Chapter 5.

13

Litsea chinensis
Litsea chinensis Lam. Lauraceae

Common vernacular names: Bengali e Kukurchite; Gujrati e Meda

Lakdee; Hindi e Maida Lakdee; Marathi e Meda Lakdee; Punjabi e Med-
asaka; Tamil e Medalakavi; Telugu e Meda [1] (Fig. 5.13.1).

FIG. 5.13.1 Litsea chinensis bark.

Macroscopic description: Shape e Channeled cut pieces; Outer bark e

Rough, corky, brown; Inner bark e Smooth, longitudinally striated, Dark
brown to black; Fracture e Short and uneven; Odour e Characteristic.
Major chemical constituents: Alkaloids (Laurotetaline, actinodaphine,
boldine, norboldine, sebiferine and litseferine) [1].
Traditional uses: Wound healing and stomach problems [1].
Powder microscopic description: Light brown powder showing abundant
fibrous sclereids isolated or usually in groups, thick walled with distinct pits
and striations, wide to narrow lumen, few with peg like extension; Oval

Powdered Crude Drug Microscopy of Leaves and Barks. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818092-1.00017-8

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88 PART | I Microscopy/monograph of powdered bark drugs

rectangular to triangular in shape-various shape and size; abundant stone

cells, oval to squarish in shape with wide or narrow lumen, with distinct pits,
striated walls and pitted lumen; prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate and
simple, small, spherical starch grains; fragments of cork cells - polygonal,
pentagonal to hexagonal in shape and fragments of thick walled fibres with
pointed apex. Overnight soaked powder become very sticky showing that
bark is highly mucilaginous. Moreover, it is difficult to handle sample with a
brush as it is highly viscous and sticky. Features are clearly visible only
after potassium chlorate treatment. The general as well as specific
features of L. chinesis bark powder are illustrated in Table 5.13.1 and
Figs. 5.13.2e5.13.7 respectively.

TABLE 5.13.1 Specific as well as general characters of bark powder of

L. chinesis.

Specific features General features

Calcium oxalate
Stone cells Sclereids Fibres crystals
Occurrence Isolated Isolated Numerous Prismatic
Group Group Isolated
Abundant Abundant Cork
Walls Distinct pits Thick walled Thick walled Hexagonal

Striated Radiating pits Thin walled Pentagonal

walls

Thin walled Peg like Smoothly Beaded walls

extension striated
Thick Polygonal
walled
Shape Oval Oval Very long Irregular
Squarish Rectangular Pointed apex

Rectangular Triangular Irregular Starch grains

margin

Triangular Fibre like Simple

Lumen Wide Wide Wide Compound
Narrow Narrow Narrow Oval
Pitted Pitted Round
Slit like Small
 Litsea chinensis Chapter | 5.13 89

(A) (B) (C)

(D) (E)

FIG. 5.13.2 (AeE) e Stone cells of various shapes and sizes from Litsea chinensis bark powder.
90 PART | I Microscopy/monograph of powdered bark drugs

(A) (B) (C)

(D) (E)

FIG. 5.13.3 (AeE) e Sclereids of various shapes and sizes from Litsea chinensis bark powder.
 Litsea chinensis Chapter | 5.13 91

(A) (B)

(C) (D)

FIG. 5.13.4 (AeD) e Fibres of various shapes and sizes from Litsea chinensis bark powder.

FIG. 5.13.5 Prismatic crystals from Litsea chinensis bark powder.

92 PART | I Microscopy/monograph of powdered bark drugs

FIG. 5.13.6 Cork cells from Litsea chinensis bark powder.

FIG. 5.13.7 Starch grains of from Litsea chinensis bark powder.

Reference
[1] Government of India, Department of AYUSH, Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Part I, vol.
V, Ministry of Health and welfare, Ghaziabad, 1999e2017, p. 124.