Preliminary Characterization And Invitro Cytotoxicic Studies Of The Polysaccharide From Araucaria Heterophylla

Norfolk pine is an ornamental tree available abundantly in tropical and subtropical regions. The stem of the tree exudes gums. Mucilage was obtained by extraction from the bark exudates of Araucaria heterophylla. Aims of this present study was to exudates and evaluate its phytochemical and physiochemical characteristics such as solubility, loss on drying, ash value, pH, swelling capacity, viscosity, microbial contamination and invitro cytotoxic study. Mucilage showed the presence of reducing sugars and starch. Physicochemical characteristics of the mucilage suggest the suitability of the mucilage as a pharmaceutical excipient and invitro cytotoxic studies proves the safety of the mucilage for internal use.