GPAT Pharmacognosy Syllabus

Pharmacognosy syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Pharmacognosy in GPAT, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introductory Pharmacognosy

   31 topics

   • Classification of crude drugs
   • Plant products
   • Principles of plant classification
   • Pharmaceutical aids
   • Animal products
   • Traditional herbal drugs
   • Plants based industries and research institutes in India
   • Patents
   • Ayurvedic system of medicine
   • Homeopathic system of medicine
   • Toxic drugs
   • Enzymes
   • Natural pesticides and insecticides
   • Adulteration and evaluation of crude drugs
   • Quantitative microscopy
   • Factors influencing quality of crude drugs
   • Techniques in microscopy
   • Introduction to phytoconstituents
   • Biogenetic pathways
   • Carbohydrates & lipids
   • Tannins
   • Volatile oils
   • Resinous drugs
   • Glycosides
   • Alkaloids
   • Extraction and Isolation Techniques
   • Phytopharmaceuticals
   • Quality control and Standardization of herbal drugs
   • Herbal formulations
   • Worldwide trade of crude drugs and volatile oils
   • Herbal cosmetics

Pharmacognosy flashcards for GPAT

18 of 60 cards from the Pharmacognosy deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Define Pharmacognosy and state the origin of the term.

   Pharmacognosy is the study of crude drugs of natural origin (plant, animal, mineral) and their physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties. The term derives from Greek 'pharmakon' (drug) and 'gnosis' (knowledge).

2. What are the main systems (bases) used for classification of crude drugs?

   Alphabetical, Taxonomical (biological), Morphological, Pharmacological (therapeutic), Chemical, and Chemotaxonomical classification.

3. What is the basis of morphological classification of crude drugs, and how are drugs grouped under it?

   It is based on the plant part used. Organized drugs: leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, woods, barks, roots, rhizomes. Unorganized drugs (no cellular structure): gums, resins, latex, oils, extracts.

4. Distinguish organized vs unorganized crude drugs with examples.

   Organized drugs are direct plant parts with cellular structure (leaf, bark, root e.g. Cinchona, Senna). Unorganized drugs are products/exudates lacking cellular structure (gums e.g. acacia, resins e.g. asafoetida, oils, extracts like agar, opium).

5. What is chemotaxonomy?

   Chemotaxonomy is classification of plants based on their chemical constituents (biomarkers/secondary metabolites), correlating chemical profile with taxonomic relationships.

6. Name important plant-based research institutes in India for pharmacognosy/medicinal plants.

   CIMAP (Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Lucknow), CDRI (Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow), NBRI (National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow), RRL/IIIM Jammu, and CSIR labs.

7. What is a patent, and what is the standard term of a product patent in India under the Patents Act?

   A patent is an exclusive statutory right granted to an inventor for a novel, non-obvious, industrially applicable invention. In India the term is 20 years from the date of filing.

8. What landmark case relates to patenting of traditional knowledge, and what database protects Indian traditional knowledge?

   The turmeric and neem patent revocations are landmark cases. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) documents Ayurveda/Siddha/Unani knowledge to prevent wrongful patents (biopiracy).

9. List the basic principles (panchamahabhutas / tridosha) of the Ayurvedic system of medicine.

   Ayurveda is based on the Panchamahabhuta theory (five elements: Akash, Vayu, Agni, Jala, Prithvi) and the Tridosha theory of three humors: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha; health is balance among them.

10. State the guiding principle of the Homeopathic system of medicine.

    'Similia similibus curentur' (like cures like) given by Samuel Hahnemann. Remedies are highly diluted and potentized; based on the law of similars, law of infinitesimals (minimum dose), and drug proving.

11. Define adulteration of crude drugs and name its main types.

    Adulteration is substitution of the original drug partly or wholly with inferior, spurious or defective substances. Types: substitution with substandard material, artificially manufactured substitutes, inferior commercial varieties, exhausted drugs, superficially similar inferior drugs, addition of foreign matter.

12. List the standard methods of evaluation of crude drugs.

    Organoleptic (morphological/sensory), Microscopic, Physical, Chemical, and Biological evaluation.

13. Name the important physical (proximate) parameters used to evaluate crude drugs.

    Moisture content, total ash, acid-insoluble ash, water-soluble ash, sulphated ash, alcohol-soluble and water-soluble extractive values, swelling index, foaming index, and crude fibre content.

14. What does acid-insoluble ash indicate in crude drug evaluation?

    Acid-insoluble ash measures silica (sand and earthy matter) remaining after boiling total ash with dilute HCl; high values indicate adulteration with sand/earthy contamination.

15. Define quantitative microscopy and list its main determinations.

    Quantitative microscopy is microscopical evaluation using numerical leaf constants: stomatal number, stomatal index, vein-islet number, veinlet termination number, palisade ratio, and trichome/lycopodium spore counts.

16. Give the formula for stomatal index.

    Stomatal Index (SI) = [S / (S + E)] x 100, where S = number of stomata per unit area and E = number of epidermal cells in the same area.

17. Define palisade ratio.

    Palisade ratio is the average number of palisade cells beneath one (each) upper epidermal cell; it is a constant useful for identifying powdered leaf drugs.

18. Define vein-islet number and veinlet termination number.

    Vein-islet number is the number of vein-islets per square mm of leaf in the central region. Veinlet termination number is the number of free vein endings per square mm; both are constant for a species.

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