SAS 1 - PCOG

• Pharmacognosy researchers often use bioassay-guided fractionation to isolate and identify bioactive compounds from natural sources.
• Pharmacognosy is the scientific and systematic study of the structural, physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of crude drugs along with history, method of cultivation, collection, and preparation for the market.
• Pharmacognosy derives from the Greek words "pharmakon" or drug and "gnosis" or knowledge.
• Pharmacognosy has developed from ancient civilizations that use plants to eliminate pain and disease, and mysterious incantations of voodoo tribes.
• Pharmacognosy is a respected discipline that has no counterpart in other professions.
• Biogenesis is classified by ontogeny or stage of development, such as Cannabis sativa, which produces Cannabidiol when young and Cannabinol when mature.
• Biogenesis can also be influenced by the environment.
• The active constituent of a plant can be influenced by three principal factors: heredity, ontogeny, and environment.
• Active principles are extracted, crystallized, and purified for therapeutic use to eliminate the undesirable effects of inert matter in the crude drug.
• Plants, in general, undergo biogenesis, thus giving them the ability to contain a different type of constituent per species.
• The scope of Pharmacognosy includes the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical drug substances of natural origin and the search for new drugs.
• The term "Pharmacognosy" was first recorded in the early 19th century to designate the discipline related to medicinal plants, it is derived from the Greek "pharmakon", a drug, and "gnosis", to acquire knowledge of.
• Johann Adam Schmidt first coined the terms "Pharmacognosy" and "Pharmacodynamics" in his manuscript "Lehrbuch der materia medica", which was posthumously published in Vienna in 1811.
• The term "Pharmacognosy" appears again in Aenotheus Seydler's work "Analecta Pharmacognostica" published in 1815.
• The medicine of the ancient Egyptians is some of the oldest documented, influencing later traditions, including the Greeks.
• The Egyptians used embalming and the Ebers papyrus (1550 BC) is full of incantations and foul applications meant to turn away disease-causing demons and includes 877 prescriptions.
• Morphology is the grouping of crude drugs according to the form (plant part).
• Chemical classification of drugs is based on the active constituents that are present.
• Packaging, storage, and preservation provide physical protection during shipping/transport and storage.
• Spray dryer is used for drugs that are highly sensitive to atmospheric conditions.
• Pharmacologic evaluation involves bioassays, which use living animals or excised organs to evaluate the effects of drugs.
• Garbling is the final step in the preparation of crude drugs, which involves the physical separation of the sample from extraneous material such as soil, dirt, and parts other than the part desired.
• Chemical evaluation involves the analysis of active constituents using chemicals, with titration being the best method of determining official potency.
• Organoleptic evaluation uses the senses to evaluate the macroscopic appearance of drugs.
• Vacuum dryer is used for drugs that are sensitive to high temperatures.
• Physical evaluation uses physical constants, for example, specific rotation of camphor.
• Microscopic evaluation is a visual evaluation of crude drugs, which uses a microscope.
• Curing is a specialized method of drying that enhances the activity/property of the active plant constituent.
• Taxonomic classification of crude drugs is based on Kingdom, Subkingdom, Division, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.
• Phylogeny is a natural relationship that occurs among plants and animals.
• Methods of evaluation of drugs include determining its quality and purity, which involves qualitative and quantitative assays.
• Quality in drug evaluation refers to the intrinsic value of the drug, which includes organoleptic, microscopic, pharmacologic, chemical, and physical evaluations.
• Oven or Tray dryer uses hot air for drugs that do not contain volatile oils.
• To ensure maximum quality of a medicinal plant, it must be collected at a proper timing and stage of development.
• Cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants leads to industrialization to a greater extent.
• Drying removes moisture to ensure good keeping qualities to protect the sample from microbial damage to inactivate the enzyme system.
• Cultivation permits the application of modern technological aspects such as mutation, polyploidy, and hybridization.
• Gathering samples from cultivated species is a part of harvesting.
• Seeds are collected when fruit or plant is fully mature.
• Fruits are collected when mature before ripening.