Department of Pharmacognosy

Pharmacognosy, one of the basic disciplines of pharmacy is about drugs derived from natural sources. The studies in this field usually focus on traditional uses of plants, medicines derived from plants, various types of organisms (bacteria, fungi etc.,) and recently marine organisms. The main topics of the pharmacognostical studies are natural product drug discovery, biological activities of substances obtained from natural sources, herb-drug interactions and phytotherapy. Pharmacognosy is closely related to botany, plant chemistry, microbiology and pharmacology. Pharmacognosy can be divided three main fields; Ethno-pharmacognosy, Phytotherapy and Phytochemistry.

The Department of Pharmacognosy in SCOPS is responsible for imparting studies in the field of Pharmacognosy for D. Pharm and B. Pharm students. The department creates awareness on the medicinal uses of various naturally occurring drugs along with its history, sources, distribution, method of cultivation, active constituents, identification tests, preservation methods, substitutes and adulterants of various herbs of medicinal importance. The students are also taught about the basic principles of cultivation, collection and storage of crude drugs and thereby appreciate the applications of primary and secondary metabolites of the plant. The department has well qualified staff, infrastructure as per regulatory bodies and a medicinal garden.