In the early 20th century, pharmacognosy was basically concerned with the description and identification of drugs both in the whole state and in powder form. Today the subject has expanded enormously into other areas. Botanical aspects being still of fundamental importance for pharmacopoeial identification and quality control purposes, currently microbes and even marine organisms are of pharmacognostical interest. It is an interdisciplinary subject incorporating phytochemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, SM biogenesis, plant cell and tissue in vitro propagation, ecology, ethnobotany, microbiology and chemical taxonomy to name a few.

With the aforementioned changes in the global scenario with respect to the use of herbal drugs, the explosive growth of the herbal drug industry, the booming trade in plant-based raw materials and products, recognition of the scientific community of the need to integrate herb-based therapies and drugs into mainstream medicine, WHO’s promotion of the same, escalating global disease burden driving the medical fraternity to look at indigenous medical knowledge systems are some of the factors that have hugely expanded the scope, focus and field of pharmacognosy.

Today Pharmacognosy includes the study of the following fields:

• Medical ethnobotany, the study of traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes;
• Ethnopharmacology, the study of the pharmacological qualities of traditional medicinal substances;
• Phytotherapy, the study of the medicinal use of plant extracts and traditional medicine therapeutics;
• Phytochemistry, the study of chemicals derived from plants (including the identification of new drug candidates derived from plant sources) including phytoanalytical chemistry;
• Zoopharmacognosy, the process by which animals self-medicate, by selecting and using plants, soils and insects to treat and prevent disease;
• Marine pharmacognosy, the study of chemicals derived from marine organisms;
• Medicinal plant biotechnology.

Skills to be acquired by a pharmacognosist are thus manifold with a variety of options to choose from depending on the area of focus.