Pharmacognosy - Introduction and Crude Drugs

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental definitions, subdisciplines, classification, production, curing, adulteration, and evaluation of crude drugs in pharmacognosy.

Pharmacognosy

The science concerned with natural substances used as medicines, encompassing their sources, identification, cultivation, processing, chemical constituents, biological activity, and pharmaceutical applications (derived from Greek: Pharmakon = drug, Gnosis = knowledge).

Pharmacobotany

A subdiscipline of pharmacognosy focusing on the identification, taxonomy, and cultivation of medicinal plants, including macroscopic and microscopic study of plant organs used as crude drugs.

Phytochemistry

A subdiscipline of pharmacognosy concerned with the isolation, characterization, and structure elucidation of plant secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and glycosides.

Ethnopharmacology

The study of traditional medicinal knowledge across cultures as a systematic guide to drug discovery, noting that approximately 80% of the world's population relies on traditional medicine (WHO).

Natural Products Chemistry

The field involving chemical synthesis, semi-synthesis, and structural modification of natural scaffolds to optimize drug-likeness, potency, and selectivity.

Marine Pharmacognosy

The systematic exploration of marine biodiversity, including sponges, corals, tunicates, and cyanobacteria, for structurally novel bioactive compounds.

Biotechnology (in Pharmacognosy)

The application of plant tissue culture, metabolic engineering, and microbial biosynthesis to produce natural products at scale, bypassing supply chain limitations.

Phytomedicinals

Medicinal or pharmaceutical substances originating from plants, which include specific phytochemicals as well as whole plants or herbal preparations (also referred to as phytoceuticals).

Extract

A substance made by taking (extracting) part of a raw material using a solvent such as ethanol or water, containing many phytochemicals and available as solutions or in powder form.

Folk Medicine

A traditional blend of natural preventive and curative practices based on knowledge and experience developed over generations, commonly established through trial-and-error methods.

Crude Drug

A medically useful drug of plant or animal origin (including bacterial, fungal, or insect sources) without any further processing or modification.

Organised Drugs

Crude drugs that consist of specific plant tissues and anatomical structures, derived from overground organs (e.g., leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, barks, woods) or underground organs (e.g., roots, rhizomes, bulbs, corms).

Unorganised Drugs

Crude drugs that have no specific plant tissues, derived from plant/animal secretions or extracts such as juices, latices, extracts, essential oils, fixed oils, fats, waxes, resins, gums, and mucilage.

Official Drug

A drug listed and described in a book recognized by the government as the legal authority for standards (a pharmacopoeia).

Pharmacopoeia

A book recognized by government authority as the legal authority for standards, establishing required specifications for identity, purity, quality, and strength of drugs.

Binomial Nomenclature

The scientific system of naming crude drugs using a two-part Latin name, where the first word is the genus and the second is the species, written in italics or underlined.

Indigenous Plants

Plants that grow naturally in their native habitat.

Naturalized Plants

Plants introduced from one geographical region to another that become established and grow successfully under natural conditions.

Garbling

The post-harvest process of removing unwanted materials such as stems, weeds, discolored, diseased, or damaged portions, and extraneous matter to improve crude drug purity and quality.

Decortication

The removal of the outer bark or cortex from plant materials, such as removing the outer cork and cortex of Cinnamon to yield thin inner bark quills.

Bleaching

A preparation process used to improve the external appearance and color of crude drugs (e.g., coating ginger and nutmeg with $CaCO_3$ or $CaSO_4$) and protect them from insect infestation without enhancing medicinal activity.

Curing

A controlled process carried out after collection and before drying to induce desirable chemical changes in crude drugs through enzymatic action, enhancing flavor, aroma, color, or therapeutic properties.

Adulteration

The substitution, addition, removal, or modification of a crude drug so that its identity, purity, strength, or quality no longer complies with official required standards.

Intentional Adulteration

Adulteration performed deliberately for economic gain, including full or partial substitution, admixture with cheaper materials, reuse of exhausted drugs, adding heavy foreign matter, artificial sophistication, or adding undeclared synthetic chemicals.

Unintentional Adulteration

Accidental adulteration resulting from botanical misidentification, collection of the wrong plant part, confusion due to local common names, accidental entry of weeds during harvesting, or cross-contamination during processing.

Morphological Evaluation

Evaluation of crude drugs based on external macroscopic features, including size, shape, color, odor, taste, and fracture.

Microscopic Evaluation

Evaluation of crude drugs by examining internal cellular and anatomical features, such as trichomes, starch grains, stomata, and crystals.

Chemical Evaluation

Identification and quantification of active constituents in crude drugs using qualitative chemical tests and analytical methods such as TLC, HPLC, GC, and LC-MS.

Biological Evaluation

Measurement of the pharmacological activity and potency of crude drugs using bioassays on living organisms or tissue preparations.

Physical Evaluation

Assessment of physical characteristics and constants of crude drugs, such as moisture content, ash values, extractive values, refractive index, and specific gravity.