Introduction to Medicinal Plants PDF

Classification of Drugs 3-Morphological 5-Pharmacological 1- Alphabetical 2-Taxonomic 4-Chemical 1. Alphabetical: using either the Latin or English name e.g. Aconite, Bella...

Classification of Drugs 3-Morphological 5-Pharmacological 1- Alphabetical 2-Taxonomic 4-Chemical 1. Alphabetical: using either the Latin or English name e.g. Aconite, Belladonna, Cinchona, etc.... 2. Taxonomic: according to phyla, orders, families, genera and species. 3. Morphological: by dividing drugs into groups as leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, herbs, roots, rhizomes, bark, woods ( organized drug) and unorganized drugs e.g. lattices, extracts, juices, exudates, gums, resins, oils, fats and waxes. 4. Chemical: crude drugs are classified according to their active constituents into drugs contain volatile oils, glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, etc............... 5. Pharmacological: according to the pharmacological action or uses of drugs while some drugs affecting gastrointestinal tract, others acting on circulatory system, nervous system etc................  2-Cultivation 3 Collection& 4 Drying 1-Origin. 5- Packing Detailed Description of any Drug : 10-Uses of the drug 6 Active Constituents in folk medicine & and therapy 7 Chemical tests 9-Isolation and 8 Adulteration. purification of the active constituent  ORIGIN OF THE CRUDE DRUG It is the scientific name of crude drug which has 3 origins I- Biological II-Geographical III- Commercial Botanical zoological  ORIGIN OF THE CRUDE DRUG I- Biological Origin is the Latin name of the plant or animal drugs and the family related to them. Binomial system - It is the nomenclature of the drugs, developed by Carolus Linnaeus (Swedish scientist). -Deals with two successive names (Genus and Species). Each plant is termed by two words or parts Genus or generic name Species or specific name It begins always with a It begins always with small Capital letter letter followed by the name of the author or the botanist who identified the plant The binomial name of many plant can never be used to another plant. Genus Starts with capital letter name Species Starts with small letter name or Genus species (Underlined Genus or written in italic). species  I- Biological Origin ( cont.) Atropa belladonna L. (beautiful lady) Atropa acuminata Not atropa Belladonna Atropa Belladonna  The generic or specific names may indicate some characters for the plant: 1- Pharmaceutical activity e.g. Strychnos nux vomica (from two latin words, nux causing vomiting) e.g. Papaver somniferum (hypnotic) 2- Characteristic colour e.g. Piper nigrum (black) Citrus aurantium (= golden yellow) Digitalis purpurea (= purple) 3- Geographical source Indian Indian Indian e.g. Cannabis indica (growing in India) 4-General meaning or specific indication e.g. Triticum sativa (cultivated) or Triticum vulgare (wild).  Glycyrrhiza glabra 5. Taste: Glycyrrhiza, is referring to sweet taste of the root (Glycyr, from glucose =sweet, rhiza = root). 6. Touch: glabra having smooth fruit (glabrous = smooth). 7. Odour: Myristica fragrance having fragrant odour.  II-Geographical Origin Habitat of the drug Is the region in which the plant or animal yielding the drug grows or lives. Indigenous plants Naturalized plants Plants growing in their native countries are said to be indigenous to these region, while plants not of native origin are called exotic plants. e.g. –Cannabis indica - Cotton is indigenous to America, naturalized in Egypt ❑ Flora Indicates the plants of particular region. Egyptian flora includes about 2000 species. Drug plants are distributed in four main regions:- The Libyan Desert The Arabian Desert The Northern Mediterranean coast The Nile -Valley  II-Commercial Origin The countries included in their production and/or their channels of trade 1- Indicate a certain variety e.g. Spanish Liquorice 2-The city from which they are shipped e.g. Alexandrian Senna  1-Cultivation 2- Collection 3-Preparation of drug before drying preparation of drugs 4- Drying 5- Packing 6-Storage 1- cultivation  Medicinal Plants A- wild B- cultivated 1-Concentration 4-Improvement in a small of the drug and 1- Distribution in 4- Collection by the plants controlled area unlimited area untrained persons 5-Control of purity 2-Direct and prevention of transportation admixture 2- Difficulty 5-Eradication in transport 6-The presence of flora 3- Continuous of trained 3- Insufficiency of supply of drug workers supply for market demands  factors affecting plant growth 1- Environmental 3- Growth regulators. factors: water, light, Temp, & altitude 4- Genetics and plant 2- Soil and soil contents tissue culture. C. Growth regulators: Four groups of plant hormones or growth regulators were established; Auxins (3-indol acetic acid) affects cell elongation, resulting in an increase in stem length and inhibit root growth. Gibberellins induce flowering plant at earlier stages and increase plant height. Also, it increases the active constituents of many plants. Cytokinins (Abscisic acid and ethylene), they are called cell division hormones. Moreover, they regulate pattern and frequency of organ production.  2- collection Proper collection is very important to obtain a drug of good quality.  All parts of the plant or The active Concentrated in certain constituents organ or may be In specific tissues of this distributed in organ. Time of the year. Factors affecting Time of the day. collection Stage of maturity.  A) Time of the year The amount and the nature of the active constituents is not constant through the year 1- Rhubarb contains 2- Colchicum corms have anthranols (active no alkaloids (containing metabolites) in winter and starch) in autumn but anthraquinones (pro-drug) rich in alkaloid in spring. in summer  B) Time of the day The amount and composition of a number of constituents may vary throughout the day and night. ❑1- Digitalis leaves ❑ 2- Solanaceous leaves collected in the have higher alkaloid afternoon contain more content in the morning cardiac glycosides than than those collected in the those collected in the afternoon. morning.  C) Stage of maturity Age of the plant The age of the plant governs not only the total quantity, but also relative proportion of the active constituents. 1-Cloves collected 2- All solanaceous as flower buds with leaves contain higher the highest percentage alkaloid content when the plant is in the of volatile oil. flowering stage.  general rules for the collection of drug organs To ensure maximum quality of a crude drug, it must be collected at a proper stage of development. Leaves, flowers and fruits should be collected in dry weather.  1-collection of leaves at the beginning of the flowering stage in dry Wet weather may cause deterioration weather and discoloration during drying. tea leaves: The best quality are collected when still in the bud. 2-collection of flowers 1-in dry weather in order to fix the color of the product. 2-just at the time of pollination and before the formation of fruits.  Clove collected in bud stage exceptions are Chamomile flower collected just after full expansion.  3-collection of fruits ❑Near the ripening season, when they are full mature but not completely ripened (i.e. before ripening). Senna pods  4-collection of barks ❑Usually done in spring or in early summer (why?) 1-Cambium is active 2-The bark can be easily stripped off from the trunk and branches (after rainy season).  5-collection of the seeds The Seeds are collected when mature and ripe. Linseed  6-collection of underground organs (Roots, Rhizome, Bulbs and Corms) Generally they should be collected in autumn or winter After removal of aerial parts  7-collection of unorganized drugs (resins, gums, latex,…) ❑They are usually Collected in dry weather to prevent stickiness and darkening in colour