Pharmacognosy 1

Aim of this course is to provide theoretical and practical knowledge on extraction and purification techniques of herbal drugs. Moreover, students will have knowledge on collection, preparation, storage and quality control of herbal drugs and their derivatives. The course gives the bases to understand the characteristics and pharmacological activities of secondary metabolites contained in medicinal plants.
The Pharmacognosy I course includes a practical class (16 hours, attendance of the lab is mandatory) that enable students to approach a pharmacognosy laboratory for the first time, putting into practice knowledge learned throughout the course. During practical class students will perform experiments in order to recognize and identify different classes of herbal drugs metabolites with pharmacological activities.

At the end of the course, students will have knowledge on extraction and purification techniques of herbal drugs; students will be able to describe processes of recognition, storage and quality control of herbal drugs and to identify the main classes of secondary metabolites and their biological effects. Moreover, students will be able to practically perform the main techniques of secondary metabolites recognition starting from different herbal origins.