NIS - libdoc.who.int - World Health Organization

WHO monographs on medicinal plants commonly used in the Newly Independent States (NIS)
Geographical distribution
Indigenous to Central America, it is now cultivated worldwide as green
fodder or as a cereal crop (2, 5, 20–23).
Description
A robust monoecious annual plant, up to 3 m in height. Roots, fasciculate;
often with prop roots from the lower nodes. Stems, erect, culm-internodes
solid, smooth. Leaves, alternate, with sheathing base, ciliate ligule about 5 mm
long, broadly linear or lanceolate blade, upper surface hairy, lower surface
hairless, acuminate, parallel-veined, 25–100 cm long, 2–10 cm wide. Flowers,
unisexual. Inflorescences, terminal panicle of male flowers, and spadix of female
flowers. Male inflorescence (tassel) is a terminal large spreading panicle,
about 30 cm long, formed by spike-like racemes of staminate spikelets. The
spikelets are in pairs, one sessile, the other pedicelled, 8–12 mm long, awnless,
2-flowered, florets both male; glumes papery, equal, enclosing florets. Female
inflorescence (spadeces or ears) variable in size and shape, borne on short
branch with several short internodes with a papery sheath at each node, these
form the husk and enclose the thick central axis (cob) on which the spikelets
are arranged in 8–16(30) longitudinal rows; spikelets in pairs, 2-flowered,
both sessile, awnless, the lower floret small, rarely female, the upper one female;
glumes broad, rounded or notched at apex, fleshy towards base; styles
projecting from apex of ear and look like tufts of hair, at first green, later red
or yellow. Fruit, caryopsis with adherent pericarp; exposed between gaping
lemma and palea at maturity; variable as to size, shape and colour (usually
yellow but can be whitish or darker, almost black) (2, 5, 24–27).
Plant material of interest: dried styles and stigmas
General appearance
Slender, yellowish or brownish, filamentous styles, 5–20 cm long, exhibiting
slender bifid stigmas 0.5–3.0 mm long. Viewed with a hand lens, they
appear flattened and ribbon-like, or grooved and curled up, with spreading
trichomes (1, 28, 29). In the cut form, the drug is made up of 5–10-mm
long filamentous, channelled pieces of stigmata, pale yellowish or brownish
red in colour (5). According to the USSR pharmacopoeia, the cut drug
is composed of fragments of styles and stigmas having a length less than
7 mm, they are brownish, brownish red or light yellow in colour (1).
Organoleptic properties
Odour: slight, faint, characteristic; taste: insipid, slightly mucilaginous,
somewhat sweetish (1, 5, 28, 29).
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