Genetic Factors QA/QC Flashcards
what are 4 fundamental principles when using a plant as a medicine that if not met could have a deleterious effect
- that you have the right plant
- the plant contains the correct chemical constituents
- the constituents are at the right levels or quantities
- there is consistency from batch to batch
what is the primary reason that plant based drugs fail to meet the 4 fundamental requirements
- they are biological in nature, derived from secondary metabolism
- the natural inherent variability in this process may impact level of secondary metabolite available and yields
what are the three most important EU guidelines on medicinal plants
- annex 7 of GMPs
- Good Agricultural Collection Practices
- Quality of herbal medicinal products
what are the contents of a monograph (4) and what is commonly included in each section
- definition
- Latin Botanical name, common name, minimum content
- identification
- micro and macroscopic, may include drawings of cell inclusions
- TLC
- Purity Test - by TLC may include absence of certain bands/impurities
- Tests
- loss on drying, total ash, acid insoluble ash
- assay
- HPLC, GC, colorimetric or titrimetric
if there is no monograph what is expected
that you develop an inhouse monograph
in addition to the contents of a standard monograph, what does an in house monograph also require (4)
- information on the site collection, time of harvest, stage of crop at harvest, treatments during growth, drying and storage conditions
- microbial quality tests (bacteria and fungi)
- residues - pesticides, fumigants, heavy metals
- a quantitative assay for the content of the phytochemical
what are 4 factors that impact the quality of a plant based medicinal product
- genetic
- environmental or ecological
- post harvest handling
- method of storage
genetic factors relate to the inherent variability of organsisms and can improve quality by altering genetic structure through (2)
natural selection or genetic manipulation
most plants are haploid or diploid
diploid (2n)
polyploid organisms have how many chromosomes
3 or 4n
autoploid
multiplication of chomosomes from a single species e.g. valerian
alloploid
hybridization of 2 species (peppermint)
what is hybridization
genetic manipulation by crossing 2 plants
how are polyploids created
- often induced by heating seeds with colchicine or ionizing radiation
- formed as allo or autoploids
what are chemical races
- a form of genetic variation - chemotype or chemodemes
- similar physical characteristics but different chemical characterisitics e.g. cannabis (THC and CBD)
what is a chemovar
a different form of a medicine
how do environmental factors influence the quality of medicines by impacting (4 things)
- phytomass (biomass),
- amount of dry matter produced,
- ratio of plant organs, and
- level of active subsituent
what are the 2 environmental factors which influence quality of medicines
- climate
- soil
what are 3 factors of climate that influence quality of medicines
light and temperature and moisture
how do the climatic factors of light, temperature and mositure influence the quality of medicines
- light
- required for growth of plant and primary metabolism (photosynthesis)
- affects amount of phytomass and level of active compounds
- temperature
- higher temps generally increase metabolism and therefore increase amount of active constituent
- moisture
- rain, dew, humidity, irrigation
- needed for growth, however if too much, can cause fungal growth/disease
what is an example of how temperature impacts constituents of plants
Linseed oil
- northern climate - more unstaturated fatty acids
- southern climate - low unstaturated fatty acid levels
what are the implications to quality control of climate on medicinal products? (1)
how can these be managed? (1)
- hard to control and therefore get year to year and site to site variation
- by monitoring the variation through chemical assays and throughout the growth lifecycle
what are the chemical assays that can be used to assess the implication of climate on medicinal products (4)
- colourimetric
- titrimetric
- spectrophotmetric
- chromatographic