Trends in Pharmacognosy: A modern science of natural medicines

Natural medicines have been used to enhance human and veterinary health since time immemorial and the success of modern medical science largely depends on drugs originally obtained from natural resources. In the past, traditional medicinal knowledge prevalent in the form of holy books, incantations, folklores, Materia Medica and other historical literature defined the preliminary guidelines for the authorization of plant derived natural medicines. The conventional medical practices adopted for identification and authentication of natural remedies eventually framed the botanico-chemical approach to Pharmacognosy during the early 19th century. However, the last 200 years witnessed a substantial metamorphosis in the principles and practices of Pharmacognosy and it has become an essential domain of modern pharmaceutical science as a multidisciplinary high-tech science of natural medicines. In a contemporary context, the systematic study of natural medicines in terms of purity, potency, consistency and safety have become the major issues in Pharmacognosy. Moreover, most of the present day's drug discoveries have been increasingly adopting traditional medicine based approaches to increase results and to address safety concerns. Thus, Clinical Pharmacognosy, Analytical Pharmacognosy and Industrial Pharmacognosy have been established as the specialized and professional offshoots of Pharmacognosy to meet the contemporary advancements in the field of Pharmacognosy. Furthermore, Molecular Pharmacognosy, Genomic Pharmacognosy and Metabolomic Pharmacognosy have been deemed as the promising approaches of Pharmacognosy research to accommodate future demands in molecular biology, biotechnology and analytical chemistry of natural medicines plus medicinal plants. Nevertheless, interdisciplinary collaborative research programmes are essential for integrated development of traditional medicines and Pharmacognosy research and education.