Piper longum Linn.

P. longum is a slender aromatic climber, mostly cultivated for its fruit. 

Synonyms: Piplamul, Pippali, Indian long pepper.

Family: Piperaceae

Chemical constituents:
       It contain alkaloids (piperine, piplartine, piperlonguminine etc), volatile oil, sesamine etc

Uses:

• It is commonly used for cough, cold, asthma, bronchitis etc.
• Its fruit is used as a spice in Indian cuisine.
• It acts as a carminative, sedative and analgesic

Crocus sativus Linn.

Crocus sativus Linn.

Synonyms: Crocus, French saffron, Spanish saffron
Family: Iridaceae
Plant morphology:

       Crocus sativus is a small, perennial herb, 5-10 in high. Saffron is flattish-tubular, almost thread-like stigmas which are about 3 cm long. Its odour is strong, peculiar and aromatic.

Uses:

• Saffron is used as a colouring and flavouring agent.

Clitoria ternatea L.

Clitoria ternatea L.

Synonyms:

• Asian pigeon wings
• Blue pea
• Darwin pea
• Butterfly pea
• Sangupushpam (Malayalam)
• Gokarni (Hindi)

Family: Fabaceae

Plant morphology:

       Clitoria ternatea is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its stem is woody at the base. The leaves are pinnate. Flowers are solitary and have a deep blue or white colour. Fruits are 5-7 cm long, flat pods with six to ten seeds in each pod. Its roots form a symbiotic association with rhizobia, which transform atmospheric N₂ into a plant usable form (Nitrogen fixation).

Chemical constituents:

       It contains anthocyanins, steroids, triterpenoids, etc.

Uses:

• It is grown as an ornamental plant.
• The flower is used as a natural food colouring to colour glutinous rice.

Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.

Citrullus colocynthis
(Image taken by Wikimedia commons)

Citrullus colocynthis L. is a viny plant, widely distributed in the desert areas of the world. It is widely used in traditional medicine.

Synonyms: 

• Colocynth
• Bitter cucumber
• Bitter apple
• Indrayan (Hindi)
• Indravaruni (Sanskrit)
• Colocynthis
• Vine of sodom

Family: Cucurbitacea

Plant morphology:

       Citrullus colocynthis is a perennial herbaceous vine. It have vine like stems and leaves are very similar to watermelon. Leaves are palmate and angular with three to seven divided lobes. Flowers are yellow in colour and are solitary in the axes of the leaves. The fruit is a globular berry having 4 to 10 cm in diameter. and the fruit mesocarp is filled with a soft, dry and spongy white pulp. Fruit is odourless and its taste is very bitter. The seeds are also edible but similarly bitter and rich in fat and protein.

Zingiber officinale

Zingiber officinale
(Image from Wikimedia commons)

Synonyms: Zingiber, Saunth (Hindi)

Family: Zingiberaceae

Geographical source: Zingiber officinale is cultivated in all tropical countries.

Plant morphology:

       Zingiber officinale is a herbaceous perennial plant. The rhizome of Zingiber officinale is called as ginger. It's inflorescence bear pale yellow with purple flowers.

Chemical constituents:

       Ginger contains volatile oil, protein, starch, sugars (sucrose, raffinose and glucose), gingediols, shogaols, etc. The pungency of Ginger is due to Gingerol which is the major constituents of fresh ginger. The volatile oil contain camphene, cumene, myrcene, β -phellandrene, citral, borneol, linalool, zingiberene, etc.

Uses:

• Ginger (rhizome) is widely used as a spice, flavouring agent, aromatic stimulant and carminative.

Elettaria cardamomum - "Queen of Spices"

Cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton is known as the "Queen of spices" for its pleasant aroma and taste. It is the third most expensive spice after saffron and vanilla.

Synonyms:

• Ilayachi (Hindi)
• Cardamom 
• Grains of Paradise
• Elam, elakkai (Malayalam) 
• Elettari (Tamil)

Family : Zingiberaceae

Geographical source : It is widely cultivated in south India and Sri Lanka. It is cultivated in altitudes ranging from 900 to 1400 m above mean sea level.

Plant morphology:

       Elettaria cardamomum is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows 2 - 4 m in height. It have underground rhizomes and is propagated by vegetative division of these rhizomes. The leaves are 30 to 35 cm long and dark green in colour. Flowers of most cardamom types are white with the central lip streaked with pink. Flowers are bisexual and irregular. Fruit is an inferior and have trilocular capsule. The fruit colour is green and terns golden yellow on ripening. Its seeds are up to 4 mm in length. The odour is aromatic.

Safranin stain preparation

Safranin is used as a counterstain.

For Safranin stain preparation:

       Dissolve 1 gm safranin in 100 ml alcohol (95%) and dilute to required concentration with distilled water. Store at room temperature.

How to prepare Acetocarmine staining solution?

Acetocarmine stain is commonly used for cytological preparations.

For the acetocarmine stain preparation:

       Boil 45% acetic acid in a flask and add 0.5 g of carmine powder to it. Mix well and continue heating for 10-15 minutes. After that allow it to cool and filter it. Before using it, add few drops of ferric chloride solution.