Pharmaceutical Barks
Objectives
•At the end of this topic students should be able to
Define a bark
Explain the structure of a bark
Explain the curvatures of a bark
Introduction to Pharmaceutical Barks
The bark is the outer surface of the stem and is
made of tissues produced by the cambium. The
bark lies outside the cambium.
Morphology of Bark
• The bark (in commerce) consists of external
tissues lying outside the cambium, in stem or
root of dicotyledonous plants.
• Following are the tissues present in bark:
Cork (phellum), phellogen and phelloderm
(collectively known as periderm), cortex,
pericycle, primary phloem and secondary
phloem.
• In Botany, the bark consists of periderm and
tissues lying outside it, i.e. cork, phellogen and
phelloderm.
A young bark is composed of the following tissues;
Epidermis
A layer of closely fitting cuticularized cells with occasional
stomata
Primary cortex
A zone usually consisting of chlorophyll-containing
collenchyma and parenchyma
Endodermis
Inner layer of cortex, frequently containing starch
Pericycle
May be composed of parenchyma or fibres, groups of fibres
often occur opposite each group of phloem
cont
o Phloem: Consisting of sieve tubes, companion cells and
phloem parenchyma separated by radially arranged
medullary rays
o Activity of the cambium and cork cambium or phelogen
modifies the structure of the young bark ,Pericycle is
ruptured ,Phelogen produces secondary cortex or
phelloderm, Periderm is formed ,Lenticels replace stomata
for gaseous exchange
o The Fully matured barks have two parts;
1. The outer bark and
2. The inner bark
Features used to describe the morphology of bark
1. Shape: (Bark Curvatures )
The shape of the bark depends upon the mode
of cuts made and the extent and shrinkage occurred during drying
Flat:
When the large piece of the bark is collected
from old trunk and dried under pressure, the bark
is flat, e.g. Quillaia and Aarjuna barks.
Curved:
Here, both the sides of the bark are curved
inside, e.g. Wild cherry, Cassia and Cascara barks.
Recurved:
Both sides of bark are curved outside, e.g.
Kurchi bark
cont
Channelled:
When the sides of bark are curved
towards innerside to form channel, e.g. Cascara,
Cassia and Cinnamon barks.
Quill:
If one edge of bark covers the other edge, it
is called quill, e.g. Ceylon, Cinnamon and Cascara
barks.
Double quill:
Here, both the edges curve inward
to form double quill, e.g. Cinnamon and Cassia
barks
cont
• Compound quill:
When the quills of smaller diameter are packed
into bigger quills, it is called compound quills.
Compound quills are formed to save the space in
packing and transportation, e.g. Cinnamon bark
2. Outer surface:
Smooth:
When development of cork is even, e.g. Arjuna bark.
Lenticels:
They are transversely elongated holes formed
on outer surface because of lateral pressure, e.g. Wild
Cherry and Cascara barks.
Cracks and fissures:
They are formed due to increase in diameter, e.g. Cinchona bark
Longitudinal wrinkles:
They are formed because of shrinkage of soft tissues, e.g. Cascara bark
• Furrows:
If troughs between wrinkles are wide, it is
called furrows, e.g. Cinchona calisaya bark.
• Exfoliation:
Sometimes the cork of bark flakes off
exposing cortex, e.g. in Wild cherry bark.
• Rhytidoma:
It is composite dead tissue consisting
of alternate layers of cork, cortex and/or phloem,
e.g. Quillaia and Tomentosa barks. Sometimes it is
removed during peeling.
Cont..
• Corky warts:
They are the small circular patches, found
sometimes in old barks, e.g. in Cinchona
succirubra and Ashoka barks.
• Epiphytes:
Such as moss, lichen and liverwarts are
sometimes seen in bark, e.g. Cascara bark
3. Inner surface:
The colour and condition of inner surface
is of diagnostic value
Striations:
When parallel longitudinal ridges are formed during drying, it is called striations; it
may be fine or
coarse, e.g. Cascara bark
Corrugations
They are the parallel transverse wrinkles
formed due to longitudinal shrinkage, e.g. Cascara
bark.
4. Fracture:
The appearance of exposed surface of
transversely broken bark is called
fracture. Different types of fracture,
their descriptions and examples are
given in Table
contiii
sn type Description Example of bark
1 Short Cassia,
Smooth Cinnamon,
Cascara
2 Grandular Shows grain-like
minute Wild cherry
prominences
3 Splintery Shows uneven
projecting Quillaia
points
4 Fibrous Shows thread-
Cascara
like fibres
5 Laminated elongated
Quillaia
layers
Read more on pharmacognostically importances of bark
o The bark shows certain characteristics that are of
diagnostic importance;
o Origin of the bark
o Size and shape of the bark
o Fracture of the bark
Evaluation
What is a bark?
Mention curvatures of barks?
What are the structures present in a bark?
