EXPERIMENT NO. 2 ANALYSIS OF ACACIA BY CHEMICAL TEST | PHARMACOGNOSY & PHYTOCHEMISTRY - I PRACTICAL

PHARMACOGNOSY & PHYTOCHEMISTRY - I PRACTICAL 

S.Y B. PHARM SEMESTER IV

EXPERIMENT NO. 2

Aim: Analysis of Acacia by chemical tests.

Reference:

1. Mayur R. Bhurat, Md. Rageeb Md. Usman, Sanjay A. Nagdev, Practical Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry – I, Published by S. Vikas And Company (Medical Publisher) page. No. 11–12.

Requirements:

Apparatus: Test tubes, Beaker, Holder, Burner, Water bath, Tripod stand, Copper gauze etc.

Chemicals: a-naphthol, Conc.H,SO,, Borax, Lead acetate, Hydrogen peroxide, Hydrochloric acid, Sodium hydroxide, Ruthenium red, Barium chloride, Benzidine, Alcohol etc.

Theory:

Biological Source: Indian gum is the dried gummy exudation obtained from the stem and branches of Acacia Arabica. Family; Leguminosae.

Description:

Color: White to slight yellow color.

Odor: Odorless.

Taste: Bland and mucilaginous taste.

Shape: Tears are mostly spheroidal or ovoid in shape with approx. diameter of 2.5 -3.0 cm Solubility: soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol.

Chemical Constituents: A major constituent of acacia is Arabin which is a complex mixture of calcium, magnesium and potassium salt of arabic acid. Arabic acid after hydrolysis gives L-arabinose, L-rhamnose, D-galactose, D-glucuronic acid.

Uses: Demulcent, emollient, thickening agent, emulsifying agent, binding agent, also used to form coacervates for microencapsulation of drug.

Chemical Test of Acacia:

Sr.No	Chemical test	Observation	Inference
A)	Preliminary Test.   1. Colour	White	Acacia, Tragacanth, Agar, Starch
	2. Odour	Odorless	Acacia, Tragacanth, Agar, Starch
	3. Taste	Mucilaginous	Agar, Acacia, Tragacanth, Starch
B)	General Test.   1. Mix small quantity with water and allow to stand	Gummy or mucilaginous nature of drugs and does not dissolve completely.	Gums & Mucilage, such as acacia, tragacanth, agar etc.
C)	Solubility in Alcohol	Soluble	Balsams, Aloes
		Insolube	Acacia, tragacanth, agar, gelatin
	Insoluble in Alcohol.   1. Triturate with water	Particles dissolved without swelling	Acacia
	2.  Mount in alcohol & irrigate with water.	Particles swell and ultimately dissolve or become diffused	Tragacanth, agar, gelatin.
D)	Confirmatory Test: 1. To 2 ml solution add 50 mg of borax, boil and cool	Stiff translucent mass is formed	Gum Acacia present
	2. To the aqueous solution add few drops of dilute solution of lead sub acetate	White precipitate is formed	Gum acacia present
	3. sample solution + dil. HCl boil for few minutes + few drops of Barium chloride solution	No white precipitate of barium sulphate.	Gum acacia present
	4. 5 ml aqueous solution of acacia add 0.5 ml of hydrogen peroxide (10 %) and 0.5ml‘of 1 % peroxidase enzyme solution of benzidine in (90 %) alcohol, shake and allow to stand	Formation of blue colour	Presence of . acacia
	5. Sample solution + N/10 Iodine solution	No blue/brown coloration	Acacia Confirmed
	6. Sample solution + 0.1 % FeCl3 solution	No blue/black coloration	Acacia Confirmed

Result: The given Sample of Crude drug was identified by performing the chemical test and the sample was found to be Acacia.