Pharmacognosy

Fundamentals, Applications and Strategies

Rupika Delgoda, Simone Badal Mccreath, Simone Badal McCreath

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780128021040
• eBook ISBN: 9780128020999
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

Pharmacognosy: Fundamentals, Applications and Strategies explores a basic understanding of the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, their constituents and metabolites. This book also provides an in-depth look at natural sources from which medicines are derived, their pharmacological and chemical properties, safety aspects, and how they interact with humans.The book is vital for future research planning, helping readers understand the makeup, function, and metabolites of plants in a way where the history of their usage can be linked to current drug development research, including in vitro, in vivo, and clinical research data.By focusing on basic principles, current research, and global trends, this book provides a critical resource for students and researchers in the areas of pharmacognosy, pharmacy, botany, medicine, biotechnology, biochemistry, and chemistry.- Covers the differences between animal and plant cells to facilitate an easier transition to how the body interacts with these entities- Contains practice questions at the end of every chapter to test learning and retention- Provides a single source that covers fundamental topics and future strategies, with the goal of enabling further research that will contribute to the overall health and well-being of mankind

Part I

Pharmacognosy 101

Outline

Chapter 1 Background to Pharmacognosy

Chapter 2 Traditional Medicine

Chapter 3 Areas of Science Embraced by Pharmacognosy: Constituent Sciences of Pharmacognosy

Chapter 4 Plant Anatomy and Physiology

Chapter 5 Plant Constituents: Carbohydrates, Oils, Resins, Balsams, and Plant Hormones

Chapter 6 Plant Crude Drugs

Chapter 1

Background to Pharmacognosy

T.O. Elufioye¹ and S. Badal², ¹University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, ²University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

Abstract

An introduction to the discipline of Pharmacognosy, which spans many centuries is presented, and covers the development and changes involved with this field over the years. It defines related terms associated with natural products research and provides insight into various participatory roles of Pharmacognosists. The chapter also introduces a global history of Pharmacognosy, and thus lays the foundation for the varied contributions made by different countries. Some emerging areas associated within the field are also discussed.

Keywords

Ayurveda; crude drugs; Dioscorides; ecopharmacognosy; forensic Pharmacognosy; galen; Materia Medica; molecular Pharmacognosy; organized drugs; phytochemistry

Chapter Outline

1.1 Definitions 4

1.2 History of Pharmacognosy 4

1.2.1 General History 4

1.2.2 Regional History of Pharmacognosy 6

1.3 Definition of Terms 7

1.4 Scope of Pharmacognosy 8

1.5 Emerging Areas in Pharmacognosy 8

1.5.1 Forensic Pharmacognosy 8

1.5.2 Molecular Pharmacognosy 9

1.5.3 Ecopharmacognosy 10

1.6 Pharmacognosists, What They Do? 10

1.6.1 The Function of Pharmacognosy in Society 11

1.7 Conclusions 12

1.8 Practice Questions 12

References 12

General introduction into Pharmacognosy as a field of science

Its scope

Emerging areas

Relevance to the society.

1.1 Definitions

The discipline of Pharmacognosy has evolved in definition over the years. While the fundamental connectedness among all definitions includes an understanding of drug entities, the combined descriptive variations from subtle to distinctive need highlighting. In the 1800s, Flückiger (1828–94) defined Pharmacognosy as “the simultaneous application of various scientific disciplines with the object of acquiring knowledge of drugs from every point of view” [1]. Approximately one hundred years later, the application of science toward the understanding of drugs was still the focus. However, this time, the origin of drugs was specifically toward a natural source as Pharmacognosy was defined by Tyler [2] as “an applied science that deals with the biologic, biochemical, and economic features of natural drugs and their constituents.” Within this same era, the definition of Pharmacognosy evolved from an application-based understanding of natural drugs to an overall systematic knowledge of not just natural drugs, but more specifically, crude drugs from animal and vegetable origin as described by Greenish [3] who suggested that “Pharmacognosy is that science which aims at a complete and systematic knowledge of crude drugs of animal and vegetable origin” [1].

Almost a decade later, the Pharmacognosy definition transitioned to an understanding of plant-based products only, from the previous animal- and plant-based definitions, as outlined by Kraemer [4], who described it as “the study of medicinal plants and their crude products commonly designated as drugs.” Still, a century later, the meaning of Pharmacognosy was once again redefined to incorporate the scientific study of crude drugs from animal origin in addition to the plant-based products; however, the definition also included the study of crude drugs from other natural sources, metals, and minerals [5].

Other definitions were more specific to the type of drug understanding as the discipline has been defined as “a molecular science that explores naturally occurring structure–activity relationships with a drug potential” [6], while others focus more on the structural, physical, chemical, and sensory characters of crude drugs of vegetable, animal, or mineral origin [7]. A more succinct, yet broad definition of Pharmacognosy is “The study of biologically active natural products” [8].

Pharmacognosy is connected to many other areas of science and a complete understanding of this field has to also taken into account, but not be limited to, botany, chemistry, enzymology, genetics, pharmacology, toxicology, horticulture, quality control, and biotechnology as described in Chapter 3, Areas of Science Embraced by Pharmacognosy, as well as ancillary fields, such as pharmaceutics, pharmcoeconomics, pharmacovigilance, regulatory law, and conservation.

1.2 History of Pharmacognosy

1.2.1 General History

The word “Pharmacognosy” was first used in a work entitled “Analecta Pharmacognostical” by an Austrian physician Schmidt in 1811, and then by Anotheus Seydler in 1815. During these early days, the term “Pharmacognosy” was used to refer to a branch of medical science that was associated with drugs in their crude state. It was involved in the investigation of “medicinal substances from the plant, animal, and mineral kingdoms in their natural, crude or unprepared state or in the form of such primary derivatives as oil, waxes, gums, and resins” [9]. The descriptive and microscopic applications of Pharmacognosy were developed during the 19th and 20th centuries [10], and formed the regulatory basis for the use of plants in health systems based on pharmacopoeial definitions. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, there began a transition of Pharmacognosy from a descriptive botanical research discipline to a more integrated chemical and biologically focused one [10].

Many great scientists have contributed to the development of Pharmacognosy as a discipline, and as a speciality branch of academic pharmacy. These include Arthur E. Schwarting, Egil Ramstad, Varro E. Tyler, Jack L. Beal, and Norman R. Farnsworth, all from the United States of America. Others of note are James W. Fairbairn, Edward J. Shellard, and Norman Bissett from the United Kingdom. Also included from Europe and East Asia are René R. Paris, Egon Stahl, Ludwig Hörhammer, Hildebert Wagner, Otto Sticher, Shoji Shibata, and Tsunematsu Takemoto [10].

As late as the 1960s, Pharmacognosy, as a discipline of pharmacy education, was primarily associated with botany. At this stage, it was mostly concerned with the macro- and microscopic identification, description, and authentication of drugs. This area of Pharmacognosy is referred to as classical Pharmacognosy, and is still of fundamental importance in the field as a whole, especially for the purpose of preliminary standardization and quality control processes which are helpful in the development of official pharmacopoeial standards. Specific attention was paid to the microscopic identification of plant materials and to the determination of quantitative data such as foreign matter, ash values, extractive values, and moisture content. Subsequently, chromatographic fingerprints, especially TLC, were used for identification and standardization purposes. This classical Pharmacognosy, which focused initially on the pharmacognostic evaluation of plants, has been further extended to include other natural forms, such as various types of microbes and marine organisms.

Over time, a shift occurred from the classical Pharmacognosy to a more chemically and biologically focused discipline, one which involves the isolation and characterization of bioactive principles from natural sources, as well as the evaluation of structure–activity relationships of the isolates for the purpose of optimizing their development into medicinal agents for clinical use. DNA identification of natural products as a regulatory standard is also a current focus in Pharmacognosy.

Today, Pharmacognosy, as an academic department, is well-established in some schools of pharmacy all over the world, although the name might have been replaced by terms such as pharmaceutical biology, phytochemistry, and natural product research in certain countries. The area of research pharmacognosists is involved in, includes analytical chemistry, bioactivity assessment methods development, biocatalysis, biosynthesis, biotechnology, cell biology, chemotaxonomy, clinical studies, cultivation of medicinal plants, ethnobotany, genetics, marine chemistry, microbial biotransformations, molecular biology, synthetic modification of natural products, pharmacology, phytochemistry, phytotherapy, standardization of traditional medicines, taxonomy, tissue culture, and zoopharmacognosy. [10].

Despite the promise of natural product research over the years, this field experienced a decline in attention relative to other areas of research. Nonetheless, there is now a renewed interest in medicines, herbicides, and insecticides from natural sources, and consequently Pharmacognosy and natural product research have experienced elevated attention.

The use of plants in the management of ailments dates as far back as the origin of man itself. Several cultures of the world used herbs for healing rituals and certain carnivorous animals, e.g., Jaguar are also known to eat plants when ill. Thus, the use of plants for medicinal purposes started long before any form ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Part I: Pharmacognosy 101
• Part II: Plant Metabolites: Their Chemistry
• Part III: Plant Metabolites: Their Effects
• Part IV: Metabolites from Other Sources
• Part V: Crude Drugs from Animals
• Part VI: Basic Animal Anatomy and Physiology
• Part VII: Technological Applications Using Biological Systems
• Part VIII: Current Trends in Pharmacognosy Research
• Index