Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

The course of Applied Pharmacognosy aims to provide students with the necessary knowledge for the standardization and quality evaluation of herbal products, in particular with regard to the official methods required by European Pharmacopoeia. The student will acquire knowledge about the assays used for the identification of herbal drugs, for characterizing their metabolomic fingerprinting and for studying their pharmaco-toxicological activity. This will allow the student to acquire specific professional skills on the analytical methods applied to botanicals, in particular the identification of the crude herbal material and the analysis of specific phytochemical groups. The course is based on lectures aimed at developing communication skills and technical language through the classroom interaction with the lecturer. In addition, the planned laboratory practices allow the student to acquire practical skills related to both macroscopic and microscopic analysis of herbal drugs, in order to detect any possible sophistication or falsification. Taking advantage of the lecturer support, the student will explore specific topics on botanicals by searching for suitable bibliographic materials through looking up medical and scientific databases. During the course, the student will be stimulated to critically evaluate the challenges and problems often encountered with herbal drugs, in particular the need for the standardization of all the production chain steps and for the rational and safe use of the finished herbal medicinal products. The course will also allow the student to develop communication skills and autonomy of learning, useful to perform subsequent studies or for the self-updating.

Programme

The syllabus of Applied Pharmacognosy is divided into five major sections. In the first section (4 h), the general aspects of Pharmacognosy with an overview of animal and mineral pharmacognosy, and of variability and standardization of herbal drugs will be examined (point 1). In the second part (10 h), the key the processes of obtaining the herbal drug are described (cultivation and biotechnologies, processing, preparation and extraction methods) will be described (point 2). In the third part (10 h), the control processes for obtaining (GHP, GMP, GLP, HACCP) and verifying (identification, purity, control) the herbal drug quality will be defined (point 3). In the fourth part (8 h), the general aspects of biological assays on herbal drugs will be described, with in-depth analysis of in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo methods for the study of pharmacological and toxicological activities (point 4). The second, third and fourth parts will be supported by laboratory practices (24 h), mainly focused on the microscopic analysis of powdered herbal drug (14 h), spectrophotometric analysis of phytochemicals and bibliographic searching (10 h) on medicinal plants (point 5).

Introduction (point 1)
Basic concepts of Pharmacognosy (medicinal plant, drug, herbal drug, principle active, phytocomplex, balsamic time, herbal medicine, botanicals). The importance of Applied Pharmacognosy. Elements of animal, marine, mineral pharmacognosy and thermal medicine. Natural mineral waters: characteristics and properties (bicarbonate, sulphate, sulphurous, sodium, calcium, fluoride, magnesium, ferruginous waters). Herbal drugs and pure compounds: advantages and disadvantages. Standardization and titration by markers. Variability of natural products.

Herbal drug production and processing (point 2)
Origin and collection of medicinal plants: spontaneous and cultivated plants, domestication and selection. Problems associated with the cultivation of medicinal plants: edaphic and climatic factors. Biological cultivation. Innovative cultivation techniques. Remediation technologies for pollutant, heavy metal and parasite contamination: bioremediation and phytoremediation. Plant biotechnologies.
Collection, harvest, cleaning and hygiene methods. Storage of crude drugs: drying, freeze-drying, stabilization, sterilization.
Crude drug preparation. Manufacturing processing and preparation of fresh drugs: hepatic aloe, glassy aloe, aloe gel, manna, coffee. Tea processing: whitering, enzymatic inactivation, rolling, fermentation and drying. White tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong tea and black tea.
Mechanical processing methods: crushing, ice-crushing, shredding and powderization processes. Powderization by mills. Powder characteristics: granulometry and sieving. Powder mixtures.
Extraction preparations. Juice preparation: squeezing technique. Essential oil preparation: squeezing, steam distillation, fractional distillation, extraction by supercritical fluids, enfleurage. Extraction of bergamot essential oil. Essential oils treatments. Aromatic waters.
Extractive preparations from fresh drugs: mother tinctures, alcoholates, glycerine macerates, integral suspension of fresh drugs. Homeopathic mother tinctures and preparation of homeopathic remedies.
Extraction preparations from dried drugs: extracts, tinctures, infusions, decoctions, herbal teas, oleolites, medicinal wine. Extract features: titration, consistency, solvent, pre-treatment, extraction method. Extract indicators: drug/solvent ratio (D/S), drug/extract ratio (DER). Refined extracts. Fluid, soft and dry extracts. Solvent evaporation methods: rotavapor and nitrogen concentrator (TuboVap). Extraction techniques: maceration, percolation, soxhlet, infusion, decoction, digestion. Aromatization and conservation.

Control processes of medicinal plant products (point 3)
Commercially-available medicinal plant products: herbal medicine, botanicals, food supplement, medical device. Quality control in the production chain of medicinal plants. Process paths: GACP, GHP, GMP, GLP, HACCP. Regulatory agencies: EFSA, EMA. Analytical paths: quality control procedures. Purity tests: total ash and ash soluble in hydrochloric acid, foreign elements, humidity, crude fiber, swelling index, bitterness index, foam index and haemolytic index. Phytochemical identification assays: anthraquinones (Boerntraeger reaction), cardioactive glycosides, alkaloids, tannins and flavonoids. Essence analysis. Fixed oil analysis. Viscosity. Chemical analysis: general concepts and purposes (fingerprint and contaminant control). Chromatographic methods: TLC, HPTLC, HPLC. Spectrophotometry.

Biological activity of plant drugs (point 4)
Biological assays and dosage. Biological control tests (sterility and microbial load). Biological activity assays. Spectrophotometric and enzyme inhibition assays: radical scavenger activity, ferrozine test (chelating and reducing activities), inhibition of α-amylase enzyme.
General aspects of in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo studies.
In vitro cell culture techniques: sterility, freezing, cultivation and amplification, cytotoxicity tests. In vitro genotoxicity studies.
In vivo studies: laboratory animals, ethical approach and 3R rule, European legislation on animal testing, housing, routes of administration. Assessment of general toxicity by Irwin test. Animal models (xenograft, allograft, orthotopic and transgenic). Animal models for the study of analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic and diuretic (metabolic cage) activity.
Studies on isolated organs: in vitro and ex vivo studies, instrumentation and principles, examples of isolated preparations of atrium and guinea pig trachea.

Laboratory practices (point 5)
Recognition and identification of herbal drugs. Morphological, macro- and microscopic analysis, organoleptic examination. Cell inclusions. Stomatic index. Microscopic analysis of herbal drugs: starches (rice, potato, corn, wheat); roots and rhizomes (rhubarb, valerian, gentian, squill, liquorice); barks (buckthorn, cascara); leaves (witch hazel, foxglove, senna); flowers (marigold, chamomile).
Spectrophotometric determination of polyphenols, tannins and flavonoids. Practice on the construction of the standard calibration line and on the calculation of the equivalents. Scavenger activity of the DPPH and ABTS radicals. Use of medical-scientific databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) for the personal research of bibliographic material on subjects relating to natural products.

Adopted texts

Didactic material provided by the lecturer.

Capasso F., Borrelli F., Longo R. (2007). Farmacognosia applicata. Controllo di qualità delle droghe vegetali. Springer, Milano.

Bibliography

- Mazzanti G., Dell'Agli M., Izzo A.A. - Farmacognosia e Fitoterapia - Basi farmacologiche e aspetti applicativi - Ed. Piccin (2020) - Heinrich M., Barnes J., Gibbons S., Williamson E.M. – Edizione italiana a cura di Galeotti N., Mazzanti G., Serafini M. (2015). FONDAMENTI DI FARMACOGNOSIA E FITOTERAPIA. Edra S.p.a., Milano. - Capasso F. (2011). FARMACOGNOSIA Botanica, chimica e farmacologia delle piante medicinali. Springer, Milano. - Ragazzi E., Dorigo P. (1999). Droghe Animali ed Enzimi. Casa Editrice CEDAM, Padova. - European Pharmacopoeia 9a Edition

Prerequisites

To effectively follow and understand the topics covered in the course and to achieve the learning objectives, or to begin the study of the topics provided by the module, the students should possess key competences of general biology, plant biology, in particular with regard to the structure and physiology of vegetable cell and plant, inorganic and organic chemistry. Furthermore, possessing key competences in Pharmacognosy is a useful but not a main requirement, since the organization of the course is based on an introduction to the general challenges of pharmacognosy and herbal medicines, which can support the student to contextualize the practical aspects of the course.

Study modes

The course is based on lectures (4 CFU) aimed at developing communication skills and technical language through the classroom interaction with the lecturer about Applied Pharmacognosy and the related challenges. The course will also allow the student to develop communication skills and autonomy of learning, useful for further training courses or for the self-updating. In addition, the planned laboratory practices allow the student to acquire practical skills related to both macroscopic and microscopic analysis of herbal drugs, in order to detect any possible sophistication or falsification, and key competences about methodologies and instruments employed for preparing and analyse herbal drugs. Taking advantage of the lecturer support, the student will explore specific topics on botanicals by individual searching for suitable bibliographic materials through looking up medical and scientific databases.

Frequency modes

Class attendance is recommended, although this is optional. In fact, the lectures will allow the student not only to acquire specific knowledge but also to develop communication skills and technical language through the interaction in the classroom with the lecturer on topics related to the course. The student will also be stimulated to formulate judgments and to critically evaluate the challenges and problems about the topic under study.

Exam modes

Learning achievements will be evaluated through a practical laboratory test and an oral exam. The practical test (180 minutes) will be focused on the microscopic analysis of powdered herbal drugs: the students will have to identify unknown samples of herbal drugs (at least two samples out of four), taking advantage of the competences acquired during laboratory practices, and will indicate the microscopic elements identified. During the oral exam, the student will illustrate and critically discuss the topics covered by the syllabus of the course and explained in the classroom.
Considering current pandemic, if the practical test should be hindered, the exam will be oral.

The exam can be passed if the score is greater than or equal to 18/30. To achieve the minimum score, the student must demonstrate to have sufficient knowledge of the general problems of the quality control of herbal drugs and of the major methodology applied for preparing and analysing herbal drugs, and basic knowledge of the characteristics of the natural compounds and their identification assays.
To achieve a score of 30/30 cum laude, the student must instead demonstrate that excellent knowledge of all the topics covered during the course and logical abilities have been acquired.
Assessment methods and criteria are the same for attending and non-attending students.

Exam reservation date start	Exam reservation date end	Exam date
23/03/2022	22/04/2022	02/05/2022
23/04/2022	23/05/2022	26/05/2022
13/05/2022	09/06/2022	13/06/2022
14/06/2022	10/07/2022	14/07/2022
16/08/2022	08/09/2022	12/09/2022
14/09/2022	05/10/2022	03/11/2022
14/10/2022	10/11/2022	14/11/2022
15/11/2022	15/12/2022	19/12/2022
22/12/2022	20/01/2023	24/01/2023