CLASSIFICATION OF CRUDE DRUGS

 Introduction

Definition of crude drug

The term “CRUDE DRUG” generally applies to the products from plants and animal origin
found in a raw form.

They are unprocessed form of natural products which are treated for their packing and to
prevent them from deterioration.

Crude drugs are further grouped as Organized (cellular) and Unorganised (acellular),
according to whether they contain a regular organized cellular structure or not.

ORGANISED UNORGANISED
As the name indicates, these are the organs of These are derived from parts of plants or
the plants or animals and are made up of cells or animals by some process of extraction, followed
definite structure. by purification, if necessary or maybe a
pathological product.

These are solid in nature. These are solid/semi-solid/liquid in nature.

Botanical or zoological terminology can be used Such terminologies are inadequate but physical
to describe these drugs. characters such as solubility, density, optical
rotation, refractive index are important for
description.

Microscopic characters are important criteria for Chemical tests and physical standards are
identification. important for their identification.

Eg: Digitalis, cinchona, clove, fennel, jalap, Eg: Aloe, Agar, opium, castor oil, beeswax , gum
ephedra etc. acacia etc.

In pharmacognosy, crude drugs maybe classified according to :

1. Alphabetical order
2. The taxonomy of plants and animals from which they are derived.
3. Their morphology
4. The chemical nature of their active constituents
5. Pharmacological actions and therapeutic applications.
6. Chemotaxonomical status.

ALPHABETICAL CLASSIFICATION
The crude drugs are arranged according to the alphabetical order of their Latin and English
names.

Some of the pharmacopoeia which classify crude drugs according to this system are :

 Indian pharmacopoeia
 British pharmacopoeia
 British herbal pharmacopoeia
 United states pharmacopoeia and national formulary
 European pharmacopoeia
 British pharmaceutical codex

 E.g.: Acacia, benzoin, cinchona, dill, ergot, fennel, jalap, kurchi, ginger, opium,
senna, vasaka, wool fat etc.

ADVANTAGE

 Easy to identify.
 Common for all.

DISADVANTAGE

 Difficult if there is “change in name “.

TAXONOMICAL CLASSIFICATION
 The drugs are classified according to plants or animals from which they are obtained.

LIFE
↓
DOMAIN
↓
KINGDOM (E.g. Plantae)
↓
PHYLUM (E.g. Thallophyta)
↓
CLASS (E.g. Ascomycetes)
↓
ORDER (E.g. Clavicipitales)
↓
FAMILY (E.g. Clavicipitaceae)
↓
GENUS (E.g. Claviceps)
↓
SPECIES (E.g. Claviceps purpurea)

 This method of classification is based on the consideration of natural relationship or

phylogeny among plants and animals.
 The taxonomical classification for the few crude drugs derived from dicot plants is as
follows:

1. Phylum - Spermatophyta
Taxa/division- Angiospermae
Class- Dicotyledonae
Order- Rosales
Family- Leguminosae
Sub family- Papilionacea
Genus – Glycyrrhiza
Species- Glycerrhiza glabra
ADVANTAGE:
 Scientific name of plants are helpful as common names are confusing and different
in the commercial landscape business.
 Botanical names are same and unique throughout the world.

DISADVANTAGE
 The system of classification is criticized for its failure to recognize the organized and
unorganized nature of the crude drugs.
MORPHOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
 The crude drugs are grouped according to the part of the plant/animal represented
into organized and unorganized drugs.
 The organized drugs are divided into parts of plants like leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds,
woods, barks and sub-terranean parts like roots and rhizomes.
 Some of the examples of crude drugs under this type of classification are as follows:

Part of Plant used as crude drug Examples of medicinal Plants

Seeds: Nux vomica, Strophanthus, Isabgol, Castor
Leaves: Senna, Digitalis, Vasaka, Eucalyptus
Barks: Cinchona, Kurchi, Cinnamon, Quaillaia
Woods: Quassia, Sandalwood, Sassafras, Red sanders
Roots: Rauwolfia, Ipecacuanha, Aconite, Jalap
Rhizomes: Turmeric, Ginger, Valerian, Podophyllum
Flowers: Clove, Pyrethrum, Artemisia and Saffron
Fruits: Coriander, Colocynth, Fennel, Bael

Enitre drugs: Ephedra, Ergot, Cantharides, and Belladonna

Dried latices: Opium, Gutta-percha, Papain
Resins and resin combinations Balsam of tolu, Myrrh, Asafoetida, Benzoin

Dried juices: Aloes, Kino, Red gum

Gums: Acacia, Tragacanth, Ghatti gum, Guar gum
Dried extracts: Gelatin, Catechu, Agar, Curare

Advantages:
 It is more convenient for identification.
 It gives idea about source of drugs.
 It gives idea whether it is organized / unorganized.

Disadvantages:
 During collection, drying & packing morphology of drug changes. They are difficult to
study.
 The chemical content or action of drug is not known.

CHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION
 The crude drugs are divided into different groups according to the chemical nature
of their most important constituent.
 The crude drugs containing alkaloids are grouped together regardless of their
morphology and taxonomical relationship. Few examples of the drugs and their
chemical classification are as follows:
 Chemical constituents Example of Medicinal Plants containing them
Glycosides: Digitalis, Senna, Cascara, Liquorice
Alkaloids Nux vomica, Ergot, Cinchona, Datura
Tannins: Myrobalan, Pale catechu, Ashoka
Volatile oils: Peppermint, Clove, Eucalyptus, Garlic
Lipids: Castor oil, Bees wax, Lanolin Cod liver oil, Kokum butter
Carbohydrates and their Acacia, Agar, Guar gum, Pectin, Honey, Ispaghula
derivatives:
Resin and resin combination: Colophony, Jalap, Balsam of tolu
Vitamins and hormones: Yeast, Shark liver oil, Oxytocin, Insulin
Proteins and enzymes: Casein, Gelatin, Papain, Trypsin

Advantage:
 The crude drugs belonging to different morphological or taxonomical categories may
be brought together, provided there is some similarity in the chemical nature of
active principles.

Disadvantages:
 This method does not give any idea about source of drug.
 Some drugs contain two important chemicals so it is difficult to classify them.
 e. g. Nutmeg contains volatile oil as well as fat. Cinchona contains glycoside as well
as alkaloid.

PHARMACOLOGICAL (THERAPEUTIC) CLASSIFICATION

 This system of classification involves the grouping of crude drugs according to the
pharmacological action of their chief active constituent or their therapeutic actions.
An outline for pharmacological classification of crude drugs is as follows:

DRUGS ACTING ON GIT:

 Bitters (appetizers) – Quassia, cinchona, gentian

 Carminative –cardamom, fennel, mentha, dill
 Emetics- Ipecac
 Bulk laxatives –Agar, Isapghula, banana
 Purgatives –Senna, castor oil
 Anti-amoebic –kurchi, ipecac
 For peptic ulcer -liquorice

DRUGS ACTING ON RESPIRATORY SYSTEM:

 Expectorants –Liquorice, Vasaka

 Anti-expectorants: stramonium leaves (atropine)
 Anti-tussive–Opium (codeine, noscapine)
 Bronchodilators –Ephedra, Tea leaves
  Cough, Sore Throat –Tulsi, Ginger
DRUGS ACTING ON CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM:

 Cardiotonic –Digitalis, Squill, Strophanthus, Arjuna

 Cardiac depressants –Cinchona, veratrum
 Vasoconstrictor -Ergot, Ephedra
 Antihypertensives- Rauwolfia

DRUGS ACTING ON CNS:

 Central analgesics: Opium (morphine)
 CNS stimulants: coffee (caffeine)
 CNS depressants: Belladonna, opium
 Hallucinogenics: Cannabis, poppy latex

ANTICANCER:Vinca, Podophyllum, Taxus

ANTIHELMINTICS:Quassia, male fern, vidang

ASTRINGENTS:Myrobalan, Black catechu

ANTIMALARIAL:Cinchona, Artemisia

DISADVANTAGES
 Some crude drugs have two different pharmacological actions therefore it is difficult
to classify them.
 E.g.Nux-vomica is CNS stimulant as well as bitter tonic. Cinchona is bitter tonic as
well as Antimalarial & Antipyretic.
 Drugs that have different mechanism of action have to be grouped together.
 e. g. Castor oil is irritant purgative & Isapgolis bulk purgative but they are placed in
one group.
 No idea whether drugs are organized or unorganized
 This method does not give any idea of source of drugs.

CHEMOTAXONOMIC CLASSIFICATION
 Chemotaxonomy establishes a relationship between position of the plant and
attempts to utilise chemical facts for more exact understanding of the biological
evolution and relationships.
 The characters more often studied in chemotaxonomy are secondary metabolites of
pharmaceutical significance such as alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids etc.

 E.g. Plants of Umbelliferae contain volatile oil; Plants of Solanaceae,

Apocyanaceaecontain alkaloid.
 Sulphur containing compounds: Allium cepa, Allium sativum
 Cardiac glycosides: Digitalis purpurea, Digitalis lanata
Advantage
 It gives similarities of constituents between different plant species of same genus
and same family.

SEROTAXONOMY
 Application of serology in solving the taxonomical problems.
 Antigen-antibody reaction.
 Used for expressing similarity & dissimilarities between species, genus or family.