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Questions and Answers
What are the drugs that come from mineral sources?
What are the drugs that come from mineral sources?
What was the earliest way of discovering the effects of plants on humans?
What was the earliest way of discovering the effects of plants on humans?
What was the purpose of the Ebers Papyrus?
What was the purpose of the Ebers Papyrus?
Which ancient civilization made significant contributions to pharmacy and medicine?
Which ancient civilization made significant contributions to pharmacy and medicine?
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What is the subject that describes the collection, preparation, and compounding of medicines?
What is the subject that describes the collection, preparation, and compounding of medicines?
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What was pharmacognosy like until the beginning of the 20th century?
What was pharmacognosy like until the beginning of the 20th century?
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What was the main way that ancient people used drugs?
What was the main way that ancient people used drugs?
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What was the purpose of the Edwin Smith Papyrus?
What was the purpose of the Edwin Smith Papyrus?
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What is the definition of pharmacognosy?
What is the definition of pharmacognosy?
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What is the origin of the word 'pharmacognosy'?
What is the origin of the word 'pharmacognosy'?
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What is a characteristic of crude drugs obtained from plants?
What is a characteristic of crude drugs obtained from plants?
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What is an example of a crude drug obtained from an animal?
What is an example of a crude drug obtained from an animal?
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What is the difference between organized and unorganized drugs?
What is the difference between organized and unorganized drugs?
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What is an example of an unorganized drug?
What is an example of an unorganized drug?
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What is the purpose of drying or extracting crude drugs with water?
What is the purpose of drying or extracting crude drugs with water?
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What is a type of crude drug obtained from plants?
What is a type of crude drug obtained from plants?
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Study Notes
Definition and Scope of Pharmacognosy
- Pharmacognosy is the science that deals with the study of crude drugs obtained from plants, animals, and mineral kingdom, and their constituents.
- The word pharmacognosy comes from two Latin words: pharmakon (a drug) and gignoso (to acquire knowledge of), meaning "knowledge or science of drugs".
Crude Drugs
- Crude drugs are plants or animals, or their parts that are subjected to drying, slicing, or peeling.
- Examples of crude drugs include: entire plants, plant parts (e.g. senna leaves and pods, nux vomica seeds), and animal products (e.g. cantharides, thyroid organ extracts).
- Some crude drugs are used fresh, while most are dried after collection.
- Crude drugs can also be obtained through physical processes like drying or extraction with water.
- Examples of such drugs include aloe (dried juice of Aloe species), opium (dried latex from poppy capsules), and plant exudates (gums, resins, balsams, volatile oils, and fixed oils).
Classification of Crude Drugs
- Crude drugs can be either organized or unorganized:
- Organized drugs are direct parts of plants, consisting of cellular tissues.
- Unorganized drugs are prepared from plants through physical processes (incision, drying, or extraction with water) and do not contain cellular tissue.
Sources of Crude Drugs
- Plant sources: entire plants, plant parts, plant exudates (gums, resins, balsams), and volatile oils.
- Animal sources: entire animals, glandular products, extracts, fish liver oils, musk, beeswax, hormones, and enzymes.
- Mineral sources: kaolin, chalk, and diatomite.
History of Pharmacognosy
- Primitive humans discovered edible and medicinal uses of plants through trial and error.
- The knowledge was passed down through generations.
- Ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, used medicinal plants and documented their uses in papyri (e.g. Ebers Papyrus, Edwin Smith Papyrus).
- Pharmacy eventually separated from medicine, and materia medica (the science of material medicines) emerged.
- Until the 20th century, pharmacognosy focused on describing and identifying drugs, mainly from a botanical perspective.
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Description
Learn about the definition and basics of pharmacognosy, the science of studying crude drugs from plants, animals, and minerals.
