected from wild grown plants.
• The germination is normally very slow. If the seeds are soaked in water and kept overnight,
the rate of germination increases.
• About 7 – 8 kg of seeds per hectare are required for sowing purpose.
• The seeds require about 15 – 20 days for germination.
• The distance kept in between 2 plants is about 75 – 100 cm.
• The plants should be supplied with organic fertilizers and proper irrigation.
• The drug is collected after 4 months of its cultivation.
• The leaves and branches are removed, drug is dried in the sun and marketed by packing in
gunny bags.

5. • The epidermal cells of both sides show
anisocytic stomata.
• The cells are covered with thin cuticle and
glandular and non- glandular simple
trichomes.
• 40% of lamina is occupied by single layer of
palisade cells.
• Approximately 6-8 layers of spongy
parenchymatous cells are present.
• Midrib shows vascular tissue with
protoxylem and metaxylem.
• Stomatal index is 12.7 – 19.5 for upper
surface and 21.2 -24 for lower surface.
• Palisade ratio is 3.5 -6.5
• Spongy parenchyma contains calcium
oxalate crystal.

7. Chemical Constituents
Datura Leaf contains tropane alkaloids (up to 0.5%), Hyoscyamine , atropine ,hyoscine.
Standards of quality :-
Stems, fruits,flowers – Not more than 20%
Foreign organic matter – Not more than 2%
Acid-insoluble ash – Not more than 4%
Uses :-
Alkaloid hyoscine are parasympatholytic with anticholinergic and CNS depressent effects.
It also used in treatment of asthma and cough.
Hyoscine hydrobromide is used in motion sickness, gastric or ulcers.

8. Senna(Leaf )
Synonyms:- Senna Leaf ,Cassia Senna.
Biological source:- It consists of dried leaflets of Cassia angustifolia or Cassia Senna Vahl
belonging to family Leguminosae.
Geographical source:- Indian Senna is cultivated in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and
Rajasthan.
Macroscopic Characters:- Colour:- Yellowish – green
Odour – slight
Taste- Mucilaginous, bitter and characteristic
Size- 7 to 8 mm in width and 25 to 60 mm in length.
Shape – Leaves are lanceolate.

9. Cultivation and Collection
Cultivation
In India 25000 hectares of land is under cultivation of senna in India, producing about 22500 tones of leaves and 7500
tones of fruits per annum.
Senna is a small shrub of 1.5 m, each leaf has got 3 – 5 – 7 pairs of leaflets.
For cultivation red loamy soil is selected. Before sowing, the land is ploughed twice, harrowed.
First sowing is done in February to March, while second sowing is carried out in October to November.
The plants are grown as a semi-irrigated or light-irrigated crop. The plant cannot survive at very low temperatures.
The plants are allowed to grow for about five months till the growth of flower stalks occurs.
Collection of leaves:
After 2 – 3 months of sowing, the harvesting of leaves is done in three stages. The first plucking is done when the leaflets
are thick, full-grown and greenish in colour. After one month , second plucking is done and last plucking is carried out
after 4 – 6 weeks.
Senna crop which is taken after the rice crop on the same time land in same season gives best yields and senna grown
on the dry land without proper irrigation gives poor results.

12. Chemical Constituents
• Senna Leaf contains anthraquinone Glycosides ( about 2.5%) , of which sennoside A and
sennoside B are major.
Uses:- It is used in purgative.