Experiment No.

BACKGROUND OF THE PLANT,

PREPARATION OF CRUDE DRUG AND
OFFICIAL SAMPLING

Culhi, Ralph Aubrey B.

Student

Brent Jericko P. Narciso, RPh.

Instructor

February 14 , 2022
Date
OBJECTIVE:
To be able research about the plant under study and prepare a crude drug.

MATERIALS:
Textbook in Botany, Pharmacognosy and Plant Chemistry Plant samples, mortar and pestle, sieve no.
40, Jars or bottles.

PROCEDURE:
A. Background of the Plant
Official Name: Guava
Other names: Bayabas (Tagalog), Kuawa (Hawaiian)
Botanical Source of the Plant: Psidium guajava
Plant part used: Leaves
Scientific Name: Psidium guajava
Family: Myrtaceae
Cultivation and Distribution of the Plant: Guava is propagated both vegetatively and from
seeds. Although seedling trees are generally long-lived, they produce fruits of varying size
and quality. Guava is propagated using vegetative methods such as cutting, air layering,
grafting, and budding. The fruit grows in over fifty countries throughout the tropics and
subtropics, including some Mediterranean areas. Guava is grown in Spain, Portugal, Southern
France, and Israel in Europe. Guava is grown in California, Florida, and Hawaii in the United
States.
Description of the plant: Guava is a popular tropical fruit that is grown in a variety of tropical
and subtropical climates.
Reported Constituents: One whole guava contains: Calories: 37. Fat: 1 gram. Cholesterol: 0
milligrams. Sodium: 1 milligram. Carbohydrates: 8 grams. Fiber: 3 grams. Sugar: 5 grams.
Protein:1 gram.
Reported Uses: It is used in herbal medicine as antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic,
antioxidant hepatoprotective, anti-allergy, antimicrobial, anti-plasmodial, anti-cough,
antidiabetic, and antigenotoxic.

B. Preparation of Crude Drug

1. Collect the plant part and wash if necessary (to remove dust, dirt, etc.). Choices: flowers or
leaves.
2. Remove the extraneous parts (e.g. petiole). Wipe the sample with dry, clean cloth.
3. Laboratory Setting: Arrange on a pan and dry in the oven continuously for five (5) hours at
105°C. Turn the sample every now and then to have a uniform drying. At the end of the period,
test for the brittleness of the sample.
 Home Experiment Alternative: Arrange on a flat container and dry it under the sun. Turn the
sample every now and then to have a uniform drying. Once dried, test for the brittleness of
the sample. They should be able to be easily crushed by your fingers.

C. Official Sampling
Laboratory Setting:
1. The dried (brittle) sample is pulverized using mortar and pestle.
2. It is then passed through no. 40 sieve and kept in a clean, dried and tightly-covered bottle.
Home Experiment Alternative:
1. The dried (brittle) sample is pulverized using mortar and pestle.
2. It is then passed through a strainer or household sieve with the smallest opening and kept in
a clean, dried and tightly-covered 60 ml bottle amber.
3. The bottle should be half-filled with the pulverized sample. Take picture of your final output.

QUESTIONS:
1. What is a crude drug?
- Crude drugs are vegetable or animal drugs that contain natural substances that have only
been collected and dried. The term natural substances refer to substances found in nature that
have not had their molecular structure altered by man. Senna and Cinchona, for example, are
used as medicine for humans and animals, both internally and externally, to treat diseases.
Plant crude drugs are unaltered preparations of medicinal plant material.

2. Briefly explain the steps involved the preparation of a drug for commercial market.
- Before releasing a crude drug for sale on the domestic or international market, it should
be properly prepared so that the active constituents and appearance of the drug do not
deteriorate before use. The preparation of a crude drug for the market is determined by a
variety of factors, including its morphological nature, the nature of its constituents, the
geographical source, and many others. These factors must be considered during the
preparation process, which includes the following steps: collection, drying, garbling,
quality determination, and packaging.

3. When is the best time to collect different parts of plants to get better yield of the active
constituents?
- The therapeutic efficacy varies according to the time of year or season. The constituent and
active principles vary significantly throughout the year, and the majority of plant
materials are usually best collected during the dry season, when the herbs are at their peak
maturity and concentration. To preserve the ingredients and prevent oxidation, dry as
quickly as possible, away from direct sunlight.
4. Enumerate the methods of drying drugs and give an advantage and a disadvantage of each.
- Natural Drying (Sun-Drying)
o Advantages – Cheap and does not require energy
o Disadvantage – Takes longer to dry
- Artificial Drying
o Advantages – better control of drying and the product are in uniformity and good
quality
o Disadvantage – The initial investment cost and maintenance required over a
period of time.
5. Why drugs pulverized especially in the extraction process?
- The drying process assists in removing excess water and enzyme activity from the cell.
This hampered plant metabolite mobility and further degradation. This could also help
with the extraction of secondary metabolites from plant material. Some key features for an
efficient extraction process include the loss of unnecessary pigments during drying, the
loss of extra water during drying, and an increase in total mass due to an increase in total
surface area.
6. What are the two (2) main factors to be considered in the sampling of a plant material?
- The two main factors to be considered in the sampling of a plant material are the
topography and plant species.
7. State the methods given in the USP for the sampling of vegetable drugs.
- I. It is recommended that gross samples of vegetable or animal drugs in which the
component parts are 1 cm. or less in any dimension, and ail powdered or ground drugs,
be taken by means of a sampler which removes a core from the top to the bottom of the
container, not less than two cores being taken in opposite directions; that when the total
weight of the drug to be sampled is less than 100 kilos (200 pounds) at least 250 g. shall
constitute an official sample. When the total weight of the drug to be sampled is in excess
of 100 kilos, repeated samples shall be taken by the above method, and according to the
schedule given below, mixed and quartered, two of the diagonal quarters being rejected,
the remaining two quarters being combined and carefully mixed, and again subjected to
a quartering process in the same manner until two of the quarters weigh at least 250 g.,
which latter quarters shall constitute an official sample.
- II. It is recommended that gross samples of vegetable drugs in which the component parts
are over 1 cm. in any dimension be taken by hand. When the total weight of the drug to
be sampled is less than 100 kilos, at least 500 g. shall constitute an official sample, and this
shall be taken from different parts of the container or containers. When the total weight of
the drug to be sampled is in excess of 100 kilos, repeated sample shall be taken by the
above method and according to the schedule below, mixed and quartered, two of the
diagonal quarters being rejected, and the remaining two quarters being combined and
carefully mixed, and again subjected to a quartering process in the same manner until two
of the quarters weigh not less than 500 g., which latter quarters shall constitute an official
sample. When over 100, the total number sampled should not be less than 10.
 - III. When the total weight of a drug to be sampled is less than 10 kilos it is recommended
that the above methods be followed but that somewhat smaller quantities be withdrawn,
and in no case should the final official sample weigh less than 125 g.
- IV. In addition to the withdrawing of official samples according to methods I, II, and III,
the official sample may consist of the total amount of a direct purchase made by Federal,
State, or Municipal Food and Drug Act enforcement officials.

8. What is a pharmacopeial monograph? Based on the USP ΧΧΙΙ, list the parts of a monograph
of the following: crude drug, natural product, and natural derivatives.
- A pharmacopeial monograph typically includes the ingredient's basic chemical
information, as well as a description and function (for food ingredients). A monograph
also includes detailed instructions for identification, purity tests, and other specific tests
to limit the number of undesirable impurities, all of which can be used to validate common
requirements by manufacturers and formulators concerned with the quality of their
ingredients and products.
- A monograph is a written document that reflects the quality characteristics of medicines
approved by the FDA in the United States. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) (US
FDA). Among these characteristics are:
o Identity tests are used to determine whether a specific substance is the medicine
that it claims to be.
o Strength - Testing methods and acceptable ranges for a medicine's potency, as
reflected in FDA approvals.
o Purity - Information on impurities that may be present in a medicine, as well as
the amounts allowed, as well as testing methods to identify and measure them.
o Performance - Laboratory tests used to predict and demonstrate how a medicine
will be released in the human body.
9. What are the new names of the following families: Compositae, Cruciferae, Graminae,
Labiatae, Palmae and Umbelliferae?
- Compositae – Asteraceae
- Cruciferae – Brassicaceae
- Graminae – Poaceae
- Labiatae – Lamiaceae
- Palmae – Arecaceae
- Umbelliferae – Apiaceae
Documentation: The summary of the procedures you performed in complied labelled photos.

Procedure B. Preparation of Crude Drugs

Procedure C. Official Sampling

References:
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