Quality and Purity of Certain Drugs

1. Hakim Mohd Akhtar Ali
(MD Ilmul Saidla)
Assistant Professor Department of Ilmul Saidla (Unani Pharmacy)
ZH Unani Medical College & Hospital, Siwan
‫انک‬ ‫اور‬ ‫ناخت‬‫ش‬ ‫یک‬ ‫ہوےن‬ ‫یاری‬‫مع‬ ‫اور‬ ‫اصیل‬ ‫ےک‬ ‫یہ‬‫و‬‫اد‬ ‫خمصوص‬ ‫بعض‬‫ی‬
‫طریقے‬ ‫ےک‬ ‫نچنے‬‫ا‬‫ج‬ ‫ےک‬ ‫یات‬‫ص‬‫خصو‬
Ba’az Makhsoos Advia ke Asli or Mayari
Hone Ki Shinakhat or Inki Khususiyat K
Jaanchne Ke Tareeke
(Methods for identification, determination of quality and purity
of certain drugs)
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2. Methods for identification, determination of quality
and purity of certain drugs
Mushk,
Amber,
Zafran,
Shahad,
Roghan Badam,
Roghan Zaitoon,
Roghan Kalonji,
Marwareed
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4. Moschus moschiferus (Taiga Musk Deer)
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5. Musk
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7. The musk pod is normally obtained by killing the male deer through
traps laid in the wild.
Upon drying, the reddish-brown paste inside the musk pod turns into
a black granular material called "musk grain", which is then
tinctured with alcohol.
The aroma of the tincture gives a pleasant odor only after it is
considerably diluted.
Synthetic musk : Today is synthetic, sometimes called "white
musk". They can be divided into three major classes:
1. Aromatic nitro musks,
2. Polycyclic musk compounds, and
3. Macrocyclic musk compounds.
The first two groups have broad uses in industry ranging
from cosmetics to detergents. 7

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10. Amber
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11. Grey amber, is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull
grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system
of sperm whales.
Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. It
acquires a sweet, earthy scent as it ages, commonly likened to
the fragrance of rubbing alcohol without the vaporous
chemical astringency
It has been mostly replaced by synthetic ambroxide. Dogs are
attracted to the smell of ambergris and are sometimes used by
ambergris searchers
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Mixing in extraneous substances like
Beetroot,
Pomegranate Fibres,
Red-dyed Silk Fibres, or
Marigold to red stigma of saffron
The Saffron Crocus's Tasteless And Odourless Yellow Stamens.
Dousing saffron fibres with viscid substances to increase their weight
like
Honey
Glycerin or
Vegetable oil.
Powdered saffron is more prone to adulteration, with
Turmeric,
Paprika, and
other powders used as diluting fillers.

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Presently, within the most-frequently reported plant materials used to
adulterate saffron, there are:
(1) Cut and/or dyed C. Sativus stamens;
(2) Safflower and calendula petals (carthamus tinctorius L. And
calendula officinalis L.);
(3) Curcuma powdered rhizomes (curcuma longa l.);
(4) Gardenia yellow from gardenia jasminoides ellis fruits; and
(5) Dye extracted from the flowers of buddleja officinalis maxim.

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Safflower is a common substitute sometimes sold as saffron. The spice
is reportedly counterfeited with
Horse Hair,
Corn Silk, or
Shredded Paper.
Tartrazine or sunset yellow have been used to colour counterfeit
powdered saffron.

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In recent years, saffron adulterated with the
colouring extract of gardenia fruits has been detected in the European
market.
This form of fraud is difficult to detect due to the presence
of flavonoids and crocines in the gardenia-extracts similar to those
naturally occurring in saffron.
Detection methods have been developed by using HPLC and mass
spectrometry to determine the presence of geniposide, a compound
present in the fruits of gardenia, but not in saffron.

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Tests
1. The Thumb Test
Place a small amount of honey on your thumb and check if spills or spreads around
like any other liquid. If it does, it may not be pure. Pure honey is thick while impure
honey will be runny. Pure honey sticks to the surface it is applied to and doesn't drip
away. Moreover, the taste of impure honey may linger due to the presence of added
sugar.
2. The Water Test
Take a teaspoon of the honey and put in a glass full of water. Fake or adulterated honey
will dissolve in the water while pure honey which has a more dense texture will settle
right at the bottom of the glass as lumps. The same is the case with blotting paper or a
white cloth. If you pour pure honey on the two, it will not get absorbed or leave stains.

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3. The Flame Test
You may have not known this, but pure honey is inflammable. Although, we'll
request to you observe utmost caution while performing this test and do it at your
own risk. Take a dry matchstick and dip it in honey. Strike the matchstick against
the matchbox. If it lights, your honey is pure. If it doesn't light, it may be
adulterated and may also contain some amount of moisture added while
contamination.
4. Use vinegar
Mix a tablespoon of honey, some water and 2-3 drops of vinegar essence together.
If this mixture foams up, there's a very high chance that your honey may be
adulterated.

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5. The Heat Test
If you heat pure honey, it will caramelise quickly and not become
foamy. But, in case of impure honey it may not caramelise and
become bubbly on heating.
A lot of the differences between pure and adulterated honey can
also be identified just with the naked eye by examining its physical
properties. Pure honey is dense and trickles only into a stream. It
has a soft texture, will never separate into layers and offers a
distinct sweet aroma. Raw honey, which is honey in its purest
form, often leaves a slight tingling feeling or a mild burning
sensation in your throat when consumed.

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Nitrous acid

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Specific gravity: 0.910 and 0.915.
Identification— It meets the requirements of the test
for Fatty acid composition.
Acid value: not more than 0.5.
Peroxide value: not more than 5.0.
Unsaponifiable matter: not more than 0.9%.

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Physical and chemical properties of olive oil.

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