Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy

The term “pharmacognosy” comes from Greek words for “drug” (“pharmakon”) and “knowledge” (“gnosis”), and it refers to the study of crude medications of the plant as well as the animal origin, in addition to their authentication and the quality control depending on macroscopic & microscopic studies of the crude drugs. Analecta Pharmacognostica, written by Seydler in 1815, is credited with popularising the word “pharmacognosy,” which had been used by Schmidt, an Austrian physician, in the year 1811. Since its inception some 200 years ago, Pharmacognosy has developed and expanded in the same way that any other branch of science would. Today, it is understood to be the study of biogenic or naturally derived poisons, pharmaceuticals, and other drugs, and it makes use of a wide range ensuring the crude drugs components, practise of pharmaceuticals has evolved throughout time, with pharmacognosy keeping pace by focusing on the identification, isolation, and evaluation of the bioactivity of active chemicals in drug discovery rather than the creation of cutting-edge analytical methods for authenticity and quality of everything from to purifying the active fractions, extracts, and sometimes even medicinal foods. The using medicinal plants to create of crude pharmaceuticals. According to the “American Society of Pharmacognosy”, “Pharmacognosy” is “the study of the chemical, biochemical, physical, and biological aspects of medications, drug substances, or prospective drugs or the drug substances of the natural origin, and the search for novel pharmaceuticals from natural sources.” These days, pharmacologists investigate natural compounds found in a wide range of creatures, not only plants.