Page 304 - Pharmacognosy 2 PG303

Pharmacognosy-2 (PG303) Level 2 Clinical Pharmacy-Pharm D

UNORGANISED DRUGS

Unorganised drugs are crude drugs of plant or animal origin and having no
cellular or definite structure. They are either mixtures of chemical substances or
they are decomposition products of substances originally present in the biological
source of the drug. They are produced in plants or animal, either normally or
pathologically as a result of certain processes as injuries, incisions, etc.

Unorganised drugs can be classified under headings based upon their origin
and nature, giving well-characterised groups as follows: Gums, Extracts, Latex,
Juices, Resins and resin combinations, Lipids, Proteins, Volatile Oils, Waxes and
Saccharine substances. The first 5 groups are included in the course of second year,
while the remaining groups are previously studied in the first year.

GUMS

Gums are amorphous, translucent, or transparent solids, insoluble in alcohol
and in most organic solvent but are, however, soluble in water, yielding viscous,
usually adhesive colloidal solutions or are swollen by the absorption of water into a
jelly-like mass.

Gums are obtained from trees and shrubs belonging to several families, but
especially Leguminosae, Rosaceae, Anacardiaceae, Sterculiaceae and others. They
are abnormal products, resulting from pathological conditions brought about either

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