The ash remaining following ignition of herbal materials is a measure of the total amount of the inorganic material left after burning. For some drugs this value gives an indication of the care taken in the preparation of the drug. Adulteration with mineral matter will give higher ash values than for pure unadulterated drug. Determination…
The determination of matter extractable into solvents such as water, alcohol and ether is generally used for evaluating plant drugs, the constituents of which are not readily estimated by chemical or biological methods. Extractive values thus provide assay for drugs such as linseed, which contain fixed oil as an important constituent. Here ether-soluble extractive is…
Crude drugs containing volatile oils are mostly characterized by typical odoriferous nature. Because they are considered the ‘essence’ of herbal material and are often biologically active, they are also known as essential oils. Chemically usually composed of mixtures of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and their oxygenated derivatives, they are volatile at room temperature. For volatile oil-bearing crude…
An excess of water in herbal materials encourages microbial growth, presence of fungi or insects and deterioration following hydrolysis. At suitable temperatures, enzymes are activated leading to hydrolytic degradation of active constituents (e.g. digitalis). As most vegetable drugs contain all the food requirements for the growth of moulds, insects and mites, deterioration is very rapid…
Establishment of identity of powdered drugs depends on the microscopic recognition of characteristic cell types and cell contents. Microscopic analysis is indispensable for the identification of the correct species and/or the right plant part that is to be present. For example, pollen morphology may be used in the case of flowers to identify the species…
For whole drugs, macroscopic/sensory evaluation is usually enough for the drugs to be identified. Visual inspection in terms of shape, size, surface characteristics, colour, consistency, odour, taste, fracture and appearance of the cut surface of the drug provide the simplest and quickest means to establish its identity, purity and even quality. Comparison with the authentic…
Herbal ingredients must be authenticated by correct identification of their botanical source referred by their Latin binomial. Different batches of herbal materials may still be subject to inter-and intra-species variation. Other related information required are synonyms, vernacular names, parts of the plant used for each preparation and detailed instructions for agricultural production and collection conditions as…
Source and quality of the raw material is an important determinant in the quality control and standardization of herbal drugs. Such variations multiply during storage and further processing. Due to the inherent variability of plant material, batch-to-batch variation starts from the collection of raw material. Using cultivated plants under controlled conditions instead of those collected…
The last two decades has seen a significant increase in the use of herbal medicines. Plant materials are employed throughout the industrialized and developing world as home remedies, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry. As a result of WHO’s promotion of traditional medicine, countries have been seeking the assistance of the organization…
Standardization is the process of prescribing a set of standards or inherent characteristics, constant parameters, definitive qualitative and quantitative values that carry an assurance of quality, efficacy, safety and reproducibility. It is the process of developing and agreeing upon technical standards. Specific standards are worked out by experimentation and observations, which would lead to the…