MODULE 2 (PAGE 2-4)

• Pharmacognosy


  Applied science that deals with the biological, biochemical and economic features of drugs or biological origin and their constituents
• Pharmacognosy is a science that deals with plants and animal constituents
• Coined the term pharmacognosy

  1815
• Gignosco


  To acquire the knowledge of
• Flückiger (1828–94) - "the simultaneous application of various scientific disciplines with the object of acquiring knowledge of drugs from every point of view"
• Anotheus Seydler coined the term pharmacognosy in 1815
• Brief History


  • Babylonians
  • Mesopotamia
  • Egyptians 1550 BC
  • Indians
  • Greeks
  • Germans
• Babylonians made clay models of man and had the Law of Hammurabi (772 BC) which included medicinal plants of 250 species
• Egyptians practiced embalming and had the Papyrus Ebers which contained human anatomy and use of plants
• Indians had Ayurveda (2500 BC) which is a traditional medicine; "Science of life"; Mother of all healing arts
• Greeks had Pedanios Dioscorides who wrote De Materia Medica or the Medicinal Material (78 AD) which included Aloe, belladonna, colchicum, ergot and opium
• Claudius Galen (Rome) (131-200 AD) was the Father of pharmaceutical compounding and created Galen's cerate (cold cream)
• Germans had CA Seydler (1815) who wrote Analecta Pharmacognostica and JA Schidt (1811) who wrote Lehrbuck de Materia Medica
• Flückiger's definition of pharmacognosy

  The "Simultaneous application of various scientific disciplines with the objective of acquiring drugs from every point of view" - biologic, biochemical, economic
• Pelletier and Caventou discovered quinine and Friedrich Serturner discovered morphine
• Natural Substances Discovered


  • Morphine
  • Strychnine (1817)
  • Quinine (1820)
  • Caffeine (1820)
  • Nicotine (1828)
  • Atropine (1833)
  • Cocaine (1855)
• Crude drugs


  Plant exudates that undergo collection and drying
• Natural substances


  No molecular modification has been made
• Derivatives or extractives


  Chief principles or constituents of crude drugs
• Solvent/menstruum


  Liquid or liquid mixture
• Marc


  Undissolved portion
• Indigenous plants


  Native countries
• Naturalized plants


  Foreign land
• Rinorea niccolifera is a metal eating plant (more on nickel)
• Geographic source & Habitat


  Region in which the plant or animal yielding the drug grows
• Methods of extraction


  • Infusion
  • Maceration
  • Percolation
  • Digestion
  • Decoction
  • Liquid-Liquid Extraction
  • Distillation
• Infusion


  Hot water (ex. Tea); short contact action - 3-5 minutes only
• Maceration


  Soaked in solvent for long periods of time
• Percolation


  Filtering of fluids through porous materials; passage through percolate (ex. Simple Syrup USP)
• Digestion


  Not boiling (low heat); <35 - 40⁰ C
• Decoction


  Boiling water
• Distillation

  Purifying liquid by heating and cooling
• Preparation of Crude Drugs


  • Collection
  • Harvesting
  • Drying
  • Garbling
  • Packaging, storage & preservation
• Collection (small scale)


  Improper collection results to partial or complete substitution; Collection time - Flower - best to harvest at dawn, Bark - spring and summer, Root crops - when upper ground portion is about to wither
• Harvesting (large scale)


  Manual labor vs. mechanical devices
• Drying


  Air drying and artificial drying to prevent bacterial, fungal growth and enzymatic degradation; Facilitates grinding and milling; Curing - special drying process
• Garbling


  Final step in the preparation of crude drugs; Removal of extraneous matter (other parts of the plant, dirt, added adulterants)
• Packaging, storage & preservation


  To avoid insect attacks: expose drug to 65°c, Fumigation with methyl bromide, Add a drop of chloroform or carbon tetrachloride
• Evaluation of Drugs


  • Organoleptic/Morphological evaluation
  • Microscopic evaluation
  • Pharmacologic evaluation
  • Chemical evaluation
  • Physical evaluation
• Organoleptic/Morphological evaluation


  Evaluate macroscopic appearance of drug: Shape, Size, Color, Fracture & internal color, Odor, Taste