Page 213 - PG 101-Course notes مذكرة النظري 24-25 with spec

Medicinal plants (PG 101) Level 1 Clinical Pharmacy-PharmD

Pharmacognosy means the knowledge of drugs. This word is derived from the

Greek words "pharmakon" which means drug and "gnosis" which means

knowledge of.

o This science is related to the study of the sensory characters, structural,

and chemical constituents of crude drugs of vegetable, mineral and

animal origin (natural). It also includes their cultivation, collection,

preservation, preparation for the markets as well as their evaluation.

✓ Crude drug means the collected, usually dried, or fresh, plant or animal product

of medicinal use without any further processing. Official drug is that drug

described in the pharmacopoeia (a book recognized by the government as a legal

authority for standards).

History of pharmacognosy and folk medicine:

▪ In the earliest times, man studied the plants and animals as a source of food. In

the meantime, by observation, trial and error, man was able to distinguish

between poisonous and nonpoisonous plants and to discover the healing

properties of some of them. The collective data about plant forms having

therapeutic uses is the well-known "Folk Medicine". The ancient Egyptians

possessed an understanding of the human anatomy as well as knowledge of the

medicinal uses of many plants and animal products. Among the plants used by

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