THE STUDY OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL FEATURES OF THE HERB ASTRAGALUS ONOBRYCHIS
In folk medicine, for the treatment and prevention of various diseases, representatives of the numerous genus Astragalus have long been widely used. However, in scientific medicine only Astragalus dasyantus, which has a limited habitat and, as a result, an insufficient raw material base, is allowed for use. An alternative to this can be raw Astragalus onobrychis, which also has versatile pharmacological activity and at the same time has a sufficient raw material base. The chemical composition and pharmacological activity of Astragalus onobrychis have been studied quite well, however, morphological and diagnostic features that allow to diagnose this type of raw material have not been identified. Therefore, the aim of our work was to establish morphological, anatomical, and microdiagnostic signs of the stem, leaf blade, calyx, and corolla of Astragalus onobrychis in accordance with modern requirements of regulatory documentation. The establishment of diagnostic signs was carried out on raw Astragalus onobrychis growing in the Kursk region. Macro and microscopic analysis was carried out in accordance with the methods of GFXIV. The studied raw material of Astragalus onobrychis consists of non-lignified leafy stems about 20 cm long with flowers, whole and shredded leaves of grayish-green color, parts of the stem and individual purple flowers. The most characteristic microdiagnostic sign is the pubescence of the stem, leaf blade and calyx with two-pointed T-shaped hairs with a warty cuticle on 1-2 cell legs.