Pharmacognosy

Pharmacognosy is the branch of pharmacology dealing with medicines derived from natural sources, including plants, animals, microorganisms, and minerals. The term combines the Greek words pharmakon (drug) and gnosis (knowledge). Traditionally rooted in materia medica and herbal therapies, pharmacognosy today encompasses the discovery, identification, isolation, and characterization of bioactive constituents from natural sources, as well as the quality assessment and standardization of crude drugs.

The field covers the entire lifecycle of natural products used as medicines. Historically, it drew on ethnobotany and traditional systems of medicine; notable milestones include the documentation of plants in De Materia Medica and the subsequent isolation of active compounds in the 19th and 20th centuries. Modern pharmacognosy integrates botany, chemistry, and pharmacology to study the chemical diversity of natural products, their pharmacological actions, and their potential as leads for new drugs. Ethnopharmacology and phytochemistry are closely related sub-disciplines.

Sources of pharmacognostic material are diverse, with plant-derived drugs forming the majority of traditional medicines, alongside animal, microbial, and marine products. Techniques include macroscopic and microscopic authentication, organoleptic and chemical testing, chromatographic methods (such as TLC, HPLC, GC), and spectroscopic techniques (NMR, MS) to establish chemical fingerprints and quality. Pharmacognosy also addresses conservation, sustainable sourcing, adulteration, and standardization to meet regulatory quality standards.

Applications extend to drug discovery, quality control, safety assessment, and the development of dosage forms. Regulatory frameworks—pharmacopoeias and GMP—support consistent documentation of identity, purity, and potency, ensuring reliability of natural-product medicines.