Drugs and their recognition

Hops is a drug derived from hops, used in the fermentation of beer; it is a brownish drug, greasy to the touch, which is characterized by the set of secretory scales present in the internal part of the bracts of the female inflorescence of hops.

Coal, another pulverized drug of animal or vegetable origin, is easily distinguished from others due to its highly pronounced black color. Animal coal is derived from the carbonization of slaughterhouse waste (bones, cartilage), while vegetable coal is derived from the smoldering carbonization of beech or birch woods. The use of charcoal is very pronounced in the herbal and phytotherapeutic field because it has very evident adsorbing properties. It is first of all an antitoxic product; if certain toxic substances are accidentally ingested, the subsequent intake of both vegetable and animal charcoal retains and limits the metabolization of these substances.

The main herbal use of coal is instead the carminative one (even if this term is used improperly, since carminative drugs favor the expulsion, and not the absorption, of intestinal gas); thanks to its ability to absorb intestinal gas it is indicated in the presence of meteorism or excessive flatulence.

Coal is undoubtedly a drug that presents itself, in terms of identification and distinction, with very simple characteristics.
The goal of pharmacognosy is not only to identify, characterize and discriminate, but also to evaluate the quality of the drug once identified. To this end it is necessary to adopt tools that allow to determine the quality of all drugs of herbal interest, dietary and cosmetic, including those not present in the Pharmacopoeia.

The evaluation of the total ash is a pharmacognostic criterion that allows us to appreciate the "extent of inorganic contamination; it is a" destructive "method, since it involves the complete destruction of the drug and all the organic parts that are part of it. , after being weighed, it is placed in a muffle (an oven) at high temperatures, up to 200 ° C. The heat completely destroys the organic parts, but leaves the inorganic component unaltered; from the weighing of this inorganic residue, in relation to the weight initial drug, the percentage of inorganic contamination is obtained Obviously, these evaluations are made on significant samples.

There are also tools to identify the type of inorganic material present in the drug as a contaminant; therefore, we do not stop only at the quantity of the pollutant but we get to recognize it; for example, it can be identified by evaluating the solubility or insolubility of the ashes obtained in strong acids, such as hydrochloric acid. These evaluations are of order general, not aimed at a specific category of drug, but at ascertaining the quality and identity of drugs in general order.

Other articles on "Drugs and their recognition"

1. Drugs and their recognition: Bulb and powder drugs
2. Pharmacognosy
3. Swelling index to evaluate the quality of a mucilage drug

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