Guidelines for Research on Medicinal Plants for Local Drug Production III Flashcards
When are aromatic herbs best collected?
In clean dry weather in the morning after the dew has disappeared.
When are flowers best collected?
Before or immediately after flowers open completely.
When are leaves best collected?
After full development, just before the leaf fades.
When and how are barks best collected?
During rainy season
By making suitable longitudinal and transverse incisions on the stem or root of the plant.
When are seeds best collected?
At the time of full maturity.
When are ‘undergrounds’ best collected?
They are dug from the soil, just before the leaves decay.
Mention 5 methods of standardisation found in the pharmacopoeia.
- Physical methods of analysis
- Physicochemical methods
- Pharmacognostic methods
- Chemical methods
- Toxicity testing
- Bioavailability testing
- Specification of lower limit of active ingredients
After collection and drying, what are the stages of herbal formulation?
- Grinding
- Extraction
- Filtration
- Concentration
- Spray drying
- Freeze drying
Name 3 methods of extraction.
Hot aqueous extraction
Cold percolation
Solvent extraction
The dosage forms to be developed for plant drugs should be as close as possible in the form in which they are used in traditional medicine.
True or false
True.
If a preparation is used as a decoction, standardized preparations should
preferably be in liquid form while a dry powder which is mixed with food should remain in this dosage form
What are the three broad categories of herbal dosage forms? Give examples.
- Solid dosage form e.g. teabags, granules, tablets and capsules.
- Liquid dosage form e.g. Solution, medicated syrups and suspensions
- Semi-solid dosage forms e.g. ointments and creams
Mention 7 liquid herbal dosage forms.
- Fluid extract: alcoholic extract done by percolation containing extractives obtained from 1g of plant material in 1mL of solvent.
- Decoction: mixture obtained by placing plant material in cold water, which is brought to a boil for 15mins - 1hr and allowed to stand for further 15mins.
- Infusions: dilute solution obtained by steeping plant material in boiling water for a short time. Infusions in edible oil and vinegar are also available.
- Tinctures: alcoholic or hydroalcoholic extract of herbal material containing 1 part herbal material and 5-10 part solvent. Ratio of water to alcohol should be recorded.
- Herbal glycerites: Made like tinctures, but using glycerin instead of an alcohol and water mixture.
- Herbal alcoholic beverages (bitters/wines): ethanolic or hydroethanolic extracts of herbal materials
- Syrups: viscous liquids containing sweetening agents. Made by mixing, suspending or emulsifying herbal extracts in solutions of sweetening agents.
- Oral herbal suspension
- Oral herbal emulsions
- Medicated oils
- Herbal liniments
Mention 6 solid herbal dosage forms.
- Herbal tea bags: each tea bag contains ground herbal material sufficient for one dose of an infusion.
- Herbal powders: herbal materials ground into various particle sizes, from fine to coarse, excluding nano powder.
- Dry extract powder: powders obtained by evaporating the solvent used for extraction. May contain suitable additives.
- Granules: dried fluid extracts processed into spherical agglomerations of smaller particles. They may be compressed into tablets or encapsulated.
- Capsules: solid dosage form in which the herbal substance is enclosed in hard or soft soluble shell of gelatin or other suitable substances.
- Tablets: solid preparations in which the herbal extract powder, plant powder or granule is mixed with suitable excipients and compressed into tablets with a defined shape and size.
- Inhalations
- Herbal soaps
Mention 4 semisolid herbal dosage forms.
- Herbal ointments
- Herbal pastes
- Herbal creams
- Herbal balms
Mention 5 factors that affect the type of dosage form of a herbal drug.
- Physicochemical properties of the drug
- Route of Administration
- Biological properties of the drug
- Dose of drug
- Processing conditions
