Identification of Homoeopathic Drugs of Plant Origin

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A number of books catering to the needs of students of Pharmacy, as part of their curriculum for practice of homoeopathic medicine, have been written. Many of them give a large amount of information on the history of the subject with reference to Homoeopathy, the uses of various laboratory equipment, preparation of mother tinctures and higher potencies, sources of some of the homoeopathic medicines and the raw drug materials, along with other academic details. However, these textbooks lack specific research data and the results of actual laboratory work done on the homoeopathic medicinal plants, specifically earmarked for the teaching of the students.

The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, New Delhi has carried out research work on the pharmacognosy of many of these plants, collected from various parts of India. A number of papers have been published in leading journals for dissemination of these details to the profession. The characterization of mother tinctures and recommendations for their standards have been done for all these plants. Unless a meaningful compilation of this large amount of data is made in one book, it will have to be laboriously referred piece meal putting the students and teaching faculty of the medical colleges to great difficulty.

This compilation is presented for the students and teachers of Homoeopathic Pharmacy, combining the data of individual studies by different workers of the disciplines of botany / pharmacognosy and chemistry of the Council carried out over the years at various Drug Standardization Centers of the Council. This will provide a comprehensive and useful data in one place. The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, by disseminating this information to the readers, will fulfill a long felt need for such a book on different medicinal plants. This will also act as a ready reckoner for reference of the students and practical studies to be done in the laboratories as a part of their practical training in the Pharmacy laboratories.

Plants have contributed to the medicines of ailing human beings and animals since time immemorial. The homoeopathic system uses about 75% of its drugs derived from plants.

For the various stakeholders of homoeopathic medicines, viz., students, teachers, professionals and industries, the knowledge of usage of plants, their specific parts used in preparing medicines, correct scientific botanical names, synonyms if any, botanical identity through macro and microscopical studies and data regarding preparation of the mother tinctures, their organo-leptic properties along with their chemical constituents and identification tests are very much essential for quality assurance of the raw drugs and derived finished products.

The selection of plants chosen to fulfill the requirement of identification of medicinal plants specific to Homoeopathy as part of the pharmacy curriculum of the first year professional course for award of degree in Homoeopathy, have a diverse spectrum of parts of plants to study - ranging over whole plants {Andrographis paniculata, Hydrocotyle asiatica, Cynodon dactvlon, Datura stramonium, Lobelia inflata, and Vinca minor), aerial parts (Ocimum sanctum), rhizomes (Rheum officinalis), roots (Cassia sophera, Rauvolfia serpentine), leaves (Aegle folia, Ficus religiosa, Adhatoda vasica, Ocimum canum, Senna alexandrina), seeds (Coffea arabica, Datura metel, Strychnos nux-vomica), oil from seeds (Croton tiglium), stem bark (Cinchona officinalis, Holarrhena antidysenterica, Saraca asoca), fruits (Anamirta cocculus, Citrullus colocynthis, Papaver somniferum, Semecarpus anacardium], flowers (Crocus sativus) and leaves & flowers (Calendula officinalis) etc. for preparing medicine.

The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, has contributed significantly to the field of homoeopathic pharmacy by carrying out pharmacognostic and physico-chemical standardization studies for a large number of plants, from raw drug materials collected from the field for the past three decades. These data on 28 plants has been reproduced here for the benefit of students, teachers and other persons interested in identification of basic raw material leading to finished products.

In each chapter, the drug carries a picture of the plant in flowering and / or fruiting condition, along with another picture showing the specific parts used. Photomicrographs on histology of specific parts have been given wherever available. The botanical nomenclatures have been upgraded wherever necessary, along with synonyms, pertinent to those used in Homoeopathy, with the drug name in bold given as the heading. A list of common names in English and other Indian languages have also been given and the list of references have been appended at the end of each drug. The compilation will be useful for the students of homoeopathic pharmacy and also for the professionals interested in the identification of source material and quality preparation of homoeopathic drugs.

**Contents and Sample Pages**