Indian Valerian is a member of the Valerianaceae family that includes up to 250 species. The herb Valerian is used for its calming and antispasmodic properties. It is used in anxiety, insomnia, epilepsy, failing reflexes, hysteria, neurosis and sciatica. There is a lot of confusion regarding nomenclature and originality of Valerian. Among hundreds of similar species available, very few have real medicinal and hence commercial importance. A close relative called Nardostachys is used as a substitute of Valerian in Chinese medicines. Keeping in view the immense medicinal importance and critically endangered status of the plant, the present study tries to characterize and validate the real Valerian properties using chemical fingerprinting. The root extracts of Valeriana jatamansi and Nardostachys jatamansi (a substitute) in different solvents are investigated for their phytochemical composition using various qualitative tests. TLC and GC-MS analysis is carried out for both the plant extracts. Essential Oil content is extracted from dried roots of the plants and components are found. The present investigation is maiden attempt to compare and report components and properties Valerian and its substitute.
