INTRODUCTION:

The major use of herbal medicines is for health promotion and therapy for chronic, as opposed to life-threatening, conditions. However, usage of traditional remedies increases when conventional medicine is ineffective in the treatment of disease, such as in advanced cancer and in the face of new infectious diseases.

Traditional systems of medicine continue to be widely practised on many accounts. Population rises, inadequate supply of drugs, prohibitive cost of treatments, side effects of several synthetic drugs and development of resistance to currently used drugs for infectious diseases have led to increased emphasis on the use of plant materials as a source of medicines for a wide variety of human ailments.

Traditional medicinal uses for henna include being used as a coagulant for open wounds and a poultice to sooth burns and eczema. Fresh leaves may be used as a topical antiseptic for fungal or bacterial skin infections, including ringworm. Henna helps to improve hair health.

Fig: Henna paste Fig: Henna leaves

Official names of henna:

· English: Camphire, Cypress Shrub, Egyptian Privet, Henna Plant, Jamaica Mignonette, Mindie, Tree Mignonette.

· Arabic: Alhenna, Henna, Henneh, Hinna, Yoranna

· Malayalam: Mayilanji, Pontalasi

· Urdu: Mehendi

· Marathi: Mendhi

Biological source:

Henna (hina) scientifically known as Lawsonia inermis is actually a flowering plant belonging to the Lythraceae (Loosestrife family) (a family of flowering plants that includes 620 species). Henna has been used for centuries to dye skin, hair, and fingernails, as well as fabrics including silk, wool, and leather.

Geographical source:

Henna is a finely ground brown or green powder originating from dried leaves of the plant Lawsonia inermis which is grown in dry tropical and subtropical zones, including North Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East.

Chemical constituents:

Lawsonia inermis (Family: Lythraceae) contained carbohydrates, phenolic, flavonoids, saponins, proteins, alkaloids, terpenoids, quinones, coumarins, xanthones, fat, resin and tannins. It also contained 2 -hydroxy-1,4- naphthoquinone (lawsone). Lawsonia inermis is a single-species genus of the Lythraceae family, its leaves, stem bark, roots, flowers and seeds have been used in traditional medicine. It has been paid more attention by scholars from many countries because of their various types of compounds and significant physiological activities. The plant is reported to contain quinones, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolic compoundsand fatty acids. Modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that the plant performs antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and antiparasitic activity.

Cultivation, collection and marketing of crude drug

Henna, lowsonia inermis Linn.is small tree found wild or grown commonly as hedge. The paste of fresh leaves or powder of dried leaves are used to dye the hair and for coulring the finger nails, palms and soul of feet.

Propagation:

· Henna is found in tropical and subtropical region. As a commercial dye crop, it is cultivated mainly in Punjab, Haryana. West Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh and Gujrat. It is propagated by seeds or stem-cuttings. The plants grow on any type of soil, from loam to clay loam. It tolerates a little alkalinity in the soil.

· Before sowing (8-10 days) seeds are soaked in water with frequent change of water for best sprouting and then in the month of March the germinated seeds and fine sand in equal quantity are mixed together and spread sown in already prepared nursery soil. About 7-10kg seeds are required to develop seedlings to cover one hectored land.

Harvesting:

· After 3 years of planting, plants become ready for harvesting its leaves. Harvesting is done twice a year. Main crop is harvested in month of October- November and second in April-may. The branches bearing leaves are cut close to the ground and dried in shade. Dried leaves are separated by beatin g and processed for making powder.

Morphology and macroscopy:

Lawsonia inermisis a glabrous branched shrub or small tree (2 to 6 m in height).

· Leaves:

Leaves are small, opposite, entire margin elliptical to broadly lanceolate, sub-sessile, about 1.5 to 5 cm long, 0.5 to 2 cm wide, greenish brown to dull green, petiole short and glabrous acute or obtuse apex with tapering base.

· Branch:

Branches are green in color and quadrangular, turn red with age. young barks are greyish brown, older plants have spine-tipped branchlets.

· Inflorescence:

It has large pyramid shaped cyme.

· Flowers:

They are small, numerous, aromatic, white or red colored with four crumbled petals. Calyx has 0.2 cm tube and 0.3 cm spread lobes.

· Fruits:

The fruits are small, brown globose capsule, opening irregularly and split into four sections with a permanent style. Seeds have typical, pyramidal, hard and thick seed coat with brownish coloration (12-14).

Physiochemical analysis:

Total ash:

Procedure:

· Place about two to four gram of the ground air dried material, accurately weighed, in a previously ignited and tared Crucible (usually of platinum or silica).

· Spread the material in an even layer and ignite it by gradually increasing the heat to 500 to 600 degrees Celsius until it is white, indicating the absence of carbon.

· Cool in a desiccator and wait.

· If carbon free ash cannot be obtained in this manner, cool look Crucible and moist and the residue with about two ML of water or a saturated solution of ammonium nitrate R. Dry on water bath then on a hot plate and ignite to constant weight.

· Allow residue to cool in a suitable desiccator for 30 minutes then wait without delay.

· Calculate the content of total ash in mg per gram of air-dried material.

100⁽Z−X^{) %}

Total ash value of the sample = -------------------------

Where X= weight of the empty dish Y= weight of the drug taken

Z= weight of the dish + ash (after complete incineration)

Acid insoluble ash:

Procedure:

· To the Crucible containing total ash, add 25ml of hydrochloric acid (70gram per liter) TS, cover with a watch-glass and boil gently for 5 minutes.

· Rinse the watch- glass with 5ML of hot water and add this liquid to the Crucible. collect the insoluble matter on an ashless filter-paper and wash with hot water until the filtrate is neutral.

· Transfer the filter paper containing the insoluble matter to the original Crucible, dry on a hot plate and ignite to constant weight.

· Allowed the residue to cool in a suitable desiccator for 30 minutes, then wait without delay calculate the content of acid insoluble ash in mg per gram of air-dried material.

Marketed preparation:

Ointment:

Procedure:

· Ointments of henna extract, pomegranate extract, myrrh extract and the three blended extracts were prepared according to the following formula:

· Weighed amounts of yellow soft paraffin, yellow beeswax, and liquid paraffin were added to a 250 mL beaker. Beaker contents were heated over a water bath to 70 °C and then removed from the heat source. When the temperature of beaker contents lowered to 50 °C, the weighed amounts of natural extract were added to the beaker content and mixed vigorously for 5 min using a hand mixer. The natural extracts used here were 15% henna extract, 15% pomegranate extract, 15% myrrh extract or a blend of 5% of each of the three extract

Hair Cream

Procedure:

§ Habib’s Henna is a rare mix of Himalayan herbs like Bhringraj, Amla, Brahmi and Jatamansi that impart strength and shine to the hair and also helps colour your hair. Henna has been accepted as nature's gift for hair coloring and conditioning. Henna works wonders to remove extra lubrication from oily hair. However, henna alone as the hair colourant causes dryness of the scalp and at times may lead to dandruff and hair damage.

Habib’s Aesthetics from Habib’s is an emerging brand name with quality products that claims to impart strength and shine to the hair. It combines medicinal herbs with henna to ensureprotection from various hair ailments, retaining optimum scalp conditioning.The active ingredients present in the mix like Bhringraj, amla, and Brahmi acts on the scalp making the hair manageable and also providing the desired color to your hair.

Hair dye:

Procedure:

· ½ cup Henna Powder (or mix as pictured)

· ½ cup hot water (or coffee, tea, etc.)

· 1 teaspoon lemon juice or Apple Cider Vinegar

· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional for colour and scent)

· 1 teaspoon ground or fresh ginger (optional for scent)

· 5 drops Vatika Hair oil (or coconut, sunflower, olive, almond, etc.)

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Dr. Hala Megarbane [2015] Temporary black henna tattooing was highly popular among children and young adults. As compared to permanent henna tattoo, temporary tattooing was painless, cheap, can be applied anywhere, lasts for days, was fun to decorate, easy to remove, and carries no rwask of HIV or hepatitwas infections. It had been mainly used by Arabic and Indian cultures for thousands of years for dyeing the skin, hair, and nails.

Qurashi HE, Qumqumji AA, Zacharia Y. [2013] The powdered of henna plant (Lawsonia inermwas Linn.) was extensively used as a decorative skin paint for nail coloring and as a hair dye. Most reports of henna toxicity had been attributed to adding a synthetic dye para-phenylenediamine (PPD). PPD was marketed as black henna added to natural henna to accentuate the dark color and shorten the application time. PPD toxicity was well known and extensively reported in medical literature.

S Arslan, PZ Bahceli, Y İlik, M Artaç[2020] The present study showed that applying henna on hands and feet has a beneficial effect on peripheral neuropathy. Although the study concludes that henna application to patients was effective and indicative of conducting further research, future studies are warranted. Henna was an affordable, inexpensive substance that does not require frequent use and can be used to maintain skin integrity, thereby potentially reducing the cost of subsequent therapies.

M Ansari, F Dehsara, A Mosalaei [2013] opical Alpha ointment was more effective on the healing of radiation-induced dermatitwas than was topical hydrocortwasone cream (1%) in our patients with breast cancer.

C Devecioglu, S Katar, O Dogru [2001] Henna was a traditional cosmetic agent and was used worldwide, especially in the Middle East. Its active agent was lawsone (2- hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone). Henna was not only applied to hands or hair as a cosmetic agent in traditional ceremonies, but was also applied to the body on lesions in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitwas or fungal infections.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Isolation

· Sample collection:

Twelve samples of L. inermis leaves were collected from different geographical areas in Thailand. All sets of crude drugs were authenticated by N. Ruangrungsi and compared to the herbarium at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Bangkok, Thailand. Voucher specimens were deposited at the College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

· Sample extraction:

The ground samples of L. inermis leaves (5 g) were continuously extracted with hexane, dichloromethane, and 95% ethanol, respectively, until exhaustion using soxhlet apparatus. The extract was filtered and evaporated to dryness under vacuum. The ethanolic extracts of 12 samples were used for lawsone determination.

CONCLUSION:

This study has revealed that Henna contains substances that might help fight certain infections. There is also some information that henna might decrease the growth of tumors, prevent or reduce spasms, decrease inflammation, and relieve pain. Now a day henna not only used as a cosmetic but also it used as a medicine.

Henna leaf extracts have antimicrobial activity on the bacteria responsible for the common skin infections. Alcoholic and oily henna extracts have similar effects to some of the antibiotics commonly used in clinical practice. It can cause some side effects such. Henna is unsafe when taken by mouth. Accidentally swallowing henna requires prompt medical attention. It can cause stomach upset, muscle breakdown, kidney failure, destruction of red blood cells (hemolytic anemia), and death. It can cause some side effects on skin such as redness, itching, burning, swelling, blisters, and scarring of the skin. Most often these allergic reactions are due to an ingredient added to henna. This added ingredient is most common in "black" henna. Rarely, allergic reactions can occur such as hives, runny nose, wheezing, and asthma.

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Received on 05.06.2022 Modified on 13.09.2022

Asian J. Pharm. Res. 2023; 13(1):47-50.

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2023.00009