Pharmacognosy –I

Introduction, History, Scope &

Development of Pharmacognosy

(Prepared by Asma Manzoor

Rashid latif college of pharmacy)

Welcome
 Definition :
Pharmacy is the science of drug making / deals with
their procurement (bring about), testing, storage and
conversion into suitable forms ( tablets, capsules, emulsions
etc)

Drug :
Any substance used in the treatment of disease or diagnosis
is known as drug . Diagnosis is the determination of nature
of disease.
Crude drug
It is the simple drug ,crude drugs are plant, animal and
their parts which after collection are subjected only to
drying or making them into transverse or longitudinal pieces
or peeling (stripping off skin or bark).They exist in natural
forms.
Pharmacognosy:
• Pharmacognosy is the science of drugs of biological origin ( plant,
animal, mineral) or The word pharmacognosy was coined in
1815
by
a German Scientist SEYDLER has been derived from two
Greek words , Pharmacon ---- ‘ a drug, gignosco – ‘ acquire
the knowledge of

•Pharmacognosy is the subject of crude drugs obtained from the

plants (vegetable), animal and mineral origin. Or It can also
defined as the objective study of crude drugs of the natural sources
processed scientifically.

•Pharmacognosy is the study of medicinal use of various naturally

occurring drugs its history, sources, distributions, method of
cultivation, active constituents, medicinal uses, identification test,
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PHA R MA
COGNOSY
History of pharmacognosy represents the history of pharmacy & medicine.
Pharmacognosy had its origin in the health-related activities of the most
primitive human race of the remote past.
They acquired knowledge of medicinal properties of plants in the following
way

a) By guesswork or trial & error

b) While searching for food
c)By superficial resemblance between the plant parts & the affected organs,
that is, by examining the “Signature of Nature”
d)By observing other animals instinctive(natural) discrimination(taste) between
toxic & palatable(edible) plants.
e) By accidental discovery
The Babylonians were aware of the Medici n a l e ffects o f a
number of plants.

Ancient Egyptians possessed a sound knowledge of human anatomy as

well as a knowledge of the medicinal uses of many plants and animals.
• Papyrys Ebers- written in 1550 B.C. (16th century) & discovered in a
tomb of a mummy, much has been said about the- skill and
knowledge of those people in this field.
• it contain more than 800 formula & 700 different drug.

In India, the study of the drugs was started about 5000 years ago at the
time of the Vedas. Ayrurvedic system (1200 B.C. Ago list with 127
plants.)
Charaka, 50 grups of 10 herbs each for illness.(Charak Samhita)
Sushruta, 7 grps of 760 herbs based on properties of plants. (Sushruta
Samhita)
•Hippocrates (460 - 370 B.C.) deals with
anatomy and physiology in many of his
treatises.“Father of Medicine”

•Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.), the great philosopher

wrote much about the animal kingdom and his
writings were placed on scientific footing free
from all superstitions.

•Theophrastus (370-287 B.C.) wrote about plants

and described medicinal uses of plants.
Dioscorides a Greek physician of the1st C e ntury A.D . was the
of the first Materia Medica (40-80 A.D.) Here he described 600
writer
medicinal plants, including Belladona, Colchicum, Opium,
Hyoscyamus, etc.

• C.A. Seydler, German scientist, a medical student at Halle,

Germany in 1815; wrote his doctoral thesis titled Analectica
Pharmacognostica
• Swede Linnaeus (1707 – 1778) the great systamtist classified the
plant & introdused system of naming the plant known as binomial
system.
• Galen (131 -200 A.D.) the first Pharmacist, who desc ribed the
method of preparing drugs of vegetable and animal origin and laid
down many formulas contained in a treatise(thesis) of 20
volumes.

• Pen Ts’ao Kang Moa 1000 B.C. (published only at 1597) contained
an incredible number of medicinal plants and drugs of animal origin.
The Chinese thought that for every disease, there must be a drug is
only provided by the nature.
•Plant Classification was developed by Benthan & Hooker (1862 –
1863), A.W. Eichler (1883), Engler & Prandtl (1887 – 1898)
• In 1865, G. Mendel’s important observation on plant hybrids
 • Letter, Voehl, Tschirch & others, report e
an a t omic a l
several powdered drug. cheracters of
d
• “An Anatomical Atlas of Powdered & Vegitable Drugs” was
complied by Greenish & Colin”

• In China, medicinal plants uses since 5000 B.C..

• The oldest document “Pentaso” written by Shen nung.
SCOPE OF
PHARMACOGNOSY
• Pharmacognosy has broad scope in the field of pharmacy
such as :
• 1. ISOLATION OR ANALYSIS OF
PHYTOCHEMICAL :
• Eg ; Strong acting substances such as glycosides from
digitalis leaves,
• Alkaloids from the plants of Belladonna, Hyocyamus,
Rauwlofia
• Morphine and other alkaloids from the plant opium were
isolated and clinical uses studied
2. STRUCTURE ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIP :

Eg : Tubocurarine and Toxiferine from curare

plant have muscle relaxant properties because
of quaternary ammonium groups.

The hypotensive and tranquillizing actions of

reserpine are due to the trimethoxy benzoic
acid
3. DRUGS OBTAIN:ED BY PARTIAL SYNTHESIS OF NATURAL
PRODUCTS:

Eg : Preparation of Steroid hormones from diosgenin

by acetolysis and oxidation and further preparation
of cortisone by microbial reactions.

4. NATURAL PRODUCTS AS MODELS FOR SYNTHESIS OF NEW

DRUGS :

Eg: Morphine is the model of a large group of potent drugs .

Cocaine for local anaesthetics

Atropine for certain spasmolytics

• 5. DRUGS OF DIRECT THERAPEUTIC USES :

• Among the natural constituents which even now cannot

be replaced are important group of antibiotics, steroids,
ergot alkaloids, vincristine etc
• 6. BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS INVESTIGATION :

• Biosynthetic pathways are of primary and secondary

metabolites.
• Some of the important pathways are Clavin ‘s cycle
of photosynthesis,
• Shikimic acid pathway of aromatic compounds.
• Acetate hypothesis for antharacene glycosides

• Isoprenoid hypothesis for terpens

• 7.CULTIVATION AND COLLECTION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS :

• clove, cinchona , cinnamon, senna, opium, etc

• 8. PREPARATION OF HERBAL FORMULATIONS :

• churnas, asvas, aristas, leha, etc

• 9. DEVELOPMENT OF TISSUE CULTURED PLANTS

• 10. Indigunious system of Medicine: WHO utilize system of medicine

based on the locally available raw material, like medicinal plant

• 11. Novel medicine: it is infrastructure of novel medicine which depends

on evaluation.
 Development of Pharmacognosy

Modern Pharmacognosy occurred during 1934 - 1960.

This development was mainly due to some events
like:
Discovery of Penicillin in 1928
Isolation of Resperine 1952
Anticancer properties of Vinca rosea
Discovery of Dioscorea was utilized to prepare semi-
synthetic steroidal hormones.
 Development of Pharmacognosy
• Pharmacognosy as an applied science.
•It played a crucial role in the development of different disciplines of
science.
•Pharmacognosy is an imp link between Pharmacology and Medicinal
Chemistry
 Development of
Pharmacognosy

Natural products got more and more therapeutic importance with

developments like:

Isolation of therapeutically active constituents

Their identification and structure elucidation.

There is close link between structure and

Pharmacological action.
 Development of
Pharmacognosy
Natural products served the purpose of precursor for synthesis

of several medicinally important compounds.

Some isolated components from plants were made into different

formulations and used as drugs.

 Development of Pharmacogno
sy
Step by step processes in biosynthesis of Primary &

Secondary metabolites were presented before the

world. Invention of microscopy and different chemical test

reagents.
 Development of
Pharmacognosy
Knowledge of
• Plant taxonomy
• Plant breeding (propogation
• Plant pathology
• Plant genetics

Is helpful in the development of cultivation technology

for medicinal and aromatic plants.
Alternative and Complementary systems
of medicine
(aka folk medicine, traditional
medicine)

Ayurveda,
Unani,
Siddha,
Homeopathy
,
Chinese medicine
Aromatherapy.
 Ayurvedic system of medicine
The word ‘veda’ means knowledge. It evolved from 4 Vedas namely:
Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
It deals with the diseases, injuries, fertility, sanity and health.
History of Ayurveda
Texts of Charaka and Sushruta
Charaka (1st century A.D.) wrote Charaka Samhita (samhita-
meaning collection of verses written in Sanskrit).
Sushruta (4th century A.D.) Sushruta Samhita.
2000 plants that were used in healing diseases and abating symptoms
were identified in these books.
 Ayurvedic Dosage Forms

Various dosage forms according to its physical status of

product
1. Solid dosage form: Vati, Churna, bhasma, Kshara
2. Semisolid dosage form: Avleha, ghirta
3. Liquid dosage form: Taila, Asava-arista, Arka
 Unani System of Medicine

System of medicine which was developed during Arabian

civilization.
In Europe it is known as Arab medicine.
It is based on well-established knowledge and practices
relating to the promotion of positive health and prevention
of diseases.
Traditional medicines in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Persia, India,
China and other Middle East countries.
The system of medicine was documented in Al-Qanoon, a
medical Bible, by Sheikh Ali Sina (Avicena, 980-1037 AD),
and Razi (Rhazes, 850-923 AD) and in many other books
written by the Unani physicians. The literature of the Unani
system is mostly found in Arabic, Persian and Urdu
languages.
It is also based on use of herbs and minerals.
Basic principle is to treat root cause rather than symptoms.
 Homoeopathic System of Medicine
Hahnemann (1790)
Homoeo (similar) pathos (suffering).
Based on law of Simular's,
“Similia Similibus Curantur”
Effect of antimalarial drug cinchona on his healthy body.
Surprisingly,he found symptoms of malaria developing in
him which disappeared after he discontinued the drug. He
continued his research in that direction by studying the
effect of different substances on this close friends and
relatives and ultimately published his discovery in 1796.
 Theory and Basic Concept

The doctrine of Similia Similibus Curantur (Let like be treated by like)

is the basic foundation of it.
A tree cannot be destroyed by just cutting it’s branches or
roots because the branches may sprout again.
Uprooting is necessary if the tree is to be destroyed permanently.
In the same way, a disease will not recur if the root cause of
the disease is removed completely from the patient.
Potencies and Dilution

Sources of Homeopathic medicines

Plant kingdom: Various morphological parts of plants, fungi, etc.
Animal kingdom: Secretion, saliva, poisons and whole animal, etc.
Minerals and chemicals: Inorganic salts, non-metals, acids and
mixtures etc.
Important Homeopathic drugs and their uses
Allium cepa: Allergies and hay fever
Arnica spp:. Aches, pain
Atropa belladonna: Headache, fever
Borax: Ulcers
Calendula: Antiseptic
Rauwolfia: Hypertension
Urtica urens: Burn
treatment
 Siddha System of Medicine

One of the most ancient recorded herbal systems of medicine,

dating back to pre-Ayurvedic period.
It is believed to be developed with the ancient civilization of
Mohenjodaro hadappa in the Indus valley.
Bogar, a Chinese, who came to India and settled down on the
pazhani hills, is known for his extensive work on alchemy and
medicine.
Siddha Vaidyas have studied thousands of herbs, and have
arrived at tangible solutions for health problems, which are
relevant to modern age.
 Theory and Basic Principle s
3 principles vata, pitta, kapha (Triguna).

Treatment
Siddha Vaidya keeps the knowledge of thousands of herbs
and their effectiveness in specific composition and
formulation.
Kashayam (extracts); churnam (powders); tailams (medicated
oils); bhasmam (calx prepared by calcination); ghritam
(medicated ghee);

Kashayam for infants; jaundice; piles

Churnam Panchammruta; kadukai; ashwagandha
Lehyam Amla lehya; ginger lehya; coconut lehya
 Traditional Chinese medicine (T C M)
•TCM as a healing system is thousands of years old.
•A principle of TCM is that the interaction of people
with their environment is most significant in creating
health
•The concept most central to TCM is Qi/chi, which is
translated as energy.
•Qi represents an invisible flow of energy that
circulates through plants, animals, and people as well
as the earth and sky.
 Yin and Yang
•Qi is further viewed as either yin or yang energy.
•Opposites and complementary,
•Good Health is present when they are in balance
in a person and his/her total environment.
•Imbalance of yin and yang is considered to be the
cause of illness.
 Aromatherapy

essential oils to and

physical, maintain
promote psychological, and
•wellbeing.
Can be definedspiritual
as the controlled use
of of essential oils of plants to treat
•Use
symptoms
•Commonly used essential oils in a healthcare
setting are ginger or peppermint for nausea
and lavender or chamomile for insomnia
Aromatherapy uses pure essential oils to balance the body’s
equilibrium and to improve mental and physical health.
It involves more than fragrance. Plant essential oils have
therapeutic powers in addition to beneficial fragrance, and have
antiseptic action in different degrees.
The natural healing art of aromatherapy is an excellent way to
promote optimum health and vitality.
It can reduce stress, improve sleep and give you more energy.
It can improve your complexion, treat an annoying skin itch and
eliminate a stomachache.
Thank You