Basic Research Laboratory , principles of

Manuscript logy and Survey Of Medicinal

Plants.
Dr.Sreela.R
 Need of a good laboratory

• To carry out research activities

pertaining to Ayurveda and herbal
origin drugs .
 Basic requirements in a Lab
A basic research lab Should contain the
following wings with a group of competent
technical personnels.
1.Botanical study wing
2.Chemical or Bio-chemical wing
3.Phramacological wing
4.Clinical wing
 1.Botanical Study Wing
consists of

• An experienced botanist, Traditional herbal

collector,Dravya guna specialist and a botany
wing technician.
The duty of the Botanist and the technician is to
• Help in collection and identification of genuine
drugs.
• They also conduct survey of medicinal and
poisonous plants growing in different plants.
• Traditional herbal collector:-
who should be very familiar with
medicinal plants and should know which part
is to be collected and how to collect with out
doing much damage to the plant..
• Dravya guna expert –
For proper identification of plants.
 Significance of Botanical study wing

• Accurate identification is the key to

authenticating the finished drug, that is
Standardization.
 Chemical /Bio-chemical wing
• Should contain a team of Chemists .
• The scientists in the unit should be trained for
work in different aspects of plant chemistry
involving Extraction and identification of active
principles such as alkaloids, glucosides essential
oils etc.
• This chemistry wing should contain varied lab
equipments which would help in the above
work, like PH meter, Calorimeter etc.
 Pharmacological wing
• Composed of Medical scientists –Experts in
pharmacology.
• They conduct the animal experimentations
with the prepared drugs or purified active
constituents isolated from any herbal drugs.
• A well maintained animal house is needed
under this wing.
 Clinical wing
• This wing is attached to any hospital, carries
out clinical evaluation of the drug developed
under experienced physician.
 Manuscriptology
• Definition
Manuscripts are the original texts or scripts which
are manually written.

Historical review.
The classics like of Charaka samhitha, su.sam,etc
were written in palm leaves first and later when
the printing facilities become available they were
converted into books.
 Availability of different manuscripts in
Ayurveda.
• Sanskrit manuscripts belongs to more than 100
years back were collected in various institutes
by government and individual efforts.
• Many of the institutes published catalogues of
that.
• By the efforts of Dr.B.Ramarao, CCRS in
1972,published a check list of Sanskrit medical
manuscripts.
 Sources of Ayurvedic Manuscripts
• Old and local libraries
• Catalogues
• Govt.oriented manuscripts library - Madras,
University college,karyavattom campus,TVM
• Asiatic society Calcutta.
• University libraries like Pune,BHU etc.
• Temples
• Museums
• Ayurveda Colleges.
 How to study manuscripts
For the Cataloguing or Critical study of different manuscripts, a standard format is available as follows :-

1.Serial number
2.Title of the work
3.Name of the institute /individual
4.Serial no. given by the institute
5.Whether the work is published
6.Whether critically edited.
7.Author and date
8.Folios and size of manuscripts
9.Scripts and language
10.Complete or incomplete
11.Condition and age of manuscript
12.Name of scribe (the details of the writer who
has written that )colophon.
13.Any other remarks
 Preservation of manuscripts
Using modern techniques like
• Using butter paper in between two pages to
prevent sticking of pages.
• Using glass racks or rods.
• By Xeroxing and photocopying
• By scanning
• By microfilming
 Importance of manuscripts.
• Manuscripts are the proofs of our well developed
ancient sciences.
• There are different versions of the same manuscripts
and different readings about same topic are seen.
Eg. Dha.Ni(manuscript)used by Purandare mentions
that
“Guduchyathivishamoorva manjishta dhanyasayake|Vasa kadhira
nimbescha pibeth kwathe thu vaathikae|”
The same version is found in shodhal nighantu as
“Gud……… Kaphajware”| .This is found to be more correct.
• There are still more Ayurvedic texts which
have not yet seen light of day including one
who explains veterinary aspects.
 Survey of Medicinal
plants
AIM
• To identify drugs.
• To procure genuine drugs.
Survey can be conducted in 3 perspectives.

• 1.Survey of a geographical area-How many

species of medicinal plants are present in a
particular geographical area?
• As our drugs are mainly herbal in origin, the
knowledge regarding plant wealth in a
particular geographical area is essential.
• Survey for endangered species-For proper
collection, storage& cultivation of
endangered plants of IUCN red list, survey is
conducted.
• Survey of a particular species-To collect a
needed medicinal plant, survey is conducted.
Eg. Survey to know the availability of saraca
asoka in the western Ghats.
Field survey/survey of medicinal plants
• Helps the research scholar to understand the
natural habitat of medicinal plants. Plants
growing in their natural habitat have maximum
constituents.
• Various geographical belts, show different plant
species at different heights.
eg. devdar-9000-10000 feet from sealevel.
Katuki – 11000-12000ft.from sealevel.
Team for survey of medicinal plants
• Ayurvedic practitioner especially Dravya guna- helps in
identifying the plant in Ayurvedic perceptive .
• Botanist- Help in collection and identification of
genuine drugs especially in histological identification.
Histological identification of different parts of a plant
provides several diagnostic identificative characters of a
drug. Eg; stone cells ,cell deposits like crystals, stars etc.
• Herb collector- who should be very familiar with
medicinal plants and should know which part and how
to collect with out doing much damage to the plant.
• Local vaidya- he may be knowing some plants of
that local area which are found to be effective in
curing diseases, but no literatures available.
• Forester – he may be a expert of the landscape of
that forest area.He may be knowing where plants
are abundantly seen and where there is danger.
• Cowboy- In some team, cowboys are included
who are very similar with that forest.
 Methodology
• Collection of plants are done after proper
identification.
• It is then compared with the specimen of the
plant previously collected and preserved.
(herbaria)
• In case of endangered plants, the favorable
environmental for their growth are artificially
created and facilitate them to grow.
 Traditional method of survey of medicinal
plants.
• Collection of specimen(saamanyavisesha vijnanartha
vibhinna pradeshathah bheshajasangraha)- collection of
specimen from different regions.
• Field research and survey-(oushadha parichaya and
prapthi)- with the help of field work and tribal people.
• Identification and classification of drugs-vargikarana
• Study on plant habitual region and epidemiological study
• Standardisation of the drug
 Factors need to be considered for a field
study/survey
• 1. Synonyms and regional names –
Eg;- brahmi -
• 2.Geographical and Cultivation information.
Geographical consideration provides the
knowledge about availability, potency,
authenticity.
Environmental factors in relation to plants
gives us cultivation clues.
• Cultivation techniques are essential as the
scarcity of many plants is now a major
problem.
• Advances in cultivation techniques should be
learned and implemented.
For the botanical identification during survey
the following points should be in mind ………

1.Official title – Should be given according to

pharmacopeias.
2.Taxonomy – drugs are classified according to their
taxonomical principles like kingdom, order, family,
class, genus, species etc.
3.Morphological identification of useful parts. -Eg.
which part has max.therapeutic value, that
information should be found out.
 4. Collection and Preservation of medicinal
plants
• Plant products should be collected when they contain
maximum concentration of chemical constituents.
• Environmental conditions need special consideration while
collecting plant products.
• Eg:- effect of season on the leaves of Adathoda vasica for
the contents of alkaloids. Total alkaloids and vasicine was
maximum in August -2.2-2.9% and minimum in February-
0.35- 0.7 %.
• Minor alkaloids Vasicinol,vasicianone etc were high in
specimens collected in April and low in July, August and
September.
 Storage
• Light sensitive substances should be stored in
amber colored glass bottles.
• The plant substances are packed in air tight
containers with cotton package inside.
 What is IUCN?

• IUCN stands for International Union for

Conservation of Nature.
• They have published red list which gives the
name of plants which are reducing in number
on the earth crust.
 Endangered Plants List

Triunia robusta Calamus aruensis Cooktown orchid

Marsupella profunda Sphaeropteris crinita Ochyraea tatrensis
Spruceanthus theobromae Graptophyllum reticulatum Tectaria devexa
Triunia robusta Diploglottis campbellii Acronychia littorali
Euphorbia bupleurifolia Arizona Hedgehog Cactus Queen Victoria Agave
Astrophytum asterias (Star
Hibiscus insularis Orbea paradoxa
Cactus)
Georgia Aster Darwinia chapmaniana False Poison Sumac
Lanaihale cyrtandra Lanai Sandalwood Alabama Pitcherplant
Ione Buckwheat Mexican Flannelbush Olokele Gulch Bluegrass
Gibson's Cyanea Jamaican Broom Pink Lady's Slipper
Astragalus phoenix Castilleja salsuginosa Cryptantha insolita
Centaurium namophilum Eriogonum viscidulum Eriogonum ovalifolium
Spiranthes diluvialis Rorippa subumbellata Polyctenium williamsiae
Phacelia inconspicua Phacelia inconspicua Phacelia inconspicua
Phacelia inconspicua Listera convallarioides Listera auriculata
Listera chordata Allium canadense Aureolaria pedicularia
Ranunculus fascucularis Dryopteris goldiana Arabis canadensis
• Rauvolfia serpentine, Saraca asoka, Gymea
Sylvester, Gloriosa superba, Strycnos nux-
vomica are also included in the list which are
very rich in their medicinal strength but are in
the verge of extinction.
Conservation of endangered plants could
be achieved by the following methods.

• 1.To leave the forests where the plants occur

in their wild state unhampered for a minimum
period of three years giving chance for
regeneration.
• 2.Collection of planting materials of such
species and domesticate them if possible.
• 3.Propagation of best selected genotype.
Major reasons for the threat of extinction of
plants

• Fires
• Timber Extraction
• Tea Plantation
• Reservoirs.
• Private Enclosures
 Example of a survey
• Result of a survey of a geographical area-

Researchers studying the floral diversity of

the Chandoli national park in the northern Western
Ghats of Maharashtra have accidentally discovered a 
rare plant species. The species was last seen in 1851
and was thought to be extinct.
• The discovery was made by Shrinath Kavade, professor, Art, Commerce and Science College, Lanja in
Ratnagiri; Subhash Deokule, University of Pune; P Lakshminarasimhan, Botanical Survey of India,
Howrah; Prakash Diwekar, Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune; and Sachin
Punekar of Agharkar Research Institute.
 METHODOLOGY
of a survey done in villupuram dist. Of TN
In order to assess the consumption of indigenous medicinal plants,
survey was carried out during the year, 2008 in the forest areas of
Villupuram district in Tamilnadu, India.

As a part of the survey direct plant observation and

identification was done with the help of local healers
known as ‘Maruthuvar’. A structured feedback form was
used to draw information from the resource persons using
standard methods (Martin, 1995). Information on
medicinal plants, local name, plant parts used and mode
of administration for curing diseases has been recorded.
• Plants collected during the surveys were
identified with the help of published regional
flora (Gamble, 1935; Matthew, 1983). The
identified plant specimens were then
confirmed with the herbaria of botanical
SURVEY of India (BSI), Southern circle,
Coimbatore, India. The specimens were
deposited in the Herbarium, Department of
Botany, Presidency College, Chennai 600 005.
•

• Thank you