Pharmacognosy Comprehensive Review Notes

Vocabulary practice flashcards based on the provided pharmacognosy review notes covering history, carbohydrates, gums, glycosides, lipids, volatile oils, resins, alkaloids, and Philippine medicinal plants.

Pharmacognosy

An applied science that deals with the biochemical, biological, and economic features of natural biological products and their origins, focusing on medicinal substances in their crude or unprepared form.

Papyrus Ebers

An ancient Egyptian document dating back to circa 1500 BCE covering human anatomy, medicinal plants, and animals, discovered by Georg Ebers.

Dioscorides

A Greek physician considered the Father of Botany who authored De Materia Medica, which described approximately $600$ medicinal plants.

Galenicals

Methods and processes for compounding and preparing plant and animal drugs, named after the Greek physician and pharmacist Claudius Galen.

C.A. Seydler

The German researcher who coined and introduced the term pharmacognosy in $1815$ from the Greek words "pharmakon" (drug) and "gnosis" (knowledge).

Flückiger

The scientist who proposed the comprehensive definition that pharmacognosy is the simultaneous application of various scientific principles to acquire knowledge of drugs from every point of view.

Crude Drugs

Vegetable or animal drugs that consist of natural substances that have undergone only the processes of collection and drying.

Curing

A specialized drying process designed to enhance the pharmaceutical properties of plants and constituents (e.g., treating cascara sagrada with $\text{MgO}$ to oxidize irritating reduced glycosides, or sweating vanilla).

Garbling

The final step in the drug preparation process involving the physical separation of extraneous matter, dirt, or undesired parts from the collected plant constituent.

Xylose

A pentose sugar known as "wood sugar" obtained from the boiling of corn cobs or straw; used as a diagnostic aid for evaluating intestinal malabsorption.

Maltose

A reducing disaccharide known as "malt sugar" formed by two glucose units linked by an $\alpha 1,4$ bond; functions as the major degradation product of starch.

Lactulose

A semisynthetic disaccharide (fructose + galactose linked by a $\beta 1,4$ bond) produced by the alkaline rearrangement of lactose; used as an osmotic laxative to decrease straining during defecation in myocardial infarction ($\text{MI}$) patients.

Amylose

The linear and helical component of starch consisting of $150\text{--}300$ glucose units joined by $\alpha 1,4$ glycosidic bonds; it is insoluble in cold water and reacts with iodine to produce a dark blue color.

Amylopectin

The highly branched component of starch consisting of over $1000$ glucose units joined by $\alpha 1,4$ and $\alpha 1,6$ glycosidic bonds (branching every $25\text{--}30$ units); it is soluble in water and stains blue-violet with iodine.

Denigès' Test

A chemical test used to differentiate citric acid from tartaric acid.

D-Mannitol

A sugar alcohol obtained from the dried saccharin exudates of Fraxinus ornus (manna); used as an osmotic laxative and administered intravenously to estimate glomerular filtration rate ($\text{GFR}$).

Tragacanth

A dried gummy exudate obtained from Astragalus gummifer consisting of insoluble bassorin ($2/3$) and soluble tragacanthin ($1/3$); recognized as the most acid-resistant plant hydrocolloid.

Acacia (Gum Arabic)

A dried gummy exudate obtained from Acacia senegal containing arabin (a complex mixture of $\text{Ca}^{2+}$, $\text{Mg}^{2+}$, and $\text{K}^+$ salts of arabic acid); utilized as a suspending agent at concentrations of $35\text{--}38\%$.

Karaya Gum (Sterculia Gum)

A dried gummy exudate obtained from Sterculia urens and related species; considered one of the least soluble plant gums that swells in water to form a discontinuous mucilage.

Carrageenan

A mixture of highly sulfated polygalactans obtained from the red algae Chondrus crispus or Gigartina mammillosa (Irish moss); separated into kappa ($\kappa$), iota ($\iota$), and lambda ($\lambda$) fractions.

Xanthan Gum

A high-molecular-weight microbial gum produced by the pure-culture fermentation of carbohydrates by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris; functions as an emulsifier, stabilizer, and suspending agent.

Aglycone (Genin)

The non-sugar component of a glycoside that represents the pharmacologically active portion and serves as the primary basis for glycoside chemical classification.

Cardenolides

The most common and active group of cardiac glycosides, structurally characterized by a $\text{C-23}$ steroidal nucleus and an $\alpha,\beta$-unsaturated $5$-membered lactone ring.

Bufadienolides

A less common and less active class of cardiac glycosides (often obtained from toads) characterized by a $\text{C-24}$ steroidal nucleus and a doubly bonded, unsaturated $6$-membered lactone ring.

Keller-Kiliani Test

A specialized identification test used to detect the presence of $2$-deoxysugars (such as digitoxose) in cardiac glycosides.

Bornträger's Test

A diagnostic chemical screening test for anthraquinone glycosides that produces a characteristic red or orange-red color in alkaline solution.

Chrysarobin

A mixture of neutral principles extracted with benzene from Goa powder found in the lysigenous cavities of Andira araroba; acts as a keratolytic agent rather than a cathartic.

Saponin Glycosides

A class of plant glycosides that form persistent foam in water, cause hemolysis of red blood cells, exhibit sternutatory irritant properties, kill fish ("fish killers"), and serve as synthetic precursors for cortisone.

Guignard's Test

A chemical colorimetric test for cyanophore (cyanogenic) glycosides, which release hydrocyanic acid ($\text{HCN}$) upon enzymatic or acid hydrolysis.

Sinigrin

An isothiocyanate glucosinolate found in black mustard (Brassica nigra / Sinapis nigra) that is hydrolyzed by the enzyme myrosinase to yield volatile allyl isothiocyanate.

Dicoumarol

A lactone glycoside derivative originally isolated from spoiled sweet clover (Melilotus albus); serves as the prototype oral anticoagulant and the precursor of warfarin.

Cantharidin

The vesicating and blistering active principle extracted from cantharides (Spanish, Russian, or blistering flies, Cantharis vesicatoria); used historically as an irritant and aphrodisiac.

Non-Hydrolyzable Tannins (Phlobatannins)

Condensed polyphenolic tannins that polymerize to form red insoluble precipitates (phlobaphenes) upon boiling with acid, turn green-black with $\text{FeCl}_3$, yield tanner's red leather, and test positive with bromine water ($\text{Br}_2$).

Nutgall

An excrescence formed on the young twigs of Quercus infectoria resulting from the puncture and egg-laying of the hymenopterous insect Cynips tinctoria; represents the richest natural commercial source of tannic acid.

Acid Value

The number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide ($\text{KOH}$) required to neutralize the free fatty acids present in $1\,\text{g}$ of a fat or oil sample.

Iodine Value

The quantitative measure of the grams of iodine absorbed under specified conditions by $100\,\text{g}$ of an oil or fat; used to classify lipids into non-drying ($<100$), semi-drying ($100\text{--}120$), and drying ($>120$).

Gossypol

A toxic polyphenolic compound found at $0.6\%$ in the cottonseed cake of Gossypium hirsutum; causes reversible infertility and aspermia in human males.

Baudouin Test

A colorimetric identification test specific for sesame oil (Sesamum indicum), which contains the antioxidant phenolic constituent sesamol.

Stereoptene

The solid, oxidized hydrocarbon portion of a volatile oil that crystallizes or separates out at low temperatures (e.g., menthol, thymol, anethole).

Compound Benzoin Tincture

A topical antiseptic protectant tincture composed of Benzoin, Aloe, Storax, Tolu Balsam, and Ethanol (mnemonic: BASTE).

Bouchardat's Reagent

A solution of iodine dissolved in potassium iodide; noted as one of the most sensitive precipitating reagents for alkaloids.

(+) Tubocurarine

A bisbenzylisoquinoline quaternary alkaloid derived from curare (Chondrodendron tomentosum); acts as a skeletal muscle relaxant at the neuromuscular junction and is standardized biologically via the rabbit head-drop crossover test.

Meconic Acid

A dicarboxylic acid found exclusively in opium (Papaver somniferum) that produces an intense red coloration upon reaction with ferric chloride ($\text{FeCl}_3$).

Physostigmine (Eserine)

A reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor indole alkaloid obtained from Calabar bean (Physostigma venenosum); used in ophthalmology to treat glaucoma and serves as the drug of choice for atropine poisoning.

Colchicine

An alkaloidal amine derived from Colchicum autumnale; treats acute gouty arthritis by suppressing leukocyte migration and lactic acid accumulation.

Akapulko (Cassia alata)

One of the Philippine DOH-recognized "Sampung Halamang Gamot"; its leaves contain chrysophanic acid and alatinone, providing antifungal activity.

Ulasimang Bato (Peperomia pellucida)

One of the Philippine DOH-recognized "Sampung Halamang Gamot" (also known as Pansit-pansitan); contains secolignans and is used clinically to lower blood uric acid levels in gouty arthritis.