Adulteration of the crude drugs and natural materials.pptx

How crude drugs are adultered.

1. Adulteration OF crude drugs Dr. Murryam nawaz

2. LECTURE CONTENTS ADULTERATION METHODS OF ADULTERATION TYPES OF ADULTERATION

3. Adultration ; “ Adulteration means incorporation of impurities in genuine or standard drugs.” Adulteration may be accidental or deliberate (by conscious). In few cases, dealers mix the sub standard and spoiled drugs with genuine drugs due to shortage and high price of drugs. Adulteration may occur due to improper collection, drying, preparation and storage of crude drugs. In this way adulterated drugs are inferior in quality, containing lesser amount of active constituents and more foreign matter.

4. Methods of Adulteration: 1. Substitution with Exhausted Drugs 2. Substitution with Sub-Standard Commercial Varieties 3. Substitution with Superficially Similar (inferior) Drugs 4. Substitution with Artificial Substance 5. Vegetative Matter from the Same Plant 6. Harmful Adulterants 7. Adulteration due to Imperfect Storage 8. Adulteration with Faulty Collection

5. 1. Substitution with Exhausted Drugs: Many drugs are extracted on large scale to isolate their active constituents. These exhausted materials are used entirely or partly as a constituent for the standard drugs e.g. used tea leaves are dried and mixed with genuine drug.

6. 2. Substitution with Sub-Standard Commercial Varieties: The adulterant used here may resemble original crude drugs by morphological, chemical or therapeutic character, but are substandard in nature and hence cheaper in cost. This is rather a most common practice of adulteration. E.g. Capsicum minimum is replaced by Capsicum annum.

7. 3. Substitution with Superficially Similar (inferior) Drugs: The inferior drugs (adulterants) used may or may not have any chemical or therapeutic similarity with original natural drugs. Due to their morphological resemblance to crude drugs they are used as adulterants e.g. mother cloves and clove stalks are often mixed with clove.

8. 4. Substitution with Artificial Substance: Artificial substitutions or adulterants are prepared for some drugs which resemble with genuine drugs in form and appearance. Paraffin wax is made yellow colored and substituted for beeswax.

9. 5. Vegetative Matter from the Same Plant: Sometimes other miniature plants growing along with medicinal plants are mixed with crude drugs due to their resemblance in color, odour and in some cases constituents. E.g. the stem portions are mixed with leaf drugs like senna , lobelia and stramonium .

10. 6. Harmful Adulterants: Sometimes wastes collected from market are admixed with authentic crude drugs e.g. the powdered bark is adulterated with brick powder or lime stones in asafetida; pieces of amber (colored) glass in colophony; white oil in coconut oil, coca butter mixed with paraffin as so on.

11. 7. Adulteration due to Imperfect Storage: A number of crude drugs are deteriorated due to imperfect storage or sometimes some other factors. E.g. light, temperature, moisture, enzymes and microorganisms etc. thus these drugs are not useful for human and are considered as adulterated drugs. For example, when digitalis and stramonium are not stored in moisture-proof containers and dry places. Enzymatic hydrolysis (decomposition) takes place, so these drugs are deteriorated.

12. 8. Adulteration with Faulty Collection: The optimum bioactive molecules are present in crude drugs at a particular season, time and age of the plant. When the drugs are not collected during that specific period, the quality and quantity of drug may be reduced. When these (premature) drugs are mixed with standard drugs, they cause adulteration e.g. coriander and fennel fruits should be collected when they are fully grown and ripened; if these crude drugs are collected before their due time (i.e. premature), quality and quantity of active constituents would be sub-standard and hence final product will be adulterated.

13. Types of Adulteration: Adulteration is of following types: 1 . Inferiority 2 . Spoilage 3 . Deterioration 4 . Admixture 5 . Sophistication 6. Substitution

14. 1. Inferiority: “Inferiority refers to any substandard drug with or without any reason. It may be natural reason or produced artificially.” OR “Any dry substance if it has less than standard value of active ingredient. It is said to be inferior from that of standard one.” Milk: Milk which is sold should not be containing less than 3% of butter fat but if it contains less than 3% of butter fat, it is said to be inferior one. If the milk contains 4% butter fat of butter fat and then we add water to it to reduce butter fat to 3%. It is also adulterated but not inferior. If the milk contains 4% butter fat and we separate all the butter fat in the form of cream and then enough cream is added to obtain required percentage, then it is not adulterated.

15. 2. Spoilage: “Spoilage refers to that form of substandard drug in which quality and usefulness of article is so destroyed or impaired by the action of bacteria, fungi and other microbes .” They become unfit for human use. Examples: Many examples of spoilage are found in food industry particularly in fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and sea -food such as: o Spoilage of apple due to microbial contamination , Spoilage of cabbage, Spoilage of bread by fungi. All drugs which are unfit for human or animal consumption are legally considered as adulterated.

16. 3. Deterioration: “ Deterioration refers to any drug or impaired drug whose quality is destroyed by destruction of active principles by different means such as distillation, extraction, moisture, heat, light and fungus etc.” Examples: Cloves : If we removed a part of volatile oil from cloves by distillation, then they are deteriorated (spent cloves) or When coffee is over-roasted then it loses its caffeine. This is also an example of deterioration.

17. 4. Admixture: “Admixture means addition of one article to another accidently or by ignorance or carelessness (not consciously).” However, if the admixture is done intentionally then it becomes sophistication. If admixture exceeds the established standard, then it legally becomes an adulteration . Examples: Excessive amount of stems present in drugs like Lobelia stramonium .

18. 5. Sophistication: Sophistication “Addition of a spurious or inferior material to any article with the purpose of fraud to get more profit is called as sophistication.” Examples : Addition of wheat flour to powdered ginger with enough curcuma to obtain colour and enough capsicum to enhance pungency is an example of sophistication, Addition of sanders wood to chilies, Powdered olive stones added to black pepper.

19. 6. Substitution: “If an entirely different article is used or sold in place of required material, then it is called as substitution.” Although like substitution is done intentionally and for fraud but it is not sophistication because no true ingredient or substance is present. All types of substitutions are legally considered as adulteration. Examples : Cotton seed oil sold as olive oil or American saffron sold as Spanish saffron.

20. Why Adulteration is Done? Adulteration is done due to following reasons: If the drug article is available in less amount, then adulteration is done. If the price of drug is very high although it is present in sufficient quantities.