pharmacognosy

• Pharmacognosy, which literally means a knowledge of drugs or pharmaceuticals, has been a part of the healing arts and sciences since mankind first began to treat illnesses.
• Pharmacognosy is an applied science that deals with the biologic, biochemical, and economic features of natural drugs and their constituents.
• Crude drugs are vegetable or animal drugs that consist of natural substances that have undergone only the processes of collection and drying.
• Crude drugs are used infrequently as therapeutic agents; more often, their chief principles are separated by various means and are employed in a more specific manner.
• These principles are known as derivatives or extractives.
• Regardless of whether the derivative or extractive is a single substance or a mixture of substances, it is considered the chief constituent of the drug.
• The process of drug extraction is a generally accepted method of obtaining these active principles.
• Extraction removes only those substances that can be dissolved in the liquid or liquid mixture referred to as the solvent, or, more specifically, as the menstruum.
• The undissolved portion of the drug that remains after the extraction process is completed is called the marc.
• Pelletier and Caventou, in 1820, isolated Quinine from China tree bark (Cinchona succirubra).
• Shen Nung Pen Ts’ao, the oldest compilation of Chinese herbs, lists 385 materials.
• Inert constituents have no pharmacologic activity.
• Theophrastus, known as the “Father of Botany”, studied the plant kingdom.
• Scheele, in 1784, crystallized citric acid from lemon juice.
• Schmidth was the first one to use the term Pharmacognosy in literature.
• Galen, a Greek pharmacist-physician, established Galenical Pharmacy, a branch dealing with the extraction of plant and animal drugs.
• Drug Biosynthesis or Biogenesis is the study of the biochemical pathways leading to the formation of secondary constituents used as drugs.
• Examples of inert constituents include Cellulose, Starch, Lignin, Albumin, Suberin, and Coloring matter.
• Papyrus Ebers, an Egyptian text from 1500 BC, documents the medicinal uses of several plants and animals, and of human anatomy.
• The product of the extraction process is known as the extractive and is usually a mixture of substances.
• Pierre Robiquet, a phytochemist, isolated Codein and Narcotine.
• Aristotle, a renowned philosopher, studied the animal kingdom.
• Rudolf Brandes, a German pharmacist, isolated Hyoscyamine and Atropine with the collaboration of Philip Geiger.
• Dioscorides, a Greek physician, described about 600 plants of medicinal importance in De Materia Medica, including plants like aloe, belladonna, colchicum, ergot, hyoscyamus, and opium.
• Active constituents are compounds that are responsible for the therapeutic effect.
• Serturner, in 1805, isolated morphine crystals from tarry poppy seed juice.
• Joseph Caventou, a French pharmacist, isolated Quinine with the collaboration of Pierre Robiquet.
• Secondary constituents are influenced by three principal factors: Heredity (genetic composition), Ontogeny (Stage of Development), and Environmental Factors.
• Secondary plant constituents can produce variations due to soil, climate, associated flora, and methods of cultivation.
• Hippocrates, known as the “Father of Medicine”, dealt with the anatomy and physiology of human beings.
• C.A. Sydler coined the term Pharmacognosy, derived from pharmakon “drug” and gnosis “knowledge”.
• Pharmacognosy, which literally means a knowledge of drugs or pharmaceuticals, has been a part of the healing arts and sciences since mankind first began to treat illnesses.
• Pharmacognosy is an applied science that deals with the biologic, biochemical, and economic features of natural drugs and their constituents.
• Crude drugs are vegetable or animal drugs that consist of natural substances that have undergone only the processes of collection and drying.
• Crude drugs are used infrequently as therapeutic agents; more often, their chief principles are separated by various means and are employed in a more specific manner.
• These principles are known as derivatives or extractives.
• Regardless of whether the derivative or extractive is a single substance or a mixture of substances, it is considered the chief constituent of the drug.
• The process of drug extraction is a generally accepted method of obtaining these active principles.
• Extraction removes only those substances that can be dissolved in the liquid or liquid mixture referred to as the solvent, or, more specifically, as the menstruum.
• The undissolved portion of the drug that remains after the extraction process is completed is called the marc.