What is pharmacognosy

 

     “The creations of Nature are more perfect than the creations of art”, said the ancient Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero.

 

     It is hard to disagree with this… The more we learn about the processes occurring in the surrounding plant and animal world, the broader the sphere of the unknown becomes.

     The search for answers to some questions related to the knowledge of the living is undertaken by the science of pharmacognosy, which derives its name from the Greek words “pharmakon” – medicine, poison and “gnosis” – study, knowledge, cognition.

 

    Pharmacognosy is a pharmaceutical science that studies medicinal plants, fungi, the raw materials obtained from them, as well as animal-derived medicinal raw materials as sources of biologically active substances (BAS) for the purpose of further obtaining medicinal preparations.

 

     Pharmacognosy has its history dating back to ancient times. Even at the dawn of human development, plants served people as both food and medicine. From cave paintings, we learn that many healing properties of plants were discovered by primitive shepherds in the Stone Age (10-15 thousand years ago), observing domesticated animals after grazing them in various pastures. By transferring their observations to humans, they thus became the first pharmacognosists and phytotherapists who studied the effects of plant BAS.

      Medicinal plants also held a central place in the medicine of Ancient China, India, Assyria, Egypt, and Scythian folk medicine.

     Having passed through the centuries, medicinal plants are still indispensable in the treatment of many diseases. To this day, all cardioglycosides used to treat heart failure are obtained only from plant raw materials. This is also true for a number of flavonoids, anthraquinones, coumarins, alkaloids, and essential oils.

     Among all the preparations that are used to treat diseases of the cardiovascular system, plant-derived preparations account for 90%, for the treatment of gynecological diseases – 80%, respiratory diseases – 79%, liver and gastrointestinal diseases – about 70%.

 

     The science of pharmacognosy, being (mainly) a science about medicinal plants, studies their main BAS, develops new pharmaceutical preparations based on them, and also examines methods of rational harvesting, drying, storage, cultivation, and optimal use of plant raw materials.

 

     Like any science, pharmacognosy consists of general and special parts.

    General pharmacognosy studies the harvesting, drying, analysis, storage, and other general issues related to medicinal plants and medicinal plant raw materials.

    Special pharmacognosy directly studies medicinal plants grouped by the content of main biologically active substances and considers their chemical composition, methods of analysis, applications, preparations, harvesting, drying, and storage.

     The issues of special pharmacognosy are primarily addressed by phytochemists.

    Modern pharmacognosy is a science that is actively developing worldwide, especially in connection with the constant improvement of methods for analyzing biologically active substances: new classes of compounds are being discovered, perceptions of main and accompanying substances are changing, and more and more new plants are being proposed as medicinal raw materials.

 

On this site, you will find a new modern concept of the development of pharmacognosy and a new classification of natural compounds, developed and presented by Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Olena Yuriyivna Konovalova – Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry, Pharmacognosy at Kyiv Medical University.