Chapter-4

Using appropriate
guidelines for
plant collection.
 Steps in scientific analysis of
medicinal plants
Selection of the plant material
 Collection practices should ensure the long-term survival of wild
populations and their associated habitats.
 Management plans for collection should provide
I. a framework for setting sustainable harvest levels
II. Describe appropriate collection practices that are suitable for each
medicinal plant species and plant part used (roots, leaves, fruits,
etc.).

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 Good collecting
 Make detailed field notes.

 Tag your plants when you collect them

.
 Press your plants while they are fresh

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 Cont…

 Lay them out as you want them to look

 Make sure that both the top and the bottom surface of leaves are visible

 Collect flower and fruit whenever possible;

 For herbaceous plants, be sure that enough of the below-ground plants are
available to show whether it had a caudex, tap root, rhizomes, or whatever.

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 Time of collection
 Therapeutic efficacy varies during different times or
seasons of the year.

 The constituent and active principles vary

quantitavely at different seasons of the year

 Majority of plant materials are usually best collected

during the dry season, when the herbs are at peak
maturity and concentration

 Dry as quickly as possible, away from bright sunlight,

to preserve the ingredients and prevent oxidation

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Roots and rhizomes:
 Best collected October to February, when the plants are more
vigorously storing food in their underground organs.
Leaves:
 The most opportune time is when the plant is about to bloom.
Flowers:
 Buds are preferred, best collected in the morning after the morning
dew has evaporated; flowers, just before or shortly after opening.
 Dry the herbal materials as quickly as possible.

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Bark materials and stems: Generally, best
gathered in summer time.
 When the climate is warm and humid, the bark of any plant usually
contains richer nutritive substances including the medicinal
metabolites.
Fruits and seeds: Fully ripened fruits and
mature seeds are preferred.
 Collection of pod fruits is done in the morning to
avoid unnecessary opening up of the fruit wall to
the detriment of losing the seeds

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Whole plant: When the whole plant is desired,
it is advisable to harvest the plant at the time when
the flowers are all in bloom.
 Old and withering plants are less effective when
used as a source of drugs.

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 Habitat
 Information about the whereabouts of the plants, especially the rare
ones, can facilitate the search for them.
 It saves both time and energy.
 Low altitudes probably range from sea level to about 300 meters;
medium altitudes from about 310 meters to about 1000 meters; and
high altitude from about 1000 meters and up.

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Storage
 Many medicinal plants are seasonal, some not easily accessible, available
only in deep forests or mountain peaks.
 Such restrictions necessitate ways and devices to store them for future use.
 Dirty and other foreign substances should be removed.
 If washing is needed, it should be done quickly to minimize deterioration
and loss of active substances.
 As a rule, all parts of the plant collected should be dried as soon as possible
to avoid unnecessary waste of the drug materials through natural processes
of denaturation, decay and fungal attacks

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 Some commonly used storage methods used by the Chinese as
follows:
Sun-drying method: Spread the herbs over the dry beaches,
patio or benches that are under the direct scorch of the sun until the materials turn dry
and brownish.
Shade-drying method: Some plant materials are preferably
dried under shade at room temperature by wind action- because of heat-labile
substances that they contain.
 As such, free circulation of air is important.
 Drying processes should be shortened, if higher drug contents are to be sought for.
 Floral and fruit materials should be dried by this method.

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Heat-drying method:
 Some materials may be placed over an oven and dried under the intense heat
released or under regulated soft heat.
 Plants that contain high sugar and starch are best preserved by this method.
 In places where the rain falls throughout the year, this method is strongly
recommended

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Other Special Methods:
 Succulent materials are usually washed first in boiling water or
steam-cooked in a container before actually drying it.
 For spiny and hairy materials, remove the unwanted appendages.
 Some plant materials (ex. succulent materials) may require cutting or
sectioning before drying
 In general, the moisture content of the dried plant materials should
be less than 10% before storage

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 Preservation and
Conservation
 Know how to preserve and conserve plant sources.

 Complete depletion of all medicinal plants founds in an area should be avoided.

 Once collected, all the materials should be processed at once for long storage.

 Well planned activity in the collection of plant materials will always prove to be
economical and advantageous in the long run.

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 THANK YOU

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 Chapter-5
Manufacturing herbal medicines
according to pharmacy guideline
 Crude drugs
A crude drug :-
 is defined as a drug which is naturally occurring ,unrefined substance, derived from
organic source as plant, animal ,bacteria organs or whole organisms.

 They are Intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of
disease in human or animals.
They may be obtained from;
 Vegetable
 Animals
 Minerals
The most important natural source of drug are ;
a) Higher plants, b) Microbes, c) Animals, d) marine organism

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 Processes of preservation, drying and
storing of Fresh medicinal plants crude
 Herbs for preserving should be harvested on a dry, sunny morning, after the dew has
evaporated.

 To obtain maximum flavor & nutritional content, material for preserving needs to be at its
very best.

 Herbs for drying should be harvested on a dry, sunny morning, after the dew has
evaporated.

 Cut the stems just above ground level.

 Trim & discard any discolored or damaged leaves.

 Tie into small bunches and hang in a dark, dry, airy place, or put them in a paper bag
punched with holes, to eliminate light and dust

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 Cont…
 Cut the stems just above ground level.

 Trim & discard any discolored or damaged leaves.

 Tie into small bunches and hang in a dark, dry, airy place, or put them in a paper
bag punched with holes, to eliminate light and dust

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 Extraction of crude drugs
 Extraction :- involves the separation of medicinally active portions
of plant or animal tissues from the inactive or inert components by
using selective solvents in standard extraction procedures.

 The products so obtained from plants are relatively impure liquids,

semisolids or powders intended only for oral or external use

 These include classes of preparations known as decoctions,

infusions, fluid extracts, tinctures, pilular (semisolid) extracts and
powdered extracts

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 Cont…
 The purposes of standardized extraction procedures for crude drugs
are to attain the therapeutically desired portion

 To eliminate the inert material by treatment with a selective solvent

known as menstruum

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 Methods of Extraction
Infusion Method
 Infusion (Hot Teas) – basically a herbal tea which is usually drunk
hot
 Infusions prepared for colds and flu. It should be taken hot.
 Sweeten the tea with honey.
 Standard Dosage: One cup three times a day

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 DECOCTION METHOD
 In this process, the crude drug is boiled in a specified volume of
water for a defined time; it is then cooled and strained or filtered.
 This procedure is suitable for extracting water-soluble, heat stable
constituents.
 This process is typically used in preparation of Ayurvedic extracts
called “quath” or “kawath”.

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 MACERATION (Cold extract)
 Suitable for the preparation of mucilage containing herbs such as flax
seed.

 Prepared by allowing a tea herb to steep in cold water for several

hours to extract its active principles.

 The different types of teas are Loose tea, tea bags and instant teas.
Example: Chinese herbal tea shop

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 PERCOLATION METHOD
 This is the procedure used most frequently to extract active
ingredients in the preparation of tinctures and fluid extracts.

 A percolator (a narrow, cone-shaped vessel open at both ends) is

generally used.

 The solid ingredients are moistened with an appropriate amount

of the specified menstruum and allowed to stand for
approximately 4hr in a well closed container, after which the mass
is packed and the top of the percolator is closed
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 Cont…
 Additional menstruum is added to form a shallow layer
above the mass, and the mixture is allowed to macerate in
the closed percolator for 24 hr.

 The outlet of the percolator then is opened and the liquid

contained therein is allowed to drip slowly

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 Isolation and purification of the active constituents

 Purification and isolation of bioactive compounds from plants is a

technique that has undergone new development in recent years

 The goal when searching for bioactive compounds is to find an

appropriate method that can screen the source material for bioactivity
such as antioxidant, antibacterial, or cytotoxicity, combined with
simplicity, specificity, and speed

 Extracts can then be made with various solvents to isolate and purify
the active compounds that are responsible for the bioactivity.

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 Developed instruments such as High Pressure Liquid
Chromatography (HPLC) accelerate the process of purification of the
bioactive molecule.

 Different varieties of spectroscopic techniques like UV-visible,

Infrared (IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and mass
spectroscopy can identify the purified compounds

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 The types of information that should be collected include the
items described

 Additionally, documentation on post-processing transportation

and storage of processed products should be prepared

 Where applicable, the results of inspection should be

documented in an inspection report, which contains copies of
all documents,
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 Chapter-6
Operating and monitoring
the dispensing process
 Materials, equipment and work environment required for
dispensing raw materials

 Processed herbal materials, herbal preparations and herbal dosage

forms should be packaged as quickly as possible to preserve their
quality.
Packaging should prevent deterioration of the herbal medicines and
they should be protected against exposure to pest infestations and
other sources of contamination.
 When applicable, the maximal holding time of the unpacked herbal
medicines should be established
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• Materials used for packaging should be :-non-polluted,
clean, dry and undamaged, and should conform to the
quality requirements for the processed herbal materials,
herbal preparations or herbal dosage forms concerned.

• Fragile herbal materials should be packaged in rigid

containers.

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A label affixed to the packaging should include:
scientific name of the herb(s);
 common name of the herb(s), herbal material(s), herbal
preparation(s) or herbal dosage form(s);
brand name of the herbal medicines (herb(s), herbal material(s),
herbal preparation(s) or herbal dosage form(s));
date of the processing of the processed herb(s), herbal material(s),
herbal preparation(s), or herbal dosage form(s) obtained;
processing techniques used;
 potency or strength of the active ingredient, if applicable (for
example, for an extract the drug extract ratio of herbal material to
extract, or the concentration of active or marker substance(s) used for
standardization);

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 Storage and transportation
 All processed herbal medicines should be properly stored
and preserved before use.

They must be protected from microbial and insect

contamination, as well as rodents and other pests

Every effort should be made to use the type of packaging

that provides the best protection against physical damage to
the processed materials;

Should be as far as possible, from exposure to moisture,

light, heat, insect and animal attack.
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 Equipment
All equipment, including tools and utensils used in the
herbal processing procedures should be made of materials
that do not transmit toxic substances, odour or taste;

Should be non-absorbent and are resistant to corrosion

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 Cont…
• Rejected samples should be kept in a separate designated
quarantined area, clearly labelled and with a specified handling
period.

• Toxic or controlled herbal materials or preparations should be

checked, labelled and stored according to the government’s
regulations.

• All equipment and utensils should be designed and constructed so

as to prevent hygiene hazards and permit easy and thorough
cleaning and disinfection.
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• Where practicable, they should be accessible for visual
inspection.

• Stationary equipment should be installed in such a manner as to

permit easy access and thorough cleaning

Containers for unusable materials or waste should be :-

leak-proof, constructed of metal or other suitable impervious

materials, should be easy to clean or be disposable, and should
close securely.
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 THANK YOU

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