The course is designed to provide the student basic information about practical pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, including quality control using microscopy to identify different medicinal plants part including: roots, rhizomes, fruits and seeds in comparison with monographic data provided by pharmacopoeia. Also, this practical course provides students with the required practical skills of natural product analysis including herbal sample preparation (drying and grinding), extraction, separation (chromatography; TLC) and characterization.
The applications covered include some selected medicinal herbs and their extractions that are rich in various phytochemical groups such as; alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins.. etc., particularly covered by theoretical courses.