Title 2. DEFINITION, HISTORY AND SCOPE OF PHARMACOGNOSY.pdf ✅

PHARMD GURU Page 1 DEFINITION:  Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines derived from natural sources.  The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources". HISTORY: The early man sought to alleviate his sufferings of illness and injuries by using plants. They acquired knowledge of medicinal properties of plants by guesswork or trial and error, while searching for food, by superficial resemblance between the plant parts and the affected organs, i.e., by examining the “Signature of Nature”, by observing other animals, instinctive discrimination between toxic and palatable plants or by accidental discovery. In course of time a group of people emerged in each community who acquired expertise in collecting, testing and using medicinal plants for treating diseases. These people later became known as `Medicine Men’. They transferred this secret knowledge only to their trusted predecessors of the successive generations, who gradually increased the volume of knowledge about drugs and their medicinal uses. Initially the transfer of the acquired knowledge from generation to generation used to be done verbally by the use of signs and symbols. As civilization progressed, transfer and recording of the knowledge were done in writing. ACCORDING TO OLD HISTORY: The history of herbal medicine is from the beginning of human civilization. In that era, maximum plant based medicines were used. Before the beginning of Christian era, many ancient documents revealed that plants were used largely by the Asian namely China, India, DEFINITION, HISTORY AND SCOPE OF PHARMACOGNOSY
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