Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae) is one of the widely used potential herb with high medicinal value. It is being used by Ayurvedic physicians in various diseases, such as fever, diarrhea, worm infestation, hepatic and skin diseases. Modern studies have also explicitly revealed that Andrographis paniculata has a wide range of pharmacological effects such as antiinflammatory, anti-diabetes, antidiarrhoeal, antiviral, antimalarial, hepatoprotective, anticancer, antihuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and immune stimulator. There is a controversy between Kiratikta and Kalmegh due to their common synonym in Ayurvedic texts i.e. Bhunimba. Though in the market, Kalmegh is often known and sold is the name of Bhunimba or Desi Chiraita. In the present work an endeavor has been made to authenticate the market sample of Kalmegh or Bhunimba as Andrographis paniculata. TLC and microscopic identification are two important tools for the authentication of any crude drug. The objective of this work is to study the various morphological and the microscopic characteristics of Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata), and to carry out a comparative Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) between the standard sample of Andrographis paniculata (whole plant), and the market sample of Kalmegh.
