Introduction to

Pharmacognosy
Prepared by:
Dr. D. Lakshman kumar ,
Associate professor,
Department of Pharmacognosy and
Phytochemistry,
CHIPS, Guntur.
 Pharmacognosy
• Pharmacognosy is derived from two Greek words,
Pharmakon & Gnosis
• Pharmakon – means ‘drug’.
• Gnosis – means ‘knowledge’.
• In brief, Pharmacognosy means ‘knowledge of drugs’.
➢ It is a study of drugs that originate in the plant & animal
kingdoms.

Pharmacognosy is a branch of pharmacy which deals with

the basic resources of medicines from nature (plant &
animal) and their uses as medicaments from ancient time
to present day.
 Pharmacognosy
Pharmacognosy may be defined as an important branch
of Pharmacy which deals with the study of structural,
physical, chemical, biochemical and sensory characters of
natural drugs of plant and animal origin. It also includes
a study of their history, distribution, cultivation,
collection, identification, preparation, evaluation,
preservation, use and commerce.

•At present pharmacognosy involves not only the crude drugs

but also their natural derivatives (pure compounds or
constituents).
•Digitalis leaf and its isolated glycoside, digitoxin; Rauwolfia
root and its purified alkaloid, reserpine; and thyroid gland
with its extracted hormone, thyroxine, are all part of the
subject matter of pharmacognosy.
 Pharmacognosy - History
History of pharmacognosy is actually the history of
medicine that is medicinal plants.
Pre-history:
• The first or beginning of pre-history on use of
medicinal plants or herbs or animals, and the place
where and how used were not well known, and those
information were unwritten for a long time. As a
result, the pre-history on herbs was almost lost.

• However, some information was recorded by oral

transmission from generation to generation.
 Pharmacognosy - History

Written History:
• The written history has originated which was based on
region, religion and culture etc.
The written history was divided into the following:

1. The western medicine

2. The Unani (Islam)
3. The Ayurveda (Indian)
4. The orient
5. The Greek History
6. The African System
 Pharmacognosy - History

1. The western medicine:

✓ This is originated in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamia is
considered as the first origin of human civilization. The
Sumerians (peoples of ancient Mesopotamia) developed
cuneiform tablet of herbal medicines. Those tablets is
preserved in British museum.

✓ In Egypt, information had written on paper – Papyrus ebers

(1600BC). It consisted of 800 prescriptions, mentioning 700
drugs.

✓ The first pharmacopoeia named London Pharmacopoeia was

published in 1618 and then British Pharmacopoeia was
published in 1864.
 Pharmacognosy - History

2. The Unani (Islam)

• This herbal system was developed by Arabian Muslim
Ibn Sina (980 – 1037 AD). He was a prince and ruler.
He was a very brilliant pharmacist and physician who
wrote a book – “Kitab-Al-Shifa”, means ‘Book of
Healing’.

• The book was written on Arabic language. This is a

great contribution of Ibn Sina on medical and
pharmaceutical sciences.
 Pharmacognosy - History
3. The Ayurveda (Indian, 2500-600 BC):
Ayurveda is the term for traditional medicine of ancient
India.
The word “Ayur” means ‘Life’ and “veda” means ‘The
study of’ that is “Study of Life”.

The Ayurvedic writings were divided into three systems:

1) Charaka Samhita, 2) Sushruta

Samhita and 3) Astanga samhita.

The oldest writing was Charaka Samhita

(six to seven century before Christ).
The book describes uses of many metallic
drugs eg., iron, mercury, sulphur, cupper etc with
 Pharmacognosy - History

4. The orient (2700 BC):

➢ This is originated from Chinese, Japanese and Tibet

etc. The orient herbalism was very old (142 – 220
BC) and called “Kampo”. The written documents
were made by the King ‘Shen Nung’ (2700 BC) and
Shang (1766 – 1122 BC) etc.
➢ Shen Nung investigated medicinal value of several
herbs and written a book – “Pen T-Sao” or native
herbal.
 Pharmacognosy - History
5. The Greek History:
Some of the early naturalists, scientists and physicians who contributed enormously to
the development of human knowledge about medicinal plants include following:

➢Hippocrates (Father of Medicine, 460-370 BC):

He was the first natural doctor who utilized simple remedies such as
vinegar, honey, herbs etc in healing. He is also known to have collected and
identified a number of medicinal plants.
➢Aristotle (384-322 BC):
He gave the philosophy of medicine. He listed more than 500 plants of
medicinal importance.
➢Theophrastus (340 BC):
gave scientific basis of use of plants as medicine.
➢Galen (131-200 AD):
a Greek pharmacist-physician. He developed the methods of preparing and
compounding medicines by mechanical means. He was the originator of the
formulae for a cold cream.
 Pharmacognosy - History

6. The African System (Tropical Africa, North

and South America):

➢ They keep information in their groups or tribes.

The information transmitted from one generation
to another.
➢ These regions are richest sources of medicinal
plants and needs to explore for new drug
discovery.
 Scope of Pharmacognosy
Pharmacognosy deals primarily with information on
the sources and constituents of natural drugs.

1. Primary source of medicines (from ancient time to

present day), for example – hyoscine, morphine,
ergotamine, ouabain etc.

2. Providing Template/guide for the discovery of new

drugs, for example – Pathidine (analgesic drug)
designed from morphine.
 Terms &
Phrase used in
Pharmacognosy
 Terminology
Drug
Standard dictionaries define drug as “an original, simple
medicinal substance, organic or inorganic, used by itself
or as an ingredient in medicine”.

According to WHO’s definition – “any substance used in

a pharmaceutical product that is intended to modify or
explore physiological systems or pathological states for
the benefit of the recipient”.
Pharmaceutical product/Medicine means “a dosage form
(tablet/capsule/syrup/IV/IM) containing one or more drugs
along with other substances included during the
manufacturing process”.
 Application of Drug
• Prevention of a disease : for example, vaccine.
• Fight against an infection: for example, antibiotics.
• Temporary blocking of a normal function: for example,
general & local anesthetics
• Detoxification of the body: for example, antidotes.
• Diagnostic agents: for example, radioisotopes.
• Correction of dysfunction: for example, cardiotonics (eg,
digoxin) for the treatment of congestive heart failure.
• Correction of hyperfuntion: for example, Rauwolfia root
(eg., reserpine) for the treatment of hypertension.
 Terminology

Crude Drug:
The term “Crude”, as used in relation to natural products.
A crude drug is a natural drug of plant or animal origin
which has undergone no treatment other than collection
and drying, that is, the quality or appearance of the drug
has not been advanced in value or improved in condition
by any physical or chemical treatment.

For example: Digitalis leaf, Rauwolfia root etc.

 Terminology
Indigenous vs Naturalized

Indigenous :
Plants growing in their native countries are said to be
indigenous to those regions.
For example: Aconite (Aconitum napellus) in the
mountainous region of Europe. It is highly poisonous used
as diuretic in Homeopathy preparation

Naturalized:
Plants are said to be naturalized when they grow in a
foreign land or in a locality other than their native homes.
For example: Datura (Datura stramonium) which was
introduced into the USA from Europe.
 Official Books
It provides guideline for the manufacturing, quality control,
packaging, storage, dose regimen, indication, contraindication etc
of different pharmaceutical products/medicine for the treatment
of diseases.
•USP – United States Pharmacopoeia
•BP – British Pharmacopoeia
•NF – National Formulary
•BNF – British National Formulary
•BDNF – Bangladesh National Formulary
•BPC – British Pharmaceutical Codex
•Martin Dale Extra Pharmacopoeia
•Materia Medica
•Physician’s Index
•Goodman’s & Gilmann’s: The Pharmacological Basis of
Therapeutics.
 Terminology
Official vs Unofficial vs Nonofficial drug
Official drug:
Any drug (crude or prepared) which is included in
pharmacopoea or in national formulary or in recognized books
is called an ‘official drug’.
For example: quinine, morphine, codeine, paracetamol are
included in BP, USP, NF and so on.
Unofficial drug:
A drug which has been recognized earlier in the pharmacopoeia
or in national formulary or in recognized books but not found
in the current issue is designated as an ‘unofficial drug’. Those
substances were excluded from the recognized books due to
their severe toxic effects on humans. For example: Sucralfate
(hyperacidity), mercurial compounds (diuretics), benzoic acid
(preservative) etc.
 Terminology

Official vs Unofficial vs Nonofficial drug

Nonofficial drug
Substance that has never been appeared in either of
the official books may be called nonoffical. Such
types of compounds may be published in current
journals having proven clinical value, but we do not
know about their side effects.

For example - Curcumine (sinusitis), etc.

 Terminology

Extractive
The crude mixtures of chemical constituents that are removed
from plants or animals by various extraction processes are
called extractives or derivatives.

Secondery metabolites
These are substances synthesized or produced as by-products
by plants during their metabolic activities. Apparently they
are of no primary use of plants.

They are therefore also regarded as ‘waste products of

metabolism, which are usually accumulated in some parts of
the plant and are physiologically active on living organisms.
 Terminology

Monograph

The descriptive material pertaining to any drug,

therapeutic agent included in the pharmacopoeia is
known as the monogram.

The monogram of a drug includes the following

information on the drug:
official title, synonyms, definition, description,
collection or preparation, identity tests, tests for
adulterants, method of assay, storage, uses and doses.
 Monogram of
Trigonella foenum-graecum (Family: Papilionacacae)

Common name: Fenugreek (Eng.), Methi (Bengali)

Cultivation: It is cultivated in different area of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Middle
East, Africa.
Description: The Latin species name foenum-graecum means ‘Greek hay’, which
is a dried plant's (leaves or seeds) and has a strong hay-like scent. It has a
strong, pleasant and a peculiar odor and grows best in well-drained soils with
a low rainfall into brownish- yellow rhombic shape seeds.
Parts used: Ripe, dried seeds
Chemical constituents: Seeds are rich in mucilage (maily galactomannans),
fixed oil, fatty acids and protein. They also contain
alkaloids, saponine, glycosides etc.
Uses: Seeds are diuretics, astringent. They are popularly used in the treatment
of loss of appetite, weight loss, menstrual
disorder. Also used in hypertension, diabetes, sexual
problem etc. It lowers TG, cholesterol, LDL. Dose: Daily dose, 18 g.
 Pharmacognosy & Modern Medicine
❑ Simultaneous advancement in the field of
chemistry, biochemistry, biosynthesis and
pharmacology has developed pharmacognosy.
❑Various active compounds have been isolated
from plants which are used in modern medicine.

❑ With the advancement of synthetic organic

chemistry most of the active constituents of plants
have been synthesized.
❑More than 100 plants are used in modern
medicine in various parts of the word.
 Pharmacognosy & Modern Medicine

Important active constituents of plants used in medicine

Active constituents Plants Pharmacological activity

Morphine, Codeine, Papaver somniferum L. Sedative, smooth muscle
Papaverine relaxant
Quinine, Quinidine Cinchona sp. Antimalarial,
antiarrthythmic
Hyoscine, Atropine Datura sp., Parasympatholytic
Digitoxin, Digoxin Digitalis lanata Cardiotonic
Reserpine, Rescinamine Rauwolfia sp. Hypotensive,
vasodialator
Vincristine, Vinblastin Catharanthus roseus Anticancer
 Pharmacognosy & Modern Medicine

Important active constituents of plants used in medicine

Active constituents Plants Pharmacological activity

Caffeine Camellia sinenssis CNS stimulant

Cocaine Erythroxylum coca Anaesthetic
Ephedrine Ephedra sp. Sympathomimetic
Pilocarpine Pilocarpus jaborandi Parasympathomimetic
Ergometrine Claviceps purpurea Oxytocic
Ergotamine Vasoconstrictor
Ergotoxine Vasodialator
 Pharmacognosy & Modern Medicine

Important active constituents of plants used in medicine

Active constituents Plants Pharmacological

activity
Psyllium mucilage Plantago ovata Laxative
Sennosides Cassia angustifolia Laxative
Theophylline Caffea arabica CNS stimulant
Diuretic
Steroid hormones Solanum sp. Anti-inflammatory,
antiarthriytic
 Application of Pharmacognosy
• Plants always provide novel molecular structure,
which played important role for the molecular design
and development of novel potent, less toxic or
nontoxic drugs e.g. natural morphine has got
analgesic & narcotic effect but meperidine a synthetic
drug originates from morphine basic skeleton is non-
narcotic.

•Plant & animal products give

potential biological effect without any
undesirable effects.

•Plant & animal products can be taken with very

 Limitation of Pharmacognosy
Drugs obtained from natural sources have a variety of
limitations. The majors are;
•A natural compound may be highly active but usually this is
associated with high toxicity problem, ex- the toxic and
therapeutic dose of digitalis are very close which create
serious problem to use this medicine by the patient alone.
•Some compounds are found in natures that give beneficial
pharmacological actions but their potencies are too low to be
employed therapeutically.
•The yield of active natural products may be very low and
thus the production cost of those drugs will be very high
•The source of a natural drug may be very limited with
respect to geography, season and climate etc.
 Sources of Medicaments
• At present the prime sources of modern or allopathic
medicines are synthesized in the laboratory by organic
chemist.
• Only a few of compounds are isolated from plants, which
are cannot be replaced by synthetic method.
• For example: morphine isolated from Papaver somniferum;
vincristin & vinblastin (anticancer drug) from Vinca rosea,
the most potent anticancer drug taxol from Texus brevifolia;
the constituents of digitalis cannot be properly replaced by any
synthetic drug like quinidine which is used for the
treatment of arrhythmia.
 Classification of Drugs

In pharmacognosy, drugs may be classified according to -

1.Their morphology
2.The taxonomy of the plants and
animals from which they are obtained
3.Their therapeutic application
4.Their chemical constituents or active principles.

Each of these methods of classification has advantages

and disadvantages.
 Classification of Drugs
1. Morphological classification
• In this system, the drugs are grouped according to the part of the
plants, such as roots, leaves, stems, barks, flowers, seeds etc.
• The drugs obtained from the direct parts of the plants are called as
organized drugs. They are made up of whole plants or any parts
derived from them.
eg., Root – Rauwolfia, aconite, ginger; Bark – Cinnamon, Cinchona
Fruit – Amla, Bahera, Capsicum, Leaf – Digitalis, Senna, Tulsi, coca;
Wood – Sandal wood.
• The drugs which are prepared from plants by some intermediate
physical process such as incision, drying or extraction with a solvent
are called unorganized drugs, eg., Dried juice (Aloe juice), Dried
extract (agar), Dried latex (Opium latex), Honey, Beewax etc.
The main drawback of morphological classification is that there is no co-
relation of chemical constituents with the therapeutic actions.
 Classification of Drugs

2. Taxonomical classification
• In this system crude drugs are arranged according to the
natural groups (e.g. Families) of their source.
• For example: all the drugs obtained from Solanaceae are
grouped together as Solanaceous drugs.
• Tropane alkaloids are the main
constituents of
Solanaceous drugs.
Family Drugs
Solanaceae Solanaceous drugs.
eg. Tropane alkaloids
Umbelliferae Umbelliferous drugs. eg.,
volatile oils
 Classification of Drugs
3. Pharmacological classification
• In pharmacological classification the drugs are grouped
according to their therapeutic use.
• For example cardiotonic drug include
digitalis, purgative drugs include castrol oil.
Pharmacological action Drugs
Anticancer Vinca
Analgesic Opium, cannabis
Purgatives Senna, Aloe, Castrol oil, Plantago
husk
Cardiotonic Digitalis, strophanthus
Tranquillizer Rauwolfia root
Anti-inflammatory Tumeric, colchicum
The main drawback of this classification is that a drug can be placed in
various classes according to its therapeutic use. For example: Cinchona
(quinine) can be grouped in antimalarial and antiarrhythmic catagories.
 Classification of Drugs

4. Chemical classification
• The biological activity of a drug is due to the
presence of certain chemical constituents in the
drug.

• Plants and animals synthesize chemical

compounds such as carbohydrates, protein, fat,
volatile oils, alkaloids, resin etc.

•The chemical classification of drugs is dependent

upon the grouping of drugs with identical
chemical constituents.
 Classification of Drugs
Chemical classification of drugs
Chemical constituents Drugs
1. Carbohydrates
a) Monosaccharidase - Dextrose, fructose, galactose
b) Disaccharide -Sucrose, Lactose, Maltose
c) Polysaccharide Gum -Starch
Mucilages Cellulose -Acacia, Tragacanth
-Plantago seed
-Cotton
2. Glycosides
a) Cardiac -Digitalis, strophanthus
b) Anthraquinone -Aloe, Cascara, senna
c) Saponins -Arjuna
d) Cyanophore -Wild cherry bark
3. Tanins Amla, Bohera, Ashoka bark
4. Volatile oil Clove oil, rose oil, peppermint oil, tulsi etc
5. Lipids
a) Fixed oils & fats -Olive oil, castor oil, coconut oil etc
b) Waxes -Bees wax
 Classification of Drugs

Chemical classification of drugs

Chemical constituents Drugs
6. Resins ginger, capsicum etc.
7. Alkaloids
a) Pyridine & piperidien a) Nicotiana, areca nut
b) Tropane b) Coca, Belladonna, Datura
c) Quinoline c) Cinchona
d) Isoquinoline d) Opium, Ipecac
e) Indole e) Ergot, Nuxvomica, Rauwolfia, catharanthus, Physostigma
f) Steroidal f) Kurchi
g) Purine g) Tea, Coffee
8. Protein Gelatin, gluten etc
9. Vitamins Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Ascorbic acid etc

10. Antibiotics Penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline etc

11. Hormones Adrenaline, thyroxine etc

 Evaluation of Drugs
• A natural substance is considered as food if it fills stomach in
every day life without any harmful effect.
• A substance become drug if it change a pathological or
disease state of human/animal to normal physiological
condition having no undesirable effect in specific dose.
• A long-term studies (chemical, biological and physical etc)
are required to establish whether a substance will be
considered as drug or food or eliminate for consumption.
Those studies are referred as evaluation.

Evaluation of drug means –

• Identification
• Determination of quality
• Determination of purity
 Identification
✓ The identification can be established by careful observational study
of the collected drug, and then compared with authentic specimen
by the collector.
✓ Therefore, for proper identification of a drug from plant or animal
sources, a collector must be educated about plant taxonomy and
very much experienced with his/her job.
✓ Therefore, drugs from plants/animals are identified by –
o A qualified, specialized & experienced personnel
o Comparison with the authentic sample specimen.
✓ In every country, there is a national herbarium where most of plants
specimen are preserved. A number of specialists are working on
plant identification there.
 Quality
• The word “quality” refers to the intrinsic value of the drug, i.e.,
the amount of medicinal principles or active constituents
present. These principles are classified as carbohydrate,
alkaloid, glycoside, volatile oil, lipid, antibiotics and steroids etc.
• A high grade of quality in a drug is of primary importance. An
effort should be made to obtain and maintain high quality.
• To maintain high quality products one should do the following:
1. Select proper source (wild or cultivated)
2. Appropriate time of collection
3. Collection of required parts of plants (bark, leaf, stem, rhizome,
root)
4. Preparation of the collected drug by proper cleaning, drying.
5. Proper preservation to avoid contamination by microorganisms
and moisture, heat, air and light.
 Purity

• The purity of drug can be achieved by –

1. Proper identification
2. Quality assurance.
 Evaluation Method

• The evaluation of a drug involves a number of

methods, which may be classified as follows:

1. Organoleptic
2. Microscopic
3. Biological
4. Chemical
5. Physical
 1. Organoleptic evaluation of drug

• Organoleptic evaluation means the study of a drug with

the help of organs of sense.
• It includes any drug’s macroscopic or external
appearance, color, odor, taste & sounds of its fracture
etc.
• The macroscopic or external characteristic of a drug may
be divided into 7 headings -
1. Shape
2. Size
3. Color
4. Fracture & internal color
5. Odor
6. Taste
 2. Microscopic evaluation of drug

Microscopic evaluation of drug can be done in the

laboratory by the use of
microscopes and utilizes
various microscopic characters of the drugs,
such as types and arrangement of various cells and
tissues.
 3. Chemical evaluation of drug

• Chemical evaluation of drugs involves both

qualitative and quantitative determination of their
active principles.

•In this method characteristic qualitative chemical

tests are employed to identify crude drugs and their
constituents.
 4. Biological evaluation of drug

• The biological evaluation of crude drugs is very useful

in determining the pharmacological activity of the drug.

• Since living organism or their isolated living tissues are

used, this method is also called the biological method or
bioassay.

• Many drugs, particularly the antibiotics, toxins and

toxoids and also vitamines are assayed by this method.
 5. Physical evaluation of drug

The physical evaluation of crude drugs is

accomplished by the determination of various physical
characteristics using various physico-chemical
techniques, for example, specific gravity (of fats and
volatile oils), melting points (of alkaloids), optical
rotation (of alkaloid and volatile oils), etc.