December 2009

                                         GLYCOSIDES

                  Quality control of phytomedicine

The quality control of phytopharmaceuticals may be defined as the status of a drug, which is determined either by identity, purity, content, and other chemical, physical or biological properties, or by the manufacturing process.

Quality control is based on three important pharmacopeial definitions:

• Identity: Is the herb the one it should be?

                                    Uses of Enzymes

Uses of enzymes can be classified as:-

(1)Medicinal and Clinical Use:-

                            Classification of Enzymes

Enzymes are broadly of two types:

1.) Intracellular or Endoenzymes:-
They are functional within cells where they are synthesized.

2.)Extracellular or Exoenzymes:
These enzymes are active outside the cells.

                             ENZYME BIOTECHNOLOGY

Enzymes are an important class of biomolecules synthesized by living cells. They control all biochemical reactions required for life processes in all living organisms. Thus, they are called "Biocatalysts".

                            Methods of cultivation
 

Medicinal plants can be cultivated by two methods (applicable to non-medicinal plants) : Sexual and Asexual method

Sexual Method (seed propagation):

The advantages of cultivation can be briefed as follows:

It ensures the quality and purity of medicinal plants. The crude drugs are recognized on the basis of the presence of the chemical contents in them and their purity.

                                    CULTIVATION

Cultivation may be defined as the production of crops (medicinal plants) using prepared land by tending them – either by unskilled or skilled people.

                     THE SCOPE OF PHARMACOGNOSY

THE PHARMACOGNOSY HAS PLAYED A IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF THE SCIENCE. PHARMACOGNOSY GIVES A SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE VEGETABLE DRUGS UNDER BOTANY AND ANIMAL DRUGS UNDER ZOOLOGY.