Dr. Ashwani Kumar's presentation on medicinal and aromatic plants highlights their historical role in healthcare, the various extraction technologies for herbal drugs, and the chemical characterization of active compounds. It also discusses challenges in herbal drug development, such as solubility and stability, and introduces innovative extraction methods for better yields and environmental sustainability. The importance of preserving plant biodiversity and utilizing biotechnological advancements for improved health benefits is emphasized.

1. Speaker
Prof. (Dr.) Ashwani Kumar
Professor, Guru Gobind Singh College of Pharmacy, Yamuna Nagar
Topic: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants I 03.09.2022

2. Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants
{औषधीय और सुगंधधत पौधे }
Dr. Ashwani Kumar
Professor
Guru Gobind Singh College of Pharmacy
ashwani1683@gnkgei.ac.in

4. Learning
Outcomes
Concepts of Herbal Drug Development
Extraction Technologies of Herbal
Drugs
Chemical Characterization of Herbal
Drugs
In-vitro & in-vivo evaluation of herbal
drugs
Herbal Formulation Development

5. Introduction
• Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) play
an important role in the healthcare of people
around the world.
• Until the advent of modern medicine, man
depended on plants for treating diseases.
Teerth (1998) listed 85 commonly used herbs
in Ayurveda since past.
• Indian systems of medicine ‘Ayurveda,’
‘Sidha’ and ‘Unani’ (arabic) entirely, and
homeopathy to some extent, depend on plant
materials or their derivatives for treating
human ailments
• India has long time legacy of plant-based
medicines since vedic era.

7. PLANTS AS SOURCE OF BIOACTIVE MOLECULES
60,000 years ago
Plant-derived products have dominated the human pharmacopoeia for thousands
of years ………until the synthesis of aspirin ushered in an era dominated by the
pharmaceutical industry
The history of drugs
1897
towards the scientific validation of
medicinal plants from all over the world and
the isolation of bioactive molecules from
natural sources

10. Unit
Operations
in
Extraction
1. Size reduction
2. Extraction
Cold aqueous percolation
Hot aqueous extraction (decoction)
Solvent extraction (cold or hot)
3. Filtration
4. Concentration
5. Drying

11. Commonly used methods in the
extraction of medicinal plants
• Hydro-distillation method:
Soxhlet extraction
Clevenger extraction
Microwave-assisted extraction
Ultrasound-assisted extraction
• Enfleurage method
• Ecuelle method

12. Clevenger apparatus Soxhlet apparatus

13. Ecuelle Method
Percolation Method Decoction
Maceration Enfleurage

14. EXTRACTION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM PLANTS
The case of Curcuma longa L.
curcumin
demethoxycurcumin
(DMC)
bisdemethoxycurcumin
(BDMC)
FROM CONVENTIONAL METHODS……
Ethanol: highest yield of extract, very low
content in curcuminoids
Acetone/ethyl acetate: more appropriate,
but more toxic!
……….TO THE INNONATIVE ONES
 Microwaves assisted-extraction (MAE)
 Ultrasound assisted-extraction (UAE)
 Pulsed electric field (PEF) extraction
 Ionic liquid-assisted extraction (ILAE)
 Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE)
Rhizome contents: curcuminoids (2–6%), volatile oil (3–7%),
fiber (2–7%), mineral matter (3–7%), protein (6–8%), fat (5–
10%), moisture (6–13%), and carbohydrate (60–70%)
undesirable impacts
toward the
environment and food
components

15. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of C. longa L.
CO2
 inexpensive, environmentally friendly and generally
recognized as safe
 easily tunable solvent strength
 gaseous at room temperature and pressure, which makes
extract recovery very simple and provides solvent-free
extracts.
Oleoresin of C. longa
SFE-CO2
Soxhelet CO2
CO2 + EtOH
350 bar
65°C
scCO2 + 30% EtOH s
sufficient to achieve
convincible amount of
curcumin yield

16. Chemical Characterization of Herbal Drugs
• Phytochemicalscreening:Alkaloids,Flavonoids,Tannins,Glycosides etc.
• Qualitative&QuantitativeAnalysis:Thinlayerchromatography,HPLC,GCetc.
• IsolationofMarkerCompounds:
ColumnChromatography
Flashchromatography
• CharacterizationofMarkerCompound:FTIR,NMR,Mass

17. QUALITY
CONTROL
METHODS
FOR HERBAL
DRUGS
• Powder fineness and sieve size
• Determination of foreign matter
• Macroscopic and microscopic examination
• Thin-layer chromatography
• Determination of ash
• Determination of extractable matter
• Determination of water and volatile matter
• Determination of volatile oils
• Determination of bitterness value, swelling
index and foaming index.

18. DETERMINATION OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES
Medicinal plant materials are liable to contain pesticide residues which
accumulate from agricultural practices, such as spraying and
administration of fumigants during storage.
WhereADL=Acceptable dailylimit
W= body weight
E=Extraction factor
MDI=Mean daily intake of drug
Maximum residue limit =
ADLx W x E
MDI X (100 X Safety factor)

19. DETERMINATION
OF ARSENIC AND
HEAVYMETALS
Contamination of medicinal plant materials with
arsenic and heavy metals can be attributed to many
causes including environmental pollution and traces
of pesticides.
• Limit test for arsenic
The amount of arsenic in the medicinal plant
material is estimated by matching the depth of colour
with that of a standard stain.
• Limit test for cadmium and lead
The method of determination is left to the analyst.
Nevertheless, the determination must be consistent
and sensitive enough to allow comparison with a
reference material.

20. RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION
A certain amount of exposure to ionizing radiation cannot be avoided
since there are many sources, including radionuclides occurring naturally in
the ground and the atmosphere.
Since radionuclides from accidental discharges vary with the type of
facility involved, a generalized method of measurement is so far not
available.
However, should such contamination be of concern, suspect samples can
be analysed by a competent laboratory. Details of laboratory techniques
are available from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

21. • Preparation of sample solution
(plant extract)
• Preparation of culture
media Sample added to the
culture media
• Incubate for 24hrs to 48hrs at
aseptic condition
• Growth of microorganisms can
be identified by
turbidity/staining with suitable
reagents
DETERMINATIONOFMICRO-ORGANISMS

22. Ex-vivo studies

23. DRUG DISCOVERY PROCESS
AFTER ISOLATION OF METABOLITES FROM PLANTS, THE EVALUATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY CAN BE PERFORMED
From basic research to the market?
Some natural compounds failed at the preclinical phase

24. DRUG DISCOVERY AND NATURAL PRODUCTS
What challenges
Major drawbacks
 Solubility
 Stability
 Selectivity
oImproving solubility
oImproving stability
o Improving the bioavailability and effects of NP
o Reducing the toxicity by loading them into
different types of delivery systems
BIO-TECHONOLOGY CAN HELP IN

25. Factors affecting
stability of
Herbal
medicinal
products

28. Plant Tissue Culture
Plant tissue culture is a technique of
growing plant cells, tissues, organs,
seeds or other plant parts in a sterile
environment on a nutrient medium

29. How?
Adult plant cells are totipotent,
meaning they have the ability to give rise
to a fully differentiated plant. Because of
this, it is possible to collect cells from a
mature plant and use those cells to
produce clones of that plant.

30. Plant tissue Culture Basics
 Modern plant tissue culture is performed under aseptic conditions
 Living plant materials from the environment are naturally contaminated on
their surfaces (and sometimes interiors) with microorganisms, so surface
sterilization of starting material (explants) in chemical solutions (usually
alcohol and sodium or calcium hypochlorite is required).
 Explants are then usually placed on the surface of a solid culture medium, but
are sometimes placed directly into a liquid medium, when cell suspension
cultures are desired.
 Culture media are generally composed of inorganic salts plus a few organic
nutrients, vitamins and plant hormones.

31. Plant tissue Culture Basics
 As cultures grow, pieces are typically sliced off and transferred to new
media (subcultured) to allow for growth or to alter the morphology of
the culture.

32. Plant Tissue Culture Applications
 Availability of raw material
 Fluctuation in supplies and quality
 Patent Rights
 Easy purification of the compound
 Modifications in chemical structure
 Disease free plants
 Crop improvement
 Biosynthetic Pathways
 Immobilization of cells

33. CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and
Aromatic Plants, Lucknow (UP).
CSIR-Institute of Himalayan BioresourceTechnology,
Palampur (HP)

35. CONCLUSIONS
Bioactive compounds of plant origin possess desired health/wellness benefit effects
in humans. So we should work together for the maintaining of sustainability of
plants.
Continuously growing interest in natural compounds has led to the development of
innovative extraction techniques, more sustainable and eco-friendly allowing
higher yields in a shorter time, significant reduction in solvent consumption and
energy consumption.
To overcome phytochemical drawbacks (instability, low solubility and poor
absorption) NDDS (nanoencapsulation, using biodegradable and biocompatible
material), is a way to formulate them in order to enhance the therapeutic efficacy.