Page 229 - PG 101-Course notes مذكرة النظري 24-25 with spec

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

Drying affect the following:

1. Size and weight: Due to loss of water, drugs get smaller in size and lose 80-

90% of their original weight.

2. Shape and appearance: Most drugs shrink when dried, and the surface gets

wrinkled or reticulated. These changes depend on the nature and hardness of the

tissue structure and the amount of water lost.

3. Texture: Fresh organs are generally firm. On drying, drugs become harder.

4. Color: Generally, on drying the drugs become darker in color, but in certain

cases a total change may occur.

5. Odor: In certain drugs, drying changes the natural odour, e.g., digitalis

hyocyamus and vanilla pods.

6. Taste: The taste of the drug may be altered on drying, e.g., gentian is very bitter,

when fresh, becoming pleasant on drying (hydrolysis of gentiopicirin).

7. Constituents: In some drugs the constituents change upon drying. These changes

may be desirable or undesirable. Rapid drying not only prevents the

decomposition of active principles, but also retains the color of the drug.

Packing of crude drugs

• Packing of drugs provides a mean of their protection as well as an economy of

the space. The method of packing may be controlled by the type of the drug.

The packing of the drug may indicate its geographical source e.g., opium (the

latex obtained by incision from the unripe capsule of Papaver somniferum

and dried partly by spontaneous evaporation then by artificial heat).

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