Introduction, History and Scope of

Pharmacognosy

B.V. Ghule, Ph.D.

Associate Professor,
Government College of Pharmacy, Amravati, Maharashtra
What is Pharmacognosy
Initially known as Materia Medica

Study of crude drugs i.e. the dried, unprepared material of plant, animal or mineral origin, used in
medicine.

One of the branches of Pharmacology, which broadly includes

Pharmacognosy- study of crude drugs
Pharmacy- preparation of drugs for the use of the medical practitioner
Pharmacodynamics i.e. basic pharmacology- the physiological action of drugs on living organisms.

Pharmacognosy embraces the knowledge of drugs of plants, animals or of mineral origin

The word pharmacognosy is derived from two Greek words pharmakon, ‘a drug,’ and gnosis, ‘to
acquire knowledge of ’.

Pharmacognosy is therefore study of structural, physical, chemical and biological properties of drugs
of natural origin.
Exploitation of Pharmacognosy: further links

Medical
Ethnobotan
y

Marine
Ethnopharm
Pharmacogn
acology
osy

Pharmacog
nosy

Drug Phytotherap
Discovery y

Phytochemi
stry
Origin of Pharmacognosy?
C.A. Seydler, J.A. Schmidt,

The Austrian physician, J. A. Schmidt,

a medical student at Halle Univ, Germany; he
wrote his doctoral thesis titled Analectica
Pharmacognostica and put forth the
reference of the subject Pharmacognosy in
1815.
described the study of medicinal plants and
their properties in his Lehrbuch der materia
medica book in 1811.

The 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".
History and scope of Pharmacognosy
Scientist Era (Period) Book/ contribution Description/ information

Dioscorides 50-70 AD De Materia Medica Father of western medicine, information of 600

medicinal plants (used by the scientific
community since 1,500 years)
Galen, a Greek 131-200 AD Materia Medica various methods for preparations of extracts
pharmacist (Galenicals)
Theophrastus 370-287 BC Historia Plantarum Description of Plant kingdom
Hippocrates, 460-377 BC Father of Medicine known for his contribution in the discovery of
Greek medical medicines
doctor
Aristotle, 384–322 BC Father of Natural Valuable contributions to Unani
Greek History
Philosopher
Egyptians 1500 BC Papyrus Ebers Herbal knowledge that contains 700 magical
formulas and folk remedies meant to cure
disease ailments
History and scope of Pharmacognosy
Scientist Era (Period) Book/ Description/ information
contribution
The era of European 16th & 17th - Medicinal values of the plants
exploration Century
Samuel Hahneman, a 18 th Homoeopathic Developed several homeopathic medicines
German Physician and century system based on the principle of like cures like
Chemist
Prof. Gantle Fosse, a 4500 BC Aromatherapy Use of various essential oils for treating
French cosmetic chemist diseases
Aranyakas, Brahmanas, 1500 BC Rigveda and Therapeutic properties of medicinal plants
Samhitas Atharva Veda
Johann Adam Schmidt, 1811 Lehrbuch der Medicinal plants and their properties
surgeon and Materia Medica
ophthalmologist
Linnaeus (Linn.), a name - Naming and classifying plants
is written after scientific
name of plant
History and scope of Pharmacognosy
Scientist Era (Period) Book/ Description/ information
contributi
on
Apothecaries First half of - Medical professionals who formulates and dispenses
19th century materia medica (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and
patients
Claude Bernar, a 1813-1878 - Studies on the pharmacological effects of plant extracts,
French physiologist started first using monkeys
Bernard 1966 - Poisoning and killing effects of Tubocurarine alkaloid in
animals
- 20th - Plant drugs, standardized extracts and the
century therapeutically active pure constituents have become a
significant market commodity in the international trade
- 20th & 21st Pharmaco Pharmacognosy in medicine, bulk drugs, food supplements,
centuries poeial pharmaceutical necessities, pesticides, dyes, tissue culture
books biotechnology, engineering etc.
Contribution of scientists to advance Pharmacognosy

Aristotle, Theophrastus, a plant Hippocrates, a Greek Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek Aelius Galenus or
Father of biologist, wrote Historia physician, one of the physician, pharmacologist, Galen, a physician,
natural history, Plantarum and classified most outstanding botanist, and author of De surgeon and
contributed in plant kingdom figures in the history of materia medica philosopher in the
Unani medicine Roman Empire

PJ Pelletier & JB Caventou

Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, a ML Shroff, Father AK Dorle, An Indian
Identified quinine, caffeine, and
Sertürner, a German physician, of Pharmacy, scientist and
strychnine
German created pseudoscientific headed the first professor of
Pharmacist system of alternative Pharmacy college Pharmaceutical
medicine, homeopathy in India Sciences
Modern Pharmacognosy
Year Name of scientist Discovery/ information

1803 & FW Serturner, Germany Isolation of morphine from opium

1817
1820 PJ Pelletier and JB Caventou Quinine from cinchona bark
1838 Johannes Buchner in Germany Salicin from willow bark and its derivative salicylic acid
1899 Bayer company Acetylsalicylic acid or aspirin
1817 PJ Pelletier & JB Caventou Strychnine from Nux-vomica as tonic and stimulant
1817 & Emetine from ipecacuanha as emetic and cough remedy
1848
1820 Nicotine from tobacco
1821 & PJ Pelletier and JB Caventou Caffeine from coffea
1882
1826 & Coniine alkaloid from hemlock (Socrates commited suicide)
1870
1833 Atropine from Atropa belladonna for asthma
Modern Pharmacognosy
Year Name of scientist Discovery/ information

1855 Cocaine from Cannabis sativa plant

1904 Greenish and Collin Anatomical Atlas of Powdered Vegetable Drugs
1928 Florey and Fleming Benzylpenicillin at St. Mary’s Hospital (London)
1952 Isolation of Reserpine from Rauwolfia, an antihypertensive
1960s Anticancer properties of Vinca rosea leaves
1970s Diosgenin to prepare semi-synthetic steroidal hormones like
corticosteroids
1980- Modern era of Guggulsterols from Commiphora mukul;
2010 Pharmacognosy Podophyllotoxin from Podophyllum hexandrum;
Artimisinin from Artemisia annua;
Silymarin from Silybuim marianum,
Taxol from Taxus brevifolia,
anti-dementia medication galanthamine,
Withanolides from Withania somnifera,
Andrographolide from Andrographis paniculate,
Digoxin from Digitalis etc.
Ancient texts on Pharmacognosy and the first company manufactured aspirin commercially

Dioscorides’ Materia Medica, c.
1334 copy in Arabic, describes
medicinal features of various
plants
Ebers papyrus prescription Between 50 and 70 Bayer is a German multinational
for asthma treatment. AD, a Greek physician Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences
(Source: U.S. National in the Roman company and one of the largest
Library of army, Dioscorides, pharmaceutical companies in the
Medicine/National wrote a five-volume world, had first commercialized
Institutes of Health) book in his native ASPIRIN
Greek, De Materia
Medica
Development of modern pharmacognosy (Since 1940s)
• Isolation of phytochemicals
Active chemical constituents of digitalis,
belladonna, ergot, rauwolfia, andrographis,
withania, etc.
• Drugs obtained by partial synthesis of
natural products
Methyl ergometrine, steroid hormones from
diosgenin, etoposide, paclitaxel etc.
• Natural products as models for synthesis
of new drugs
Morphine, atropine, salicin, ergocryptine for
bromocryptine etc.
• Drugs of direct therapeutic uses
Ergometrine, digoxin, thebaine, morphine,
atropine, quercetin, rutin, andrographolide,
silymarin, artemisinin and artemether, etc.
• Biosynthetic pathways
Shikimic acid (aromatic compounds), mevalonic
acid (isoprenoids and steroids), acetate
(anthracene glycosides), Calvin’s (photosynthesis)
pathways
• Technical products
- Beverages and soft drinks- coffee beans, tea
leaves, tomato, citrus fruits, ginger oil,
cardamom oil
- Spice industry- Turmeric, mustard seed, clove,
black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom etc.
- Flavorants for candies and chewing gum-
cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, mango,
cucumber etc.
- Textile- cotton, jute, hemp, silk, etc.
Pharmacognosy in Pharmaceutical industry as source of
pharmaceuticals aids or excipients
• Binding, suspending and emulsifying
agents
Acacia gum, tragacanth gum, Guar
gum, Gum ghati
• Disintegrating agents in tablets
Starch, dextrin derivatives, cellulose
derivatives
• Thickening and gelling agent
Sodium alginate, starch derivatives
• Sweetening agents
Glucose, liquid glucose, sucrose,
honey, mannitol, sorbitol, glycyrrhizin
• Microbiological culture media and
electrophoresis medium
Agar and agarose, gelatin
• Emollients and ointment bases
Fixed oils, fats and waxes like castor
oil, turpentine oil, olive oil, coconut oil, wool
fat, colophony, bees wax, cocoa butter, etc.
• Volatile oils as flavouring agents
Rose oil, fennel oil, cinnamon oil,
cardamom oil
Current Scenario of Advancement of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products

Some of the Pharmacopoeial and other similar books on Pharmacognosy

Some of the Journals of high repute on Pharmacognosy