Definitions

Definitions
Pharmacognosy-I (Basic)

Pharmacognosy
• The term pharmacognosy was introduced by C. A. Seydler, a medical student in Halle/Saale, Germany, in
1815
• The word pharmacognosy literally means knowledge of drugs or pharmaceuticals and is derived from
two Greek words, pharmakon (drug) and gnosis (knowledge)
• Pharmacognosy may be defined as “an applied science that deals with the biologic, biochemical, and
economic features of natural drugs and their constituents”
▪ It is a study of drugs that originate in the plant and animal kingdoms
▪ Modern aspects of the science include not only the crude drugs but also their natural derivatives
o Digitalis leaf and its isolated glycoside ‘digitoxin’
o Rauwolfia root and its purified alkaloid ‘reserpine’
o Thyroid gland with its extracted hormone ‘thyroxine’... are all part of the subject matter of
pharmacognosy
▪ In a broad sense, pharmacognosy embraces a knowledge of the history, distribution, cultivation,
collection, selection, preparation, commerce, identification, evaluation, preservation, and use of
drugs and economic substances that affect the health of humans and other animals
▪ Such economic substances extend beyond the category of crude drugs and their derivatives to
include a variety of commercial and medicinal products often requiring complicated methods of
preparation: allergens, allergenic extracts, antibiotics, immunizing biologics, flavoring agents, and
condiments
▪ As a part of the pharmaceutic curriculum, pharmacognosy forms an important link between
pharmacology and medicinal chemistry on one hand and between pharmaceutics and clinical
pharmacy on the other
Reference: 1

• American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as “The study of the physical, chemical,
biochemical, and biological properties of drugs, drug substances, or potential drugs or drug substances
of natural origin as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources”
Reference: 2

Drug
• The word drug is a derivation of the Dutch word droog or the French word drogue, both of which refer
to the drying plants hanging from the rafters of old-world apothecaries (pharmacies)
▪ The pharmacies of early centuries predominantly consisted of dried plants, crude herbal drugs, and
preparations prepared from them
• A drug can be defined as “any substance (other than a food or device) intended for use in the diagnosis,
cure, relief, treatment, or prevention of disease or intended to affect the structure or function of the
body”
▪ For example, antibacterial drugs cure bacterial infections
▪ Oral contraceptives are an example of drugs that do not cure any disease, rather they affect the
function of the body
• A simpler definition of a drug is “any chemical or biologic substance that affects the body and its
processes”
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Definitions

• Drugs can also affect how the brain and the rest of the body work and cause changes in mood, awareness,
thoughts, feelings, or behavior
• Some types of drugs, such as opioids, may be abused or lead to addiction
Reference: 2 and 3

Crude drug
• Crude drugs are vegetable or animal drugs that consist of natural substances that have undergone only
the processes of collection and drying
▪ For example
o Coriander ‫[ دھنیہ‬coriander fruits, collected and dried]
o Glycyrrhiza/liquorice ‫[ ملٹیھ‬glycyrrhiza roots, collected and dried]
o Musk ‫[ کستوری‬collected from the preputial follicles of the musk deer and dried]
o Cantharides [flies, collected and dried]
▪ Any process or treatment that is essential for proper packing and to the prevention of decay or
deterioration of the crude drug can be performed
o For example, long branches of a tree, which are collected and dried (it is a crude drug)
o These branches are very long and for packing we need to cut them in short piece
o So, such cutting process can be performed because it is required for proper packing of the crude
drug
• If we perform any process, other than collection and drying and if that process is not essential for proper
packing and to the prevention of decay or deterioration
▪ The drug will not be called “crude drug”
▪ For example, dried leaves of peppermint (leaves of peppermint collected and dried) are an example
of crude drug
o If we grind these dried leaves to powder, then this powder will be called “advanced drug”, not
crude drug
o Because grinding process is neither essential for proper packing nor required for the prevention
of decay or deterioration
Reference: 1

Advanced drug
• A natural product that has been advanced in value or improved in condition by shredding, grinding,
chipping, crushing, distilling, evaporating, extracting, artificial mixing with other substances or by any
other process or treatment beyond what is essential to its proper packing and to the prevention of decay
or deterioration pending manufacture
▪ For example
o Coriander powder [coriander fruits; collected, dried, and ground]
o In this example, grinding process is neither essential for proper packing nor required for the
prevention of decay or deterioration
Reference: 1

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 Definitions

Natural substances
• The term natural substances refers to those substances found in nature that comprise whole plants and
herbs and anatomic parts thereof; vegetable saps, extracts, secretions, and other constituents thereof;
whole animals and anatomic parts thereof; glands or other animal organs, extracts, secretions, and other
constituents thereof; and substances that have not had changes made in their molecular structure as
found in nature
• Examples
▪ Digitalis leaf and its glycoside ‘digitoxin’
▪ Rauwolfia root and its purified alkaloid ‘reserpine’
▪ Thyroid gland and its extracted hormone ‘thyroxine’
Reference: 1
Organized crude drugs
• Organized crude drugs are direct parts of plants (e.g., stem, leaf, bark, fruit, etc.) and consist of cellular
tissues
• Microscopic characters are used for identification, i.e., cellular structures can be observed under
microscope
• For example
▪ Coriander (coriander fruits; collected and dried)
▪ Senna (senna leaves; collected and dried)
Reference: 6
Un-organized crude drugs
• Unorganized crude drugs, even though prepared from plants, are not the direct parts of plants
• These are prepared by some intermediary physical processes, such as incision
• For example
▪ Aloe
▪ Acacia
▪ Tragacanth

Reference: 6
Official drug
• A drug included in pharmacopoeia or in national formulary or in recognized books is called an official
drug
▪ For example
o Quinine, morphine, and codeine are included in British pharmacopoeia (BP)
Reference: 4

Unofficial drug
• An unofficial drug is a drug that was recognized earlier in the pharmacopoeia but deleted from the
current issue due to severe toxic effects on humans
▪ For example
o Mercurial compounds (used as diuretics)
Reference: 4

Non-official drug
• A non-official drug is a drug that have never appeared in either of the official books
▪ Non-official drug compounds may be published in current journals having proven clinical value, but
information about their adverse effects is not yet known
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Definitions

▪ For example
o Curcumin (used in sinusitis)
Reference: 4

Curing
• Curing is a special process of drying where processes of fermentation or sweating are necessary to bring
about changes in the constituents
• For example, vanilla and tobacco are dried by curing process
▪ Vanilla beans are wrapped in wool blankets and stored inside a container to provide favorable
environment for the production of vanillin, along with other aroma producing components, by
enzymatic actions.
▪ Tobacco leaves can be cured by digging pits in the ground and keeping the levees inside these pits,
covered by soil, for certain number of days
Reference: 5

Primary metabolites
• Primary metabolites are the compounds that are directly involved in performing primary functions
(growth, development, and reproduction) of living organisms
• Examples of primary metabolites: Proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, etc.
• Primary metabolites are widely distributed in all living organism and in all parts of living organism
• Primary metabolites do not show pharmacological effects in our body, i.e., they do not have medicinal
effect and are therapeutically inactive
• The metabolic pathway through which primary metabolites are formed is called “primary metabolic
pathway”

Secondary metabolites
• Secondary metabolites are the compounds that are not directly involved in performing primary functions
(growth, development, and reproduction) of living organisms
• Examples of secondary metabolites: Alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, flavonoids, terpenes, etc.
• Secondary metabolites protect the plants from environmental stress conditions
• Secondary metabolites act as poisons; protect the plant from insect, animal, and microbial attack
• Secondary metabolites are not widely distributed in all living organism; are mostly found in plants
• Secondary metabolites occur in certain parts of plants and are specific to certain plant species
• Secondary metabolites show pharmacological effects in our body, i.e., they have medicinal effect and are
therapeutically active
• The metabolic pathway through which secondary metabolites are formed is called “secondary metabolic
pathway”
Reference: 1

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 Definitions

Figure 1. Interrelationships of biosynthetic pathways leading to secondary metabolites in plants.

References
1. Tyler VE, Brady LR, Robbers JE. Pharmacognosy. Lea & Febiger, 9th edition, 2003.
2. Upton R et al. American herbal pharmacopoeia: botanical pharmacognosy – microscopic characterization
of botanical medicines. CRC Press, 2016.
3. [Link]/home/drugs/overview-of-drugs/overview-of-drugs [Accessed: 29.11.2023]
4. Alamgir ANM (2017). Drugs: their natural, synthetic, and biosynthetic sources. Therapeutic Use of
Medicinal Plants and Their Extracts. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-63862-1_4.
5. Tyler VE, Brady LR, Robbers JE. Pharmacognosy. Lea & Febiger, 7th edition, 1976.
6. Shah BN, Seth AK. Textbook of pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, Elsevier, 1st edition, 2010.

Hafiz Abdul Khaliq, PhD

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