DEFINITION
pharmacognosy is the science and study of active consituents of drugs, the principles behind the action of drugs,and the study of phytochemicals(chemicals obtained from plants).
EXPLANATION
basically pharmacognosy is the study of crude drugs.
it was a german scientist sydler who for the first time used this term.pharmacognosy is a science that developed initially by trial and error by humans.
CRUDE DRUG
A Crude drug is any naturally occuring ,unrefined substance derived from organic or inorganic sources such as plants,animals,bacteria etc intended for use in diagnosis,cure mitigation,diagnosis,treatment or prevention of diseases in humans or other animals.
a crude drug is the drug in its most raw form, that is not yet processed.crude drug can be in any form i.e it can be a bark, a leaf or a whole plant, basically crude drugs are composed of phytochemicals.the scope of pharmacognosy is an extended one.
the study of pharmacognosy is extended over the following main sub portions.
- the study of crude drug. its biological origin( plants or animals),medicinal role of crude drugs.
- the study of history,geography,collection and processing of crude drugs.
on average a single medicinal plants can have somewhat 1 lac active compounds.
the active consituents found in the medicinal plants can belong to any one or more of the following categories
- alkaloids
- glycosides
- oils
- tannins
- saponnins
- waxes
- gums
also see:
