Pharmacognostic, phytochemical, and chromatographic fingerprinting of three probable species accepted as Kakoli – a member of Astavarga

Abstract

Kakoli is an Ayurvedic drug, used for its effect on the reproductive system, especially for promoting spermatogenesis. According to Ayurvedic and other Sanskrit literature, three different plant species exist under the name of Kakoli, namely, Roscoea purpurea Sm., Roscoea capitata Sm., and Roscoea alpina Royle. Grouping multiple plant species under one name, often leads to the selection and inconsistent usage of non-authentic species as therapeutic drugs. In the present study, we compared the three Roscoea species, used as Kakoli, using pharmacognostical and phytochemical, as well as other analytical studies. We found that R. purpurea Sm. might be the most probable source of Kakoli as evidenced by the correlation obtained between literary resource-based parameters (ancient scriptures) and the experimental analysis (pharmacognostical and phytochemical findings) thereby establishing the authentic taxonomic identity of the valuable ancient medicine Kakoli.