Pharmacognosy And Traditional Medicine Project For Pharmacy Student In Nigeria

Pharmacognosy project

We have discussed project work in Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration (P.C.A), which centers on survey method for research. The other departments in pharmacy do survey research or bench work. Bench work in these other departments during a project can cross into one another department. Lastly, bench work in projects is mainly experimental practical carried out during practical classes during school days. With this in mind, let us look at project work in the Department of Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine (P.C.G).

I will not want to repeat the process from beginning the way I did for project work in clinical pharmacy and pharmacy administration on this blog and future post. However, here is a summary;
Get to know your project supervisor;

• Get a project topic approved
• Write your project proposal
• Once approved, fire down with the research

Bench Work In PCG

Pharmacognosy and traditional medicine project is more or less the process of drug development and design. It begins with getting the source identified by a professional in that field. If it is a plant, a taxonomist has to identify the plant. This is to prove that the species is not an adulterant of the plant of study. Note that research must not always be on a plant. Traditional remedies also include any material of natural origin such as rocks. However, it is very rare to find topics relating to other natural sources.
Read Also: How To Write A Project Proposal For Pharmacy students In Nigeria
Confirmation of the species leads to the next step, which is to harvest the plant. It is very important to note the time of harvest, the geography, season etc. as those variables can alter the nature of chemical in these plants. Some projects topics are repetition with the difference in the variables such as when a project work is done on a plant in Brazil and that in Nigeria. Both topics and process are the same but the geography of the plant is different. Sometimes, the effects of these same plant at different locations can be different. A plant in Brazil may have fewer metabolites due to location variables. That is why those values are important.
The next thing is to dry the plants part that is wanted. It could be the root, stem, or leave. The dried part is further ground to powder form. The weight is measured and the unit noted. Extraction carried out using a method approved by the project supervisor. The process is simple. It involves adding an extracting solvent into a container with the powdered substance. The solvent is filtered out leaving out the shaft. The solvent is further process to separate the solvent from the plant's metabolites.
The metabolites will be concentrated. Methods employed here are many. It could be by heating using a hot plate which can alter the nature of the metabolites or oven. The best choice depends on the available resources. The extract is stored in the refrigerator until it is time to use it. Note that the refrigeration may not be necessary if the project is to be carried out immediately. However, this is likely impossible due to lectures and classes.
From here, the main project starts. Screening the extracts for the nature of phytochemical or metabolites it contains. Screening involves adding certain chemicals to a small quantity of the extract and observing the reaction. Since these reactions are standard, each reaction type determines if a particular compound is in the extract. The laboratory of pharmacognosy and traditional medicine is capable of handling such practical. Lastly, screening using chromatographic analysis to count the number of spots from that species is a kind of a confirmatory analysis.
At this junction, the project can branch to pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical microbiology or pharmacology and therapeutic.
When a particular compound from the extract is desire or there is the need for the modification of the extract, some techniques employed in pharmaceutical chemistry laboratory is vital. E.g., to get a + or – nature of a compound in the extract. The resulting compound, depending on the project topic will move to pharmacology or pharmaceutical microbiology laboratory.
In pharmacology, animals are involved. The bench work here includes using serial dilutions of the extracts on certain animals of the same age or weight and observing the effects on these animals. The route of administration matters a lot. All these are the things to note down as the project progresses.
If screening for antimicrobial activities, it is in microbiology laboratory the student will find himself/herself. Here the students will have to get a particular species of microorganism. Variation of the strength of the extract use and the level of inhibition of these microbes is to be observed.
A future post on project work in pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmaceutical microbiology, and pharmacology is coming soon in this blog.

Survey In PCG

On the other hand, survey methods are similar to that of PCA. To summarise, it involves doing interviews or questions. This interview includes travelling to places to get desire audience. Information can range from how the locals appreciate traditional medicine etc. Others can involve the type of herbs used in treating certain diseases in some part of the country. Believe me or not, this is more difficult than going for bench work.
After getting results in both, analysis begins. Analysis using SPSS or other analytical software can ease the pain. However, a couple of people in town specializes in analyzing result for students with some fee.
Read Also: Clinical Pharmacy And Pharmacy Administration project Pattern In Nigeria
Once the result of the analysis is out, project write-up begins. After approval of the write-up, the student is to print two copies. One of the two copies bounded with a soft paper submitted to the department. The external supervisor is to receive that copy. That copy on the day of the external defence returns to the student after effecting the correction. The student uses the returned copy to make the correction. Four copies of a hardback with the colour approved by the department submitted together with the copy corrected by the external supervisor.
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