ADULTERATION

To make impure by adding

extraneous, improper, or
inferior ingredients
 ADULTERATION OF CRUDE
DRUGS
• It is the practice of substituting original crude
drug either partially or wholly with other
similar looking substances, which are either
free from or inferior in chemical & therapeutic
properties. It is the debasement of an article.
• In general it occurs when the drug is either
scarce or expensive though not scarce.
• Adulteration is done deliberately or it may
occur accidentally or due to ignorance.
• An adulterant must be cheaper and abundant
 Classification (Types)
• Adulteration by substitution
– Admixture (Mixing similar looking things with original);
Ignorance/accidental/deliberate
– Sophistication (intentional or deliberate adulteration);
– Inferiority (Substitution of substandard) Deliberate;
• Adulteration by Ignorance / Carelessness
– Deterioration (the impairment in the quality)
– Spoilage (Microbial deterioration)
• Methods:
Adulteration by substitution (Methods)
1. Manufactured substances
– Materials are artificially manufactured & mixed with
original drugs. It is priced for much costlier drugs.
• Examples:
– Paraffin wax is made yellow colored & substituted
for bees wax.
– Artificial invert sugar for honey.
– Nutmegs WITH cut pieces of bass wood.
– Artificial ergot is made from dough in a mould of
correct size & shape & colored.
2. Inferior commercial varieties
– The adulterants use here may resemble original
crude drug by morphological, chemical, or
therapeutic characters, but are substandard in
nature this is the most common practice of
adulteration.
• Examples
– Capsicum annum & Japanese chilies for fruits of
Capsicum minimum
– Arabian senna & Obavate senna for Indian senna.
– Cochin, African & Japanese ginger to adulterate
medicinal ginger
3. Substitution with exhausted drugs:
– The same drug is admixed but devoid of medicinally
active constituents as they are already extracted out.
– It is more common in case of volatile oil containing drugs
like fennel. coriander, clove, cardamom, & caraway etc.
the dried exhausted drug material closely resembles the
genuine drug. Artificial colors and fragrances are used
• Examples
– Exhausted ginger & exhausted clove are adulterated with
genuine drugs.
– Sometimes the coloring matters are removed & the
residue is re colored by artificial dyes like saffron & rose
petals.
– Cinnamic acid is removed from Balsam of Peru.
4. Substitution with superficially similar but
cheaper drugs
– Morphologicaly similar but, usually no relation in
botanical, chemical or therapeutic values to the original
normal drug
• Examples;
– Indian Dill with European Dill or Caraway.
– Clove stalk & mother cloves are often mixed with cloves.
– Roots of Hybanthus for Ipecacuanha
– Peach kernel oil for olive oil.
– Sterculia gum for Tragacanth.
– Japanese wax for Beeswax.
– Dandelion leaves for Henbane.
– Leaves of Xanthium for Stromonium.
– Saffron is admixed with dried flowers of Carthamus
tinctorius.
– Papaya seeds with pepper.
5. Substitution with Harmful adulterants
and (or) worthless heavy material
– Several times the wastes from market are
collected & mixed with authentic drugs. This is
particularly true in liquids or unorganized drugs
• Examples:
– Pieces of amber colored glasses in colophony.
– Lime stones in asafoetida.
– Lead shots in pieces of opium.
– Manganese & its dioxides to black-grain
cochineal.
– Barium sulfate to silver grain cochineal.
– Rodent fecal matter to cardamom seeds
6. Substitution with synthetic principles
– Sometimes, synthetic chemicals are admixed to
enhance the natural characters of the genuine
drugs
• Examples
– Addition of citral to lemon oil & orange oil.
– Benzyl benzoate to balsam of Peru.
– Methyl salicilate to oil of wintergreen
– Synthetic colours in spices like Turmeric and
chilly powder
7. Substitution with vegetative matter
from the same plant or sometimes
the other miniature (adventitious)
– Plants growing along with the medicinal
plants are mixed with drugs due to their
resemblance in colour & odour with genuine
drugs.
• Example
– The lower plants (Epiphytes) like lichens,
mosses, liver warts, growing on the banks are
mixed with Cascara & Cinchona bark.
– Excess amounts of other parts of same plants
like Stalks in senna leaves, stalks in clove etc.
 Adulteration of powders
• Besides entire drug the powdered forms are
frequently adulterated with powdered drugs.
• Examples:
– Powdered olive stones are added to drugs like
powdered gentian, licorice & pepper.
– powered guaiacum wood to nuxvomica.
– Exhausted ginger powder with colocynth &
ginger.
– Dextrin to ipecac powder.
– Red sander’s wood to chillies.
– Brick powder with barks drug powders.
GOOD PRACTICES TO AVOID
IGNORANT & ACCIDENTAL
ADULTERATION
 Collection of crude drugs
• Leaves: just before flowering stage (Maturity) Ex. Senna,
Digitalis, Belladona and Vinca.
• Leaf of aloe are collected when they are sufficiently thick
• Flowers before pollination or full expansion Ex. Saffron,
Clove buds, Chammomile.
• Roots : collected in autumn before vegetative process stops
• Rhizomes collected when they store ample of reserve food
material and maximum chemical constituents. Ex. Valarian.
• Barks: collected in spring or early summer when the
cambium is active; ex. Cinnamon.
• Fruits: Collected depending upon the part of the fruits which
are Pharmacuetically important. They are collected either
ripe, half ripe or fully grown.
 Drying
• Before marketing the crude drug, it necessary to process it
properly, so as to prevent it for a longer time & also to acquire
better pharmaceutical elegance
– Inhibition of microbial growth .
– Inhibition of enzymatic activity. eg: vanilla, pods, cocoa seeds, gentian
roots.
– facilitate pulverizing or grinding.
• Some special methods are required to be followed to attain
specific standards – fermentation of cinnamon bark, tea
leaves & gentian.
• Slicing is required to make it into smaller pieces to enhance
drying-glycyrrhiza.
• Drugs containing volatile oils are liable to loose their aroma if
not dried CAREFULY
• Depending on the type of chemical
constituents, a method of drying should
be suitably selected
• Natural drying; sun drying or shade drying.
• Artificial drying; tray drying, vacuum
drying & spray drying
 Garbling or dressing
• After drying process the drug is dressed to
remove sand, dirt, foreign organic matter that is
not a constitute of the drug to meet the official
standard
• Excessive stems in case of lobelia, stromonium.
• Stalks in cloves.
• Roots, rootlets & stem bases in rhizomes.
• Pieces of iron (with the magnet) in castor seeds.
• Sifting is done in case of vinca & senna leaves
• Pieces of bark in gum acacia.
 Preservation of crude drugs
• Low moisture
• Light & temperature
• Fumigation
• Ionizing radiation
• Cold storage