standardization and evaluation of herbal drugs

Question 1

evaluation of a herbal drugs involves these 3 things

Answer 1

• identification of the drug as genuine
• determination of its quality
• determination of its purity

Question 2

the assessment of herbal drugs requires an _________approach to testing

Answer 2

orthogonal

i.e. multiple tests that collectively assess drug safety and efficacy

Question 3

tests for herbal drugs include assessing (2)

Answer 3

morphological characteristics and properties of constituents

Question 4

morphological characteristics include

Answer 4

• organolepetic testing
  
  • tests dealing with the senses
• microscopic examination

Question 5

properties of constituents are assessed by these three general types of tests

Answer 5

• chemical
• physical and
• biological tests

Question 6

identity tests include (4)

Answer 6

• organoleptic
• microscopic
• chemical and
• pysical tests

Question 7

quality of a herbal medicine can be assessed by assessing its constituents using these tests

Answer 7

• chemical
• physical and
• biological tests

Question 8

purity of a drug can be assessed by both morphological and constituent properties including

Answer 8

• organoleptic
• microscopic
• chemical and
• physical tests

Question 9

organized drugs are

Answer 9

whole or powdered which have cellular organizations

eg. barks or roots

Question 10

unorganized drugs are

Answer 10

acellular e.g. opium

Question 11

organoleptic evaluation is assessment of characteristics that create impressions on the organ of _____ and include

Answer 11

• sense
• odour, sound when breaking drug, feel and macroscopic features (shape, size, colour)

Question 12

microscopic evaluation of whole drugs involves

Answer 12

sectioning and staining of drugs and identification of cell types, inclusions and tissue distribution

Question 13

microscopic evaluation of powdered drugs includes

Answer 13

cell types and inclusions but as they are dry do not have tissue arrangement

Question 14

chemical tests are carried out after extraction of secondary metabolites and include (2)

Answer 14

• colour tests
  
  • for specific metabolite
• TLC
  
  • to detect major compounds

Question 15

physical tests are only performed on unorganized drugs such as lipids and include

Answer 15

various physical constants and solvent solubility characteristics

Question 16

the estimation of quality is dependent upon

Answer 16

the amount and types of actives

Question 17

for the evaluation of quality, vegetable drugs are divided into 3 categories

Answer 17

• potent drugs
• non-toxic
• traditional herbal remedies

Question 18

the assessment of quality of potent drugs involves the use of

Answer 18

specific assays

e.g. alkaloids and glycosides

Question 19

the quality assessment of non-toxic drugs is challenging because

Answer 19

• precise assays do not exist because there is not enough info on specific constituents
• assays are not warranted due to use

Question 20

how is the quality of non-toxic drugs measured (5)

Answer 20

• extractive values
• essential oil content
• swelling index
• tannin content
• bitterness value

Question 21

a drug is considered adulterated if there is

Answer 21

foreign matter present

Question 22

foreign matter can be

Answer 22

organic or inorganic

Question 23

organic foreign matter can include

Answer 23

• parts of the organ that the plant came from
• other plant parts
• or other vegetable or mineral elements from a different source

Question 24

inorganic foreign matter includes

Answer 24

elements that the plant has absorbbed from the soil during growth

Question 25

inorganic foreign matter is detected by performing these 4 tests

Answer 25

• total ash
• acid insoluble ash value
• water soluble ash
• sulfated ash

Question 26

organic matter is detected by

Answer 26

visual observation