Definition and scope of Pharmacognosy, its historical developments.

1. Pharmacognosy-I (Phrm 1103)

2. 2
The term pharmacognosy (initially known as as materia medica)
was introduced by C. A. Seydler, a medical student in Halle,
Germany, in 1815.[He wrote his doctoral thesis titled Analectica
Pharmacognostica.]
The word pharmacognosy is derived from two Greek
words, -“pharmakon”, meaning , and
-“gnosis”, meaning .
• Pharmacognosy means .
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3. INM 3
Definition:
➢ Pharmacognosy is the study of plants or
other natural sources as a possible source
of drugs.
➢ Briefly one may say that M
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4. A. Pre-historic Area:
i. Guesswork: application of intelligence or natural intuition.
iii. Curiosity and search for food contributed considerably to
knowledge about the medicinal and edible plants.
iv. “Signature of nature”: superficial resemblance between the plant
parts and the affected organs.
v. Observation of animals instinctive discrimination between toxic
and palatable plants.
vi. The healing power of some plants.
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5. B. Historic Area:
1. Chinese civilization:
The Chinese pharmacopoeia (the Pen T-sao Native Herbal, recording
of 365 drugs), attributed to the legendary Emperor Shen Nung (written
between 3000-2730 BC appeared around 1122 BC), appears to be
the oldest pharmacopoeia on earth.
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6. 2. Babylonian civilization: (about 3000 BC):
Aware of a large number of medicinal plants and their medicinal
properties.
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7. 3. Egyptians:
The most complete medical documents existing are the
(1550 B.C.), a collection of 800 prescriptions, mentioning 700 drugs and
the Edwin Smith Papyrus (1600 B.C.), which contains surgical
instructions and formulas for cosmetics.
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8. 4. Indian Civilization:
The earliest plant medicines used in the Ayurvedic system were described
around 1200 BC with a list of 127 plants. The oldest writing-Charaka Samhita-
is believed to date back six to seven centuries before Christ. It is assumed to be
the most important ancient authoritative writing on Ayurveda.
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9. 5. Greek civilization:
• The practice of medicine using medicinal plants flourished most
during the Greek civilization when many historical personalities
practiced herbal medicine.
• Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) deals with anatomy and physiology in
many of his treatises. He is called “Father of Medicine”.
The son of Apollo and the human princess Coronis,
Asclepius is the Greek demigod of medicine . ...
The Greeks regarded snakes as sacred and used them
in healing rituals to honor Asclepius, as snake venom
was thought to be remedial and their skin-shedding was
viewed as a symbol of rebirth and renewal
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10. 6. Arabic Civilization:
The physicians of Arabia added many new plants and medicaments to
those already recorded by the Greeks and Romans. Unani 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’
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11. INM 11
7. Modern Civilization
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12. 1. Crude drugs of natural origin are used for the treatment of various diseases
besides being used in cosmetic, textile and food industries.
2. They are also used for the preparation of herbal tea mixtures, all kinds of tinctures,
extracts and juices which in turn were employed in preparing medicinal drops,
syrups, infusions, ointments and liniments.
3. No a days the drug plants, standardized extracts and the therapeutically active
pure constituents have become a significant market commodity in the international
trade.
Scope of pharmacognosy is enormous and encompasses the field of-
medicine, bulk drugs,
food supplements, pharmaceutical necessities,
pesticides, dyes,
tissue culture biotechnology, engineering and so on.
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13. Scope for doctoral graduates in pharmacognosy is going to increase in the coming
years. The pharmacognosist would serve in various aspects as follows:
Academics: Teaching in colleges, universities, museums and botanical gardens.
Private industry: Pharmaceutical companies, consumer products testing
laboratories and private commercial testing laboratories, the herbal product
industries, the cosmetic and perfume industries, etc.
Government: Placement in federal agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement
Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Agriculture, Medicinal
plant research laboratories, state agencies like forensic laboratories,
environmental laboratories, etc.
• Undoubtedly, the plant kingdom still holds large number of species with
medicinal value which have yet to be discovered.
• Lots of plants were screened for their pharmacological values like,
hypoglycaemic, hepatoprotective, hypotensive, antiinflammatory, antifertility,
etc. pharmacognosists with a multidisciplinary background are able to make
valuable contributions in the field of phytomedicines.
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14. INM 14
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