Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines or crude drugs produced from natural sources such as plants, microbes, and animals. It includes analysis of their biological, chemical, biochemical, and physical properties. It is believed that the human body finds plant-derived medicines easier to accept due to the fact that they exist in nature and are not synthetic. About 25% of prescription medicines in the USA are believed to have an active ingredient from a natural source. In developing countries, it’s estimated that about 80% of their populations rely on traditional medicines made from plants and herbs. Plants and organisms are used in a variety of ways in the production of conventional and alternative medicines. The beneficial active ingredient of the plant may be found anywhere in its physical structure, such as in the petal or stem of a flower. The natural product might be inert in its usual physical form, so it may take a chemical reaction or modification to bring it into its active form. At times, the active ingredient is extracted directly from the plant, but on other occasions the active ingredient can be produced via synthesis by creating a compound that behaves similarly to the plant extract.
