Botanical Identification of Ayush - Ayurveda and Unani Drugs and its Relevance in Quality Control

 

Mohd Kashif Husain

National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders (NRIUMSD), Hyderabad

Under, Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), New Delhi.

 

ABSTRACT:

India has an age-old tradition of plant based health-care in the form of Ayush-Ayurveda, and Unani Systems of medicine. Nearly eighty percent of the formulations under these systems are plant based. Almost ninety percent of the raw materials of medicinal plants used by the Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU) manufacturing units are sourced from the natural resources. Correct identification of a plant species is the most critical task, which demands application of knowledge and skill. The events of misidentification of the plant species, involuntary use of totally dissimilar species or by closely related inferior quality species can deter the therapeutic values and efficacy of the botanical drugs. Historically, the physician or the traditional healer was known to manage the whole supply chain, right from collection of herbs up to the preparation and dispensing of the medicine. The supply chain of crude drugs obtained from the medicinal plants has, however, become a multi-stakeholders activity, often lacks the botanical expertise to provide adequate documentation of the identification of plant materials whether wild-harvested or cultivated. The importance and different needs of plant collectors (WHO and NMPB guidelines) and manufacturers in regard to authentic botanical identification and its role in quality considerations; Quality Assurance (QA) are outlined and discussed. This review places emphasis on the importance of botanical identification, nomenclature, including its historical development and botany as a basic established discipline for valid identification of the plant origin drugs used in pharmacognostical research and quality control of the plant product.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Indian Systems of Medicine (Ayush-Ayurveda and Unani) have been used for hundreds of years for healing and preventative health care all over the world. Among Indian systems, Ayurveda is the oldest system with documented history of its practice since more than five thousand years, whereas the Unani (Greco-Arab) System of Medicine (USM) originated in Greece and passed through many countries before establishing itself in India during the medieval period. The Arabs introduced the Unani system of medicine to India in the 8^th century and soon it caught the attention of the masses¹. During the period between the 13^th-17^thcentury, the Unani System of Medicine established its roots in India.

 

USM is based on well-established knowledge and practices relating to the promotion of positive health and prevention of disease. The fusion of traditional knowledge of ancient civilizations like Egypt, Arabia, Iran, China, Syria and India, these systems are being practised in the country with diverse preferences of people and infrastructural facilities. USM have more than twenty five centuries of legacy established by Hippocrates (Father of Medicine) and put forward by many eminent Unani Physicians like Avicenna, Galen, Razi, of well-known civilizations; Egypt, Romans  and Arabs.

 

Ayurveda is an ancient health system of India, originated in the Vedic times around 5000 years ago. There are three natural origin medicinal substances used in Ayurvedic System; (1) Immobile-plant (Audbhid), (ii) Mobile-animal (Jangama) and (iii) Earth origin-minerals (Parthiva). The first description of these substances is found in “Charaka-Samhita” and the “Sushruta–Samhita”, the original scriptures of  Ayurveda and later in other Ayurvedic treatises². In Ayurveda plants are the major source (ca.80%) of medicinal substances obtained from nature besides, animal (12%) and (8%) minerals (Fig.1).

 

Ayurvedic formulations use combinations of a selection of nearly 1200 species, of which, 500 are traded commercially. Ayurveda uses medicinal plants in various forms: in 30 per cent cases only the roots are used, in another 13 per cent only the bark and it is only in about 16 per cent that the whole plant is used. In other cases fruits, leaves, flowers, rhizome and seeds are also used as a source of medicine. It is commonly thought that medicinal plants are mainly herbs, but in fact about one-third are trees. The majority of plants used in Ayurveda are procured from the wild, though nearly 10-15 per cent is under cultivation^2-5.

 

The most illustrious scholars in the history of Unani Medicine, Galen, collected and systematically arranged the most of the medical knowledge of his time, in a way that continued to be authoritative document for the next centuries.Greek and Roman medicinal practices, as preserved in the writings of Hippocrates and Galen, formed the roots for later Greco-Arab and Islamic medicine and modern Western medicine. Theophrastus (about 300 BC), in his book ‘History of Plants’, dealt with the medicinal qualities of herbs, and noted the ability to change their characteristics through cultivation. Dioscorides (100 AD) mentioned the collection, storage, and use of medicinal herbs, and Galen (130-200) wrote 30 books on these subjects, and is well known for his complex prescriptions and formulas used in compounding drugs, sometimes containing dozens of ingredients. Taken together, a vast medical literature explored the synthesis and practice of medicinal plants was developed². 

 

Taxonomical Identification and Nomenclature:

The study of identification, nomenclature (naming) and classification of objects is called taxonomy³. Plant taxonomy is the science of classifying and naming the plant antedate recorded history. The word taxonomy itself comes from the Greek word “Taxo”, which means, “to put in order or arrange”. Taxonomy, is one of the oldest fields of the biological sciences, is “theory and practice of    classification” ⁴.

 

Nomenclature, which is a major component of the taxonomy, is the assignment of names utilizing a formal system. The criteria for formally naming land plants, algae, and fungi are based on the rules and recommendations of the- ‘International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), which was formerly called the-‘International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN); the name was changed at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne⁴ in July 2011.The ICN governs the rules both for the specific names assigned to taxa and for the name endings that denote taxon rank. The ICN is utilized in two basic activities; (1) Naming new taxa, which were previously unnamed and often not described; and  (2) Determining the correct name for previously named taxa, which may have been divided, united, transferred, or changed in rank.

 

The scientific names of species are binomials, i.e., composed of two names. The binomial convention was first consistently used by Carolus Linnaeus (also known as Carl Linn or Carl von Linn.), a Swedish botanist, who is often referred to as the father of taxonomy. Prior to the use of binomials, the designation of species was inconsistent and may have utilized several words.

 

Fig 1. Medicinal Substances in Ayurveda

 

Identification is the process of associating an unknown entity with a known entity (or recognizing that the unknown entity does not have a known counterpart). Plant identification entails studying a plant or plant specimen and making a decision as to whether the plant belongs to a particular taxon, e.g., to a species. This identification rests on the prior description, both of the unknown plant and of the taxa that are possibilities. In considering the possible taxa, it is critical to evaluate the diagnostic characterization (diagnosis) of each, which is a listing of all the features of a taxon that distinguish it from all other taxa. If the characteristics of the unknown entity fall within the range of the diagnosis of a known one, then identification is made⁵.  

 

Understanding Classical Ayurvedic Nomenclature and Identification:

(Namajnana and Rupajnana)

The nomenclature of Ayurveda is not a binomial system as adopted by modern botany. The concept of “Nama” (nomenclature)-“rupa” (morphology/ character) – “jnana” (the knowledge) was further developed in “Charaka Samhita” as well as “Susruta Samhita” much before than the ‘Latin scientific name’ is coined to a plant. In Ayurveda, there are many names for a single entity and a single name is used to denote many plants. So it is essential to understand the way Ayurvedic nomenclature works ¹.

 

Nomenclature (Latin Scientific Name) of the Ayurvedic Plant Origin Drugs:

Diverse traditional medicare practices prevalent in India attracted the attention of many western colonial rulers, traders and explorer to study and document the plant wealth of India. In India, when this knowledge reached to the seers of a particular region, they analyzed the various aspect of the plant based on some salient features, a name was assigned first time to that plant, known as Basonym. This Basonym became the starting point of different Synonyms, which are coined mainly on the basis of morphological features, action, properties, place of origin and effect of drugs⁶.  A good number of binominal nomenclatures have its Sanskrit name based on the vegetable drugs as evident from William Roxburghi's, “Flora Indica”. The Dutch Governor of Malabar, Heinrrich van Rheede, an amateur botanist, made a large collection of plants with the help of Ayurvedic Physician and published a description of them in “Hortus Indicus Malabaricus” (1687-1693) in 12 volumes. Hortus Malabaricus signifies not only as the first classical work published on the medicinal plant botany of the world, but also forms the basis of many new genera and species described by Carl Linnaeus and subsequent botanists ^3,5-7. Few examples of Botanical nomenclature based on Sanskrit names are mentioned in Table1.

 

Table 1. Botanical Nomenclature Based on Sanskrit Names ²  

S. No.	Sanskrit Name(s)	Botanical Name(s)
1.	Asoka	Saraca asoca (Roxb.)
2.	Arjuna	Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC) Wight &Arn
3.	Devadaru	Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don
4.	Dhatura	Datura metel L.
5.	Karvi	Carum carvi L.
6.	Nirgundi	Vitex negundo L.
7.	Tamala	Cinnamomum tamala (Buch. Ham.) T. Nees & Eberm.
8.	Jatamansi	Nardostachys jatamansi (D. Don) DC.
9.	Vasa	Justicia adhatoda L., Syn. Adhatoda vasica Nees,

 

The all aforesaid Sanskrit names are well seen in the original text of Ayurveda under two important chapters in Sutrasthana” of the “Charaka Samhita” and “Susruta Samhita” where rationale based classification of Ayurvedic plants have been discussed ⁶.  

 

Misidentification of Ayurvedic and Unani Plant Drugs:

Several floras, such as the "Flora of British India" and regional floras of various Indian states and regional areas contain descriptions of the plants with valid botanical names. Subsequent to the publication of these Indian floras, efforts were made to correlate the descriptions of Ayurvedic drugs given in classical Sanskrit literature and Unani drugs in classical Arabic, Persian and Urdu literature to the scientific botanical names. Despite the fact that the classical literature contains precise descriptions of the drugs, the failure to identify the botanical sources of these drugs was most likely due to a lack of knowledge of the classical literature as well as misinterpretation by many commentators⁵.

 

Analysis of classical literature (Mohit-e-Azam, Yadgar-e-Razai and Makhzan-ul-Mufradat) on indigenous medicinal plants used in Unani system of medicine reveals that the plant origin drugs are usually referred to by their popular vernacular names. As a result, botanical identity of a large number of plants has remained doubtful and controversial even today. Short and vague description of the drug plants has been found even in authentic text book like Makhzan-ul-Mufradat (Khwas-ul-Adviyah). During the Unani documentation work from Makhzan-ul-Mufradat (Urdu), some workers have come across five different plant species that are described as Thuhar⁸. Precaution and proper identification should be done prior to prescribe it as a therapeutic agent. Based on the knowledge and experience of local flora, the botanical identity of the plants can be fixed by comparing it with the ethnomedicinal uses and other relevant scientific validation.

 

Non-availability of the species naturally, poor or distorted understanding and paralleled evolving new knowledge systems are the three major reasons for looking for alternatives and  the addition of wrong or incorrect multiple identities of  the Ayurveda and Unani drugs, resulted in botanical identification controversy⁵.

 

Challenges in Botanical Species Identification and Biosystematics:

The identification of a species has always been a subject of criticism and revisions. It must be at par with scientific recognition. The main challenges in species identification are; 1. An identified species may be a part of another species. 2. Different plant species may belong to the same species complex. 3. Two morphologically alike entities may belong to different species 4. The identification of a species may not tally with the scientific recognition of that species.

 

Biosystematics has been defined as the most dynamic form of taxonomy which is concerned with establishment of variation pattern based primarily on population sampling, ecological observations and genetic experiments⁹. It is traditional in one hand and modern on the other. This is the field-based natural science through which life forms are discovered, identified, described, named, classified and catalogued ¹⁰. Biosystematics facilitates the identification of species from the entire or fragments of leaves, even in the absence of flowers or fruits. It is also useful for the identification of very old preserved or partially digested/decomposed plant parts also in form of pastes, juice, infusion, decoction, and pharmaceutically and nutraceutically important products

 

Macro and Microscopical Identification:

The significance of classic macro-morphological evaluation of traditional herbal drugs is emphasized by World Health Organization (WHO) in their Guidelines¹¹ for the – ‘Quality Assessment of Herbal Medicines’, that states: Visual inspection provides the simplest and quickest means by which to establish identity, purity and, possibly, quality. If a sample is found to be significantly different, in terms of color, consistency, odor or taste, from the specifications, it is considered as not fulfilling in the requirements.’’

 

The macroscopic study includes organoleptic characters i.e. the occurrence, size, shape, colour, surface markings, margins (leaf), texture, fracture, internal appearance, cut surfaces, odour and taste of the crude drug. The microscopical character encompasses the detection of the type of cell and cell contents as well as the arrangement of cells in tissues. Macroscopical techniques are primarily applied to crude plant materials. The macroscopic assessment of crude plant materials allows for the instant detection of foreign matter, dirt, and potentially adulterating materials. This instant examination provides valuable insights for determining the quality of the material, whether it is good enough to be use in formulations and medicinal products. The visual characters are examined by the eye or with a magnifier; purposely for the examination of leaves, the relevant characters such as; size, shape, margin, apex, base, and venation, and distribution of hairs and the presence, absence, and type of glands were considered most. In some cases, leaf material requires rehydration prior to examination as many leaves, especially those that are thin and papery, curl when dry. Rehydration allows for the leaf to be flattened and observed in its relatively intact form. The observable features are compared against a botanical reference material or against an authoritative description to determine if all observable features confirm and that the sample lacks non-conforming features¹².  

 

Significance of Botanical Identification in Standardization and Quality Control (QC):

The correct identification of the desired species projected for the use in botanical preparations, is the first step in quality control and an essential component of Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). The correct botanical identity, i.e., the proper genus and species of the medicinal plant, must be assured along with other important quality considerations such as; taste, smell/fragrance, microbial limits, potency, safety and efficacy⁵.  

 

Standardization is the essential key to ensure quality, safety and efficacy of the drug. It also builds the confidence among consumers. Therefore, the identification of the genuine plant material is very much necessary and important right from the start. Standard operative procedures (SOP) based on Ayurvedic and Unani classics, large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants in its natural habitat, post-harvesting technology, proper storage conditions to preserve drug potency, analytical profile of aqueous, hydro-alcoholic, or any other extract, and analysis of compound mixtures with the biologically active markers are very much desirable.

 

In ancient times, the Ayurvedic and Unani physicians were used to be very concerned about producing high-quality standard drugs by personally involving themselves in the production process till the final product is developed. Now a days, commercialization has changed the scenario and majority of the pharmaceutical industry is dependent upon the crude drug market where number of spurious medicinal substances, adulterants, and substitutes are sold. This needs to be addressed by botanical identification and authentication to provide quality standard drugs to the end users.

 

Standardization, optimization and full control of growing conditions, guarantee a cost-effective and quality-controlled production of many plant-derived products of Ayurveda and Unani systems. This kind of standardization and quality control of the plant-based drugs improves the safety of the plant origin drugs and promote its usage.

 

World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines:

By resolution WHA56.31 on traditional medicine, Member States requested WHO "to provide technical support for development of methodology to monitor or ensure product safety, efficiency and quality, preparation of guidelines, and promotion of exchange of information”. WHO has developed a series of technical guidelines relating to the quality control of herbal medicines of which these WHO guidelines¹³ on good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants.

 

1.     The Botanical Identity – scientific name (genus, species, subspecies/variety, author, and family) – of each medicinal plant under cultivation should be verified and recorded.

2.     Specimens: To the identity of a botanical species, a voucher botanical specimen should be submitted to a regional or national herbarium for identification

 

NMPB Guidelines, Harvesting of Medicinal Plant Produce:

Quality Considerations (Botanical authenticity of species):

As per NMPB guidelines botanical identity must be established before a plant species is collected from the wild. The comprehensive identity of the plant from which the produce is being collected should be verified and recorded. The information sought should include - genus, species, sub-species, if any, along with author citation. The species collected should be same as described in ASU Pharmacopoeias of India. If a new medicinal plant species is being collected, which does not have any monographs in any of the pharmacopoeias or reference books, its identity should be established in consultation with BSI or FRI or any recognized national or regional herbaria ¹⁴.    

 

DISCUSSION:

Humans have been identifying and selecting the medicinal plants and foods based on organoleptic assessment of suitability and quality for thousands of years. Medicinal plants have been a resource for healing in local communities around the world for thousands of years. Still it remains of contemporary importance as a primary healthcare mode for approximately 85% of the world’s population¹⁵. In India, the first description of the medicinal substances is mentioned in ancient original scriptures of Ayurvedic texts; “Charaka-Samhita”, “Sushruta–Samhita” and Rig Veda. The Rig Veda included herbal medicine formulations of 67 herbs such as; ginger, cinnamon, senna, serpent wood and garlic¹⁶.  

 

Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek doctor, gathered the uses and properties of medicinal plants in the text; ‘De Materia Medica’. This is the first document which contained a compendium of more than 500 plants continued to be used as an authoritative reference into the 17^th  century^17-18. Romans adapted the Greek theories with the help of the physician Galen who revived Hippocrates’ ideas on pathology with the concept of the ‘humours’ and described the bodily fluids which corresponded to the four elements and their respective temperaments. Galen¹⁹ made them into his own theories between 129-210 AD.  

Avicenna in ‘The Cannon of Medicine, carried forward the Galen’s theories which documented the medicinal properties of the plants²⁰.  In the 13th century, the Andalusian-Arab botanist, Abu al-Abas al-Nabati introduced the experimental scientific method into the material medica field which included testing, description and identification methods. In the same century Ibn Al-Baitar, a botanist, described more than 1400 types of herbs, foods and drugs in Kitab al-Jami‘ li-Mufradat al-Adwiyawal-Aghdhiya, Kitab al-Mughni fi-l-Adwiya al-Mufrada – lists some 1400 drugs of plants, animal and mineral origin²¹. Over 300 of these herbals were based on his own discovery. He also published the book entitled-‘The Corpus of Simples’, which was the most complete Arab herbal documentation which introduced 200 new remedial herbs, including; aconite, tamarind, and nux-vomica. This complete primer on herbs was widely read in the 18^th century¹⁷.  In the Medieval Ages the Greeco-Arab scholar’s manuscript covered the subjects of material medica, crude drugs, their taxonomy or identification (pharmacognosy), pharmacology, distribution as well as their procurement from different sources or through cultivation. They have not only made remarkable contributions of indexing the medicinal flora of various regions but they have added new experiences in therapeutics to the existing knowledge²¹. These manuscripts are mostly in Arabic and Persian in which most of the manuscripts of biological sciences have been compiled in the Middle Ages²¹. These efforts lead to the development of the science of pharmacology and pharmacognosy.

 

Heber W. Youngken, Sr. defined the pharmacognosy as ‘the science which treats of the history, commerce, collection, selection, identification, valuation and preservation of crude drugs, and other raw materials of vegetable of animal origin” ²². Plant origin drugs by nature are diverse and complex. Whether, as historically known,” crude drugs or one calls dried plant materials, herbs, spices or botanicals, careful attention to identify is the basis of traditional pharmacognosy,”. Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) begin with the correct identification of the source plant material. A herbarium, which is a collection of dried pressed specimens, identified by botanical experts is the reference standard by which the plant identification is established by different workers since long. According to Heber²², “There has always been a wide variance in the quality of crude drugs (i.e., medicinal plants). This is generally due to one or more of the following causes: (1) Deficiency in knowledge or carelessness on the part of the collector; (2) Want of care in preparing them for the market;  (3) Carelessness in removing foreign objects [garbling]; (4) Carelessness in storing and preserving them; (5) Accidental contamination with another drug; (6) Adulteration; and  (7) Substitution.

 

The most important aspects of Quality Control (QC) include the correct identification, relative purity, and relative quality of raw material used in herbal products. The safety of any medicinal product is partly dependent on the manner in which the product is produced²³.  QC and the standardization of the traditional medicines involve several steps. The source and quality of raw materials, good agricultural practices and manufacturing processes are certainly essential steps for the quality control of herbal medicines and play a pivotal role in guaranteeing the quality and stability of the formulations. Quality refers to the status of a drug and is based on three important pharmacopoeial definitions such as; identity, purity, and content of active constituents. Voucher specimens are reliable reference sources.  

 

The adulteration of drugs or foods, defined as “any practice which, through intent or neglect, results in a variation of the strength and/or purity from the professed standard”²⁴. Although individuals, organizations, industry, and government are actively working to establish national quality control (QC) standards, but current standards are not aguarantee because drugs in commerce are frequently adulterated or misidentified and do not comply with the standards prescribed for authentic drug identification right from the beginning of product. Misidentification of botanicals can cause negative publicity and lawful action against the botanical industry, and if the adulteration involves a poisonous or toxic plant material, it can cause real harm to the end users²⁵.  For standard traditional herbal drug production at industrial level, source herbal ingredients should be analyzed in detail in respect of quality, efficacy, performance and safety because drugs in commerce are frequently adulterated and do not comply with the standards prescribed for authentic drug.

 

The WHO ¹³ defined the good manufacturing practices (GMPs) as ‘codes of practice designed to reduce to a minimum the chance of procedural, instrument or manufacturing plant problems that could adversely affect a manufactured product’. They specify “many requirements for quality control of starting materials, including correct identification of species of medicinal plants, special storage and special sanitation and cleaning methods for various materials”. Correct identification of species of medicinal plants is one of the most critical aspects for all the regulatory bodies at national or international level.

 

CONCLUSION:

The botanical identification of the medicinal plants had a long history for ASU drugs as their identification process are mentioned in classical texts. The medicinally useful plant origin drugs must have their specific identity as per the pharmacopeia of different systemsand should be correctly ascertained with standardized circumscription and nomenclature for quality control and prevention of adulteration of drugs. The toxic effects of adulterant compromised the safety issues. Ensuring the authenticity of the medicinal plant parts is the real challenge as the majority of botanical ingredients in trade are composites of different batches from multiple sources, making identification documentation of specific batch very difficult. Stakeholders must be encouraged to adopt the GACP and GMP guidelines proposed by WHO, NMPB and ICMR, in order to improve the quality, safety and efficacy of the finished ASU products as well as to suitably address the socio-economic and environmental issues related to medicinal plants.

 

Botany still remains to be the primary prevailing scientific discipline for the plant identification. Botanical scientific methods for identification are often incorrectlyconsidered to be less accurate than more modern chemical and molecular techniques. Classical botany and traditional macro-morphological evaluation methods represent the basis of identification. All identification and analytical methods; botanical, physical and chemical tests that are present in pharmacopoeias are methodically correct, if these techniques are used for ensuring the quality assessment of medicinal plant parts, its identification and purity, in a scientifically valid manner.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The author has no conflicts of interest.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

The authors would like to thank Prof. Asim Khan, Director-General, Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) for providing necessary facilities.

 

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Accepted on 11.02.2022           © RJPT All right reserved

Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2022; 15(11):5177-5183.