History and Scope of Pharmacognosy [Autosaved].pptx

brief review of history of pharmacognosy and scope

1. History and Scope of Pharmacognosy By B A Sushmitha

2. INTRODUCTION Pharmacognosy is the study of the medicinal uses of crude drugs obtained from plants and natural resources. Crude drugs are the dried, raw materials of plant, animal or mineral origin, used for the medicinal purpose. The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines Pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources".

3. The term Pharmacognosy comes from two Greek words: " pharmakon " meaning drug or medicine, and "gnosis" meaning knowledge. The term " pharmacognosy " was used for the first time by the Austrian physician Schmidt in 1811 and 1815 by Seydler in a work titled Analecta Pharmacognostica .

4. HISTORY OF PHARMACOGNOSY 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 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 groups 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”

5. 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 Century A.D. was the writer of the first Materia Medica (40- 80 A.D.) Here he described 600 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 .  Carolus Linnaeus (1707 – 1778) classified the plant & introduced the system of naming the plant known as binomial system.

6. Galen (131 -200 A.D.) the first Pharmacist, who described the method of preparing drugs of vegetable and animal origin and laid down many formulas contained in a treatise(thesis) of 20 volumes. 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 In Nepal ‘Chandra Nighantu ’ a herbal pharmacopoeia of 278 medicinal plants was initiated by Rana Prime Minister.

7. SCOPE OF PHARMACOGNOSY Isolation Of Phytochemicals Glycosides from digitalis leaves Alkaloids from the plants of Belladonna, Hyocyamus , Rauwlofia Morphine and other alkaloids from the plant opium Structure Activity Relationship 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 Obtained By Partial Synthesis Of Natural Products Preparation of Steroid hormones from diosgenin by acetolysis and oxidation and further preparation of cortisone by microbial reactions.

8. 4. Natural Products As Models For Synthesis Of New Drugs 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 A ntibiotics, steroids, ergot alkaloids, vincristine, etc 6. Biosynthetic Pathways Investigation Biosynthetic pathways of primary and secondary metabolites 7.Cultivation And Collection Of Medicinal Plants C love, cinchona , cinnamon, senna , opium, etc 8. Preparation Of Herbal Formulations C hurnas , asvas , aristas , leha , etc

9. IMPORTANCE OF PHARMACOGNOSY Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines derived from natural sources, mainly from plants. The pharmacological qualities of traditional medicinal substances are effective. The phytochemicals are derived from plants and the identification of new drug candidates derived from plant sources.  Easy availability of drugs and their low cost. Drug synergism- additive effect of two or more components of formulation. Devoid of toxic effects or drug interactions in herbal formulations.

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