Types of medicinal raw materials
Medicinal raw materials are various parts of the plant (buds, leaves, flowers, inflorescences, fruits, seeds, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, bark) containing medicinal (biologically active) substances. The amount of these substances in the plant changes in different phases of the growing season (and often during the day), which determines the optimal time for collecting medicinal raw materials. The parts of plants that are richest in active substances are collected during the period when they contain the greatest amount of biologically active substances.

Kidney
In medical practice, the buds of two plant species of the Kostroma region are used: birch and pine. Birch buds are obtained from two types of birches - drooping (warty) and fluffy. Collection time: January – March. Collect the buds before they bloom. Branches with buds are cut and tied into bundles. Dry the bundles on outdoors or in a ventilated area. After drying, the kidneys are threshed to remove debris. Store in a dry place.

Pine buds are young shoots (crowns), which consist of 5-6 buds, the largest of which (up to 4 cm) is located in the center. Outside, they are pinkish-brown, covered with scales spirally arranged with curved hooks, glued together by protruding resin. The smell is fragrant. The taste is bitter-resinous. Scots pine is used to harvest the buds.
Pine buds should be collected in early spring, in February – March, before they swell and bloom, cutting off whole crowns with a part of the stem (no more than 3 mm) with a sharp knife. Dry them in a ventilated area or in the open air.

Bark
The bark of trees and shrubs (oak, viburnum, buckthorn) should be harvested in the spring, during the period of increased sap flow. At this time, it is easily separated from the wood. Later, in late spring and summer, when growth stops, the bark is removed with difficulty. To remove the bark, circular cuts are made at a distance of 25-50 cm from each other on young severed or cut off branches with a sharp knife, connected with one or two longitudinal cuts, and then removed in the form of grooves or tubes. If the bark is covered with outgrowths of bushy lichens, then they must first be thoroughly cleaned with a knife, in otherwise you can spoil the raw materials, not get a full-fledged medicine from it.

Leaves
Currently, the leaves of 13 plant species can be harvested as a medicinal plant material in the region. These include treelike aloe, black henbane, lingonberry, dope, wild strawberry, stinging nettle, lily of the valley, coltsfoot, peppermint, plantain, creeping thyme, bearberry, three-leafed watch (tripol).
Leaves of some species medicinal plants harvested during the growing season several times from the same plants. These include aloe, plantain, common dope, etc. At the same time, the collection of leaves of a number of other plants is limited to a certain period of the greatest accumulation of active substances and is carried out only once per growing season. So, the collection of lily of the valley leaves lasts about 25 days due to the lengthy phase of its flowering. After flowering, the content of active substances in the leaves decreases sharply. The leaves of the coltsfoot are harvested only in the first half of summer.
The collection of leaves begins when they are fully developed, have reached their full development. The best harvesting period is considered to be the beginning of flowering of the plant. It is not recommended to collect the leaves before flowering, since at this time the raw material is defective and, in addition, this leads to the depletion and weakening of the plants.

Flowers and inflorescences
They must be harvested at the beginning of flowering. During this period, the flowers contain more active substances, crumble less during storage, withstand drying better and retain their color. The flowers are picked by hand, plucked and the pedicels are cut off. Sometimes, to collect inflorescences, they use special devices - scoops. This is how, for example, the inflorescences of chamomile are collected. In the region, you can harvest flowers and inflorescences of 10 species of plants: sandy immortelle, blood-red hawthorn, blue cornflower, common mullein, heart-shaped linden, medicinal marigold, common tansy, chamomile, chamomile, thyme.

Fruits and seeds
In medical practice, fruits and seeds of plants are widely used. Many of them are used as raw materials for the preparation of medicines, and some are used as medicinal products. Now the fruits and seeds of 29 plant species of the region are used in medicine. These are the fruits of such plants as hawthorn, zhoster, viburnum, lemongrass, raspberries, juniper, sea buckthorn, mountain ash, caraway seeds, dill, blueberries, bird cherry, rose hips, etc.

Ripe fruits and seeds are the richest in medicinal substances. Therefore, they are harvested selectively, as they fully ripen, picking by hand, without a stalk. In rowan, caraway seeds and some other plants, in which the fruits are located in umbrellas or shields, all the inflorescences are cut off during collection, and then, after drying, they are thoroughly cleaned of the stalks. Rosehip fruits are collected together with the remains of the calyx, which remains on top of the fruit. This cup is removed after drying, rubbing the fruit with your hands. It is especially difficult to collect and dry the fruits of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. When placing them in a basket, each layer must be laid with twigs so that the fruits do not cake and do not press on each other.

Roots, rhizomes, bulbs
Harvesting of this medicinal raw material in the region can be carried out in 14 species of plants: calamus, valerian officinalis, mountaineer snake, elecampane, medicinal burnet, egg capsules, cinquefoil, onion, medicinal dandelion, rhodiola rosea, blue blue, Lobel's hellebore, horse sorrel, male thyme. The underground parts of plants are usually harvested during the period of dying off of their aboveground parts, when the plants pass into a dormant period (late summer - autumn). They can be harvested in early spring, before the growth of aboveground organs begins, but in the spring the harvesting period is very short (several days). Roots and rhizomes are dug out with shovels or picks, sometimes pulled out of loose soil or water with a pitchfork and rake. The roots and rhizomes are first shaken off the ground, and then washed in running water... If the workpiece is of a more or less significant scale, it is better to rinse in large wicker baskets. The washed roots and rhizomes are immediately laid out on clean grass, burlap, matting or paper and dried. Then the roots and rhizomes are cleaned from the remains of stems, small roots, damaged or rotten parts and delivered to the place of final drying.

Herbs (aerial parts)
Currently, 23 types of medicinal herbs are used in medical practice. herbaceous plants areas: common ram, mountaineer, mountaineer, highlander bird, oregano, St. John's wort, lily of the valley, shepherd's purse, horsetail, wormwood, motherwort, dried cress, tricolor violet, yarrow, three-part succession, celandine, etc.
Herbs are flowering leafy shoots of herbaceous plants, sometimes their entire aboveground mass. They are widely used as raw materials for processing at chemical and pharmaceutical enterprises, as well as as therapeutic agents used by the patient himself at home, using the appropriate instructions.
The grass is usually harvested at the beginning of flowering, in some species - when the plant is in full bloom. Cut it off with sickles, knives or secateurs, without rough ground parts. Sometimes, when densely standing, the plants are mowed with scythes or sickles and then they are selected from the mowed mass.

All terrestrial plant parts are harvested only in dry weather. If there was dew in the morning or it rained, then the harvesting begins only after the plants are completely dry. In the evening, when dew appears, the collection is stopped.

Medicinal herbal raw materials (MP) are herbal raw materials permitted by an authorized body for the purpose of treating or preventing diseases.

To obtain extraction preparations, as a rule, dried plant raw materials are used. Fresh plant materials are rarely used.

The quality requirements for medicinal products are formulated in general and private FS, FSP and GF XI edition. For a range of raw materials regulatory documents are technical specifications, which is unacceptable and requires revision.

In Russia to medical use more than 200 types of medicinal products are allowed.

The GF XI edition includes 20 general articles, of which 13 are devoted to general methods of control of medicinal plant raw materials, 7-standardization of the quality of individual morphological groups of raw materials: leaves, herbs, flowers, fruits, seeds, bark, roots, rhizomes and other underground organs.

In connection with the release of OST 91599.05.001-00 “Medicines quality standards. Basic Provisions ”(01.03.00), all drug manufacturing enterprises must develop an FSP (including for medicinal product and drugs made from it).

Previously approved FS and VFS for plant raw materials are valid until the dates indicated in them, after which they must be processed into FSP.

MPR to be extracted has a cellular structure. LRS differs in anatomical structure, chemical composition and physical properties... All substances of medicinal plant raw materials that pass into the extractant in the form of a solution are called extractive substances.

Extractive substances include:

-biologically active substances- substances with pronounced pharmacological activity and of interest from the point of view of treatment and prevention of diseases (alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins, vitamins, essential oils, etc.);

WITH accompanying substances- natural companions of biologically active substances, which play an important role in the life of the RL, which are not of particular interest from a pharmacotherapeutic point of view, but in one way or another affect the manifestation of the therapeutic effect of biologically active substances.

For example: - mucus, gums - reduce side effect BAS and slow down their absorption, due to an increase in viscosity and enveloping effect, saponins - increase the absorption of BAS, because are surfactants; tannins - slow down absorption.

- ballast substances- related substances that do not take a significant part in the manifestation of the therapeutic effect.

From a modern biopharmaceutical point of view, there are no ballast substances, because all substances, one way or another, affect the therapeutic effect of biologically active substances.

There is also no clear boundary between the concepts of biologically active substances and related substances, so in some cases the substances are, in others, accompanying. So, tannins are substances that provide wound healing, drying and antiulcer action.

In relation to the extractants, i.e. according to the degree of hydrophilicity, biologically active substances can be divided into three groups (Table 1).

Table 1.

Classification of biologically active substances according to the degree of hydrophilicity

As can be seen from the data presented in the table, most biologically active substances are hydrophilic or belong to a mixed group.

Preparation of medicinal plant raw materials for extraction

Before carrying out the extraction process, medicinal plant raw materials are subjected to analysis and preliminary preparation.

1. The composition and properties of raw materials are determined for compliance with the requirements of ND.

2. Grinding and sifting is carried out (not always, since it is a very laborious operation)

3. The technological properties of raw materials are determined.

The technological properties of the crushed plant material are determined in order to select the capacity of the equipment, the selection of loading means, the calculation of the amount of the extractant and the optimization of the extraction process, it is necessary to study the preliminary technological properties of the crushed plant materials used.

Basic technological properties of raw materials.

Good quality of raw materials(A) - the ratio of the content of biologically active substances (a) to the amount of extractives (c).

The good quality of the drug(A 1) - the ratio of biologically active substances (a) to the dry residue (c).

Relative benignity(B) - the ratio of the good quality of the drug to the good quality of the raw material.

Fractional composition (grinding of raw materials). In technological research, the fineness is determined using sieve analysis and is expressed in% of fractions of different fineness.

The degree of grinding of the raw material (n) is estimated by the ratio of the diameter of the largest particles before grinding (D) to the diameter of the largest particles after grinding (d).

Leaves, flowers, herbs - 3-5 mm;

Roots, fruits, bark - 1-3 mm;

Fruits, seeds - 0.3-0.5 mm.

In industrial conditions, these values ​​are rarely adhered to. The optimal grinding of each specific type of raw material is chosen experimentally. In order to assess the homogeneity of raw materials, its fractional composition is determined. The grinding of raw materials has great importance since with its increase, the mass transfer surface increases during extraction.

Absorption coefficient- the ratio of the mass of raw materials after swelling to the mass of raw materials before swelling.

The absorption coefficient (KP) is used when calculating the amount of extractant absorbed by the raw material and the subsequent determination of the volume or mass of the filled extractant. The absorption coefficient characterizes the swelling capacity of the raw material.

Washout coefficient... When extracting medicinal plant raw materials, two processes take place:

Dissolution and rapid flushing of substances from destroyed cells (period of rapid extraction);

Slow diffusion of biologically active substances from intact cells (period of slow extraction).

The leaching coefficient characterizes the amount of eluted substances from destroyed cells and determines the period of rapid extraction. Most often, it is determined by the graphical analytical method (by analyzing the depletion of raw materials from the extraction time).

Porosity of raw materials- the size of the voids inside the plant tissue. Determines the hydrodynamic resistance of plant materials during extraction. The porosity of the layer of the extracted raw material consists of the internal microporosity of the particles and the external one - the volume between the particles. When solving hydrodynamic issues, the microporosity of particles is not taken into account, because the liquid moves mainly along the channel between the particles.

Рв = (d y –d 0) / d y;

d y - relative density (the ratio of the density of the walls of the raw material to the density of water);

d 0 - bulk density (the ratio of the mass of the dried raw material to its volume).

The porosity is directly proportional to the amount of inner juice.

Raw material porosity- determines the size of the voids between pieces of plant material and characterizes the amount of internal juice. Is an essential characteristic when solving hydrodynamic issues, because fluid moves mainly along the channel between cells.

Pm = (d 0 - d n) / d 0;

d 0 - bulk density;

d n - bulk density (a certain volume of a weighed portion of the material) - is different for raw materials of different fineness and different degrees of compaction.

Extractants

Various extractants are used to extract biologically active substances from medicinal plant raw materials. Extractants mean solvents used for the extraction of plant or biological material, or the extraction of certain valuable substances from liquids.

The following requirements are imposed on the extractants:

1. Selective solubility (ie maximum extraction of biologically active substances and minimum extraction of ballast substances).

2. Good wettability of raw materials, desorbing properties, high diffusion capacity, ensuring penetration into the material.

3. Microbiological resistance.

4. Indifference in relation to the extracted substances.

5. Pharmacological indifference.

6. Volatility, at a relatively low boiling point.

7. Easy to regenerate.

8. Non-flammable.

9. Ability not to form flammable mixtures with air.

10. Availability and cheapness.

There is no ideal extractant, therefore, a significant number of liquids are used as extractants, which are divided into groups presented in table 2:

table 2

Classification of extractants according to the degree of polarity

When choosing an extractant, they are guided by the well-known rule “like dissolves in like”. When comparing the data presented in Tables 1 and 2, it can be concluded that the substances of the hydrophilic group are readily soluble in polar solvents, the substances of the mixed group are in low-polar solvents, and lipophilic substances are in non-polar solvents.

The extractant influences not only the amount of extracted biologically active substances, but also the total amount of extracted extractives. Most substances in plants are hydrophilic, therefore polar solvents extracted more extractive substances.

Water-ethanol mixtures are most often used as an extractant. The dielectric constant of water-ethanol mixtures and, consequently, its extraction ability in relation to various groups of biologically active substances depends on the concentration (i.e., on the ethanol content, which allows such mixtures to extract a wider range of substances).

Purified water

Purified water as an extractant has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

1. Retrieves a large number of BAS (salts of alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, tannins, mucus, etc.).

2. Penetrates well enough through cell membranes (not impregnated with lipophilic substances).

3. Indifferent in pharmacological terms.

4. Availability and cheapness.

5. Not flammable.

Disadvantages:

1. Subjected to microbial cantamination.

2. Is a common cause of biologically active substances hydrolysis.

3. It has a rather high boiling point, and therefore can be removed only under vacuum.

Ethyl alcohol (ethanol)

In pharmacy, as independent extractants and in the manufacture of complex extractants, it is allowed to use:

Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) (FS 42-3072-94);

Rectified ethyl alcohol (GOST 5962-67).

Ethyl alcohol as an extractant has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

1. Well dissolves medicinal substances, which are rather poorly soluble in water.

2. To a lesser extent, in comparison with water, it promotes the course of hydrolytic processes (depends on the concentration of ethanol).

3. Inactivates many enzymes.

4. Possesses bactericidal action.

5. Sufficiently volatile, has a boiling point in the range from 88.5-78.8 with a concentration change from 20 to 90%, which allows you to preserve thermolabile substances during evaporation and drying.

Disadvantages:

1. Harder than water to penetrate cell walls.

2. Flammable (requires special working conditions).

3. Pharmacological non-indifference.

Obtaining, rectification, methods of expression and determination of ethanol concentration, see the methodological instructions of the department

Medicinal plants are used in medical practice in fresh or dried form. Juices, infusions and decoctions are prepared from fresh plants, sometimes individual parts of the plants are applied to the affected area of ​​the body. Fresh plants have a stronger healing effect, since in the process of drying raw materials, part of the biologically active substances is destroyed.

In medical practice, dried and crushed medicinal plants are most often used. The simplest dosage form is powders, which are obtained by grinding medicinal plants in a mortar or grinding on a coffee grinder. They are used internally in the form of pills, applied to wounds, cuts, ulcers.

Most often, dried plants are prepared infusions and decoctions, which are aqueous extracts from medicinal plant materials. For the preparation of infusions and decoctions, medicinal plants are crushed to a certain size: leaves, flowers and herbs - to particles no more than 5 mm in size (leathery leaves, for example bearberry leaves, no more than 1 mm); stem, bark, rhizomes, roots - no more than 3 mm; fruits and seeds - no more than 0.5 mm. The crushed medicinal plant raw materials are placed in a porcelain, enameled vessel or in a stainless steel vessel, poured with water at room temperature, closed with a lid and heated in a boiling water bath with frequent stirring: infusions - for 15 minutes, decoctions - 30 minutes. Then the vessel is removed from the water bath and cooled at room temperature: infusions - at least 45 minutes, broth - 10 minutes, after which it is filtered, the rest of the raw material is wrung out and water is added to the finished hood to the prescribed volume. Decoctions of bearberry leaves, oak bark, serpentine rhizomes and other medicinal raw materials containing tannins are filtered immediately after being removed from the water bath; decoctions of senna leaves - after complete cooling.

Usually, all aqueous extracts from medicinal plants are prepared in a ratio of 1:10, i.e. from 1 part of the mass of crushed raw materials, 10 parts of infusion or decoction are obtained. Infusions and decoctions from ergot, adonis herb, herbs, from rhizomes with valerian roots are prepared in a ratio of 1:30, and from plant raw materials of the potent group - 1: 400.

In the manufacture of infusions and decoctions, plant materials absorb part of the liquid, and therefore you should take a little more water than indicated in the recipe. When preparing aqueous extracts from the roots, additional water should be taken 1.5 times more in relation to the mass of raw materials, from bark, grass and flowers - about 2 times more, and from seeds - 3 times more. However, there are exceptions to the rule; so, the infusion of the fruits of unpeeled rose hips is prepared in a ratio of 1:20 and the infusion time is increased to 22-24 hours, the same infusion of peeled fruits is insisted for 2-3 hours. days.

On packages of medicinal plant materials dispensed from pharmacies, the dosage of raw materials is sometimes indicated not in grams, but in tablespoons. The mass of a tablespoon of raw materials from dried and crushed leaves, herbs and flowers is on average 3-5 g, from the bark and roots - about 10 g. The mass of a teaspoon of infusion and broth is on average 5 g, a tablespoon is 10 g. It should be noted that that in all prescriptions the dosage is indicated for adults. For use in pediatric practice, the dose should be reduced. For children from 1 to 3 years old, it is 1/6 of the dose of adults, from 4 to 7 years old - 1 / 4-1 / 3; from 7 to 12 years old - 1 / 3-1 / 2; from 13 to 20 years old - 2/3 of the adult dose.

Currently, for the preparation of infusions and decoctions at home, dosed tablets and briquettes made by pressing crushed medicinal plant materials. To do this, take a tablet or a slice of a briquette containing a certain amount of raw materials for a single use.

In addition to pharmacies, a significant part of medicinal plant raw materials is supplied to pharmaceutical factories and chemical-pharmaceutical factories. At factories, tinctures, extracts, aromatic waters, and novogalenic preparations are prepared from plant raw materials.

Tinctures are transparent aqueous-alcoholic or alcoholic extracts from medicinal plant materials, obtained different ways infusion of raw materials with solvents without heating and removing the solvent. They are prepared using 70% ethyl alcohol, less often 40% alcohol, and extremely rarely 90 and 95% alcohol for the extraction of raw materials. When preparing tinctures from non-potent raw materials, 5 parts of tincture are obtained from 1 part of the mass of plant raw materials. When preparing potent tinctures, the ratio of raw materials and finished product is 1:10.

In medical practice, tinctures are used as independent preparations for internal and external use; in addition, they are part of potions, drops, ointments and patches.

Extracts are concentrated extracts from plant materials. By consistency, liquid and thick extracts are distinguished - viscous masses with a moisture content of no more than 25%, as well as dry extracts - loose masses with a moisture content of no more than 5%. Water, alcohol of various concentrations, ether, oils, and other extractants are used as solvents for the preparation of extracts.

Extracts are prepared by various methods of infusion of raw materials with solvents. In the manufacture of liquid extracts from 1 part of the mass of plant materials, 1 or 2 parts of the extract are obtained. The obtained extracts are defended for several days to release them from ballast substances at a temperature not higher than 8 ° C, followed by filtration. Thick and dry extracts are also freed from ballast substances by precipitation with alcohol, the use of adsorbents (kaolin), boiling the extract and other methods. The cleaned hoods are concentrated under vacuum. Dry extracts are diluted with milk sugar, dextrin or other indifferent substances. The concentration of biologically active substances in thick and dry extracts is several times higher than in the feedstock.

Liquid, thick and dry extracts are used as an independent drug, as well as in combination with other drugs for the manufacture of various dosage forms.

Fragrant waters are transparent liquids obtained by distillation of essential oil plant raw materials with water vapor. From 1 part of the raw material, 10 parts of the distillate are obtained. Aromatic waters are used to correct the taste and aromatization of various drugs, as well as as an independent drug.

Novogalenic (neogalenic) drugs- these are extracts from plant raw materials that are maximally purified from ballast substances, containing in their composition the whole complex of biologically active substances of plants. The absence of ballast substances increases the shelf life of novogalenic drugs, reduces side, harmful effects and allows them to be used for injections.

Medicinal plant raw materials are sent to chemical and pharmaceutical plants, where individual components are isolated from it using various methods of extraction and purification. Among them are alkaloids: atropine, platifillin, morphine, ephedrine, berberine; cardiac glycosides: digoxin, strophanthin, convallatoxin; flavonoids: rutin, etc.

Are widespread in medical practice fees(teas), which are mixtures of several types of crushed, less often whole plant raw materials, sometimes with an admixture of mineral salts, essential oil, etc. The raw materials included in the collection are crushed separately. Leaves, grasses and bark are cut; leathery leaves are turned into coarse powder; roots and rhizomes are cut or crushed, fruits and seeds are passed through rollers or mills; some fruits (berries) and flowers are left intact. The crushed raw materials are sifted out of dust and thoroughly mixed to obtain a homogeneous mixture. From the fees, infusions and decoctions are prepared.

For specialists and workers engaged in the cultivation and procurement of medicinal plants, as well as for pharmacognosy and pharmaceuticals, the classification of medicinal plants by types of raw materials is of undoubted interest.

According to the types of medicinal raw materials, medicinal plants used in medicine can be divided into 9 groups, separating them into subgroups that differ in morphological organs of some species. The first group includes underground organs: rhizomes (Rhizoma) and rhizomes with roots (Rhizoma cum radicibus), rhizomes and roots (Rhizoma et radix), roots (Radix), tubers (Tuber), tubers with roots (Tuber cum radicibus), corms (Bulbotuber) and bulbs (Bulbus).

1. a rhizomes(Rhizoma) include calamus marsh, thick-walled badan, snake highlander, yellow egg capsule, long turmeric, erect cinquefoil, carnioli scopolia;
   b) Medicinal plants, the raw materials of which are rhizomes with roots(Rhizoma et radix) include Valerian officinalis, Dioscorea Nippon, Zamaniha high, Leuzea safflower, spring primrose, Rhodiola pink, Cyanosis blue, Hellebore Lobela, Siberian bloat, Elecampane tall, light hemp, hemp marrow, blood-stalks krasilina -yellow (Himalayan scopolia), male fern (male fern) Eleutherococcus spiny, etc.
   v) To medicinal plants, the raw materials of which are roots(Radix), belong to marshmallow, Manchurian aralia, common barberry, yellow gentian, ginseng, large burdock, medicinal dandelion, medium patrinia, rauwolfia snakes, tangut rhubarb, naked licorice, plowed steel, common chicory, Baikal schavallian and drunkard ...
   G tubers(Tuber), tubers with roots(Tuber cum radicibus) and corms(Bulbotuber) - Dzhungarian aconite, potatoes, stefania smooth, magnificent colchicum, etc.
   d) Medicinal plants, the raw material of which bulbs(Bulbus) - bulb onion, garlic, splendid crocus and other bulbous plants.
2. The largest group of medicinal plants, the raw material of which is grass(Herba), harvested in the phase of mass budding - at the beginning of flowering. This group of medicinal plants is represented by the following species: woolly astragalus, marsh wild rosemary, small periwinkle, smelly and small basilis, mountaineers, peppercorns and birds (knotweed), spring adonis (adonis), hemp datisca, sweet clover, common oregano, jaundice larkspur retinal, intoxicating hare, St. John's wort, centaury small, Alpine penny, flat-leaved rosewood, May lily of the valley, small-fruited and heart-shaped mackleys, yellow mackerel, lobular solanum, common passionflower , motherwort cordial, thick-fruited sophora, marsh creeper, lanceolate and alternate-flowered thermopsis, common and creeping thyme (thyme), common yarrow. field violets and tricolor, field horsetail, tripartite series, large celandine, horsetail ephedra and medium, or intermediate, creeping tribulus, etc.
3. A small group of plants, the raw materials of which are escapes(Cormus) and kidneys(Gemmae) are made up of common lingonberry, Kalanchoe pinnate, Siberian fir, semi-shrub securinega, common bilberry, drooping and downy birch *, black poplar *, common pine (Turiones pini), etc.
4. A fairly large group of medicinal plants, the raw material of which is sheet(Folium), harvested during different periods of vegetation and plant development. This group includes the following medicinal plants: cassia holly and narrow-leaved, pink catharanthus, dioecious nettle, belladonna (belladonna) ordinary, lily of the valley, coltsfoot, peppermint, large-flowered foxgloves, purple, ciliated, rusty and woolly spring, plantain large, kidney tea, common fig tree, bearberry, Victor and Severtsov's ungernia, Chinese tea, medicinal sage, eucomia rod-shaped, etc.
5. Medicinal plants, the raw materials of which are fruit(Fructus 5 a) and seeds(Semen 5 b) of varying degrees of maturity, are divided into 2 subgroups.
   a) Into the subgroup a (fruit) included Indian dope, laxative ghost, cassia acutifoliate and narrow-leaved, coriander seed, red pepper, lemon, lemongrass Chinese, oil poppy *, common raspberry, common juniper, buckthorn buckthorn, gray alder, parsnip, drupe psoralea, dwarf thistle common, black currant, Japanese sophora, common caraway, bird cherry, common blueberries, dill, common fennel, common hops, wild rose, etc.
   b) Into the subgroup b (seeds) included common horse chestnut, castor oil plant, common flax, lemongrass Chinese, common almonds, buckthorn buckthorn, hay fenugreek, common peach, plantain, annual sunflower, common wheat, rice, common pumpkin, chillibukha, etc.
6. Medicinal plants, the raw materials of which are flowers(Flores) and buds(Alabastra), assigned to the 6th group. It included mountain arnica, leafy and Chamisso, sandy immortelle (cmin), blood red hawthorn, black elderberry, blue cornflower, May and Keiske lilies of the valley, heart-shaped and broad-leaved lindens, medicinal marigolds, common tansy, citric wormwood and chamomile free (fragrant), yarrow, Japanese sapphora, etc.
7. A small group of medicinal plants, numbering several species, are medicinal plants, the raw material of which is bark(Cortex). These are common oak, common viburnum, buckthorn brittle, eucomia, etc.
8. Other medicinal plants (mainly lower ones), the raw materials of which are individual organs(columns with stigmas (Styli et stigmata) *, thallus (Laminaria) **, spores (Lycopodium) ***, etc.). These are common corn *, Japanese kelp, finger-split and sugary **, lavender-boronets ***, Icelandic cetraria (Cetraria), scythe tinder fungus (chaga, or birch mushroom-Fungus betulinus), ergot horns (Secale cornutum).

Medicinal plants of each group with the same type of medicinal raw material have much in common in the technologies of cultivation and procurement: almost the same means of mechanization, energy and labor costs, and similar costs. Different groups of medicinal plants, on the contrary, require different means of mechanization, energy and labor costs for cultivation and procurement: transport, means of mechanizing production processes, drying and storage, and other facilities, as well as a certain number of workers in various professions.

For industrial production and procurement of medicinal raw materials of all types, especially large-tonnage, it is necessary not only to have means of mechanization of cultivation processes and harvesting, but also to have a sufficiently large modern drying and storage facility, and for medicinal plants of the first group (root) also a washing facility of high power. Only for bulbous plants the first group does not need it.

Organization of cultivation different types medicinal plants require special technical and technological means: vehicles and means of traction (tractors different brands), tillage machines and implements, seeding and planting equipment, machines for care and harvesting, power-equipped washing, drying and storage facilities, etc. different types medicinal raw materials of different groups have their own characteristics and require different means mechanization and their power and productivity. The most energy-consuming and laborious is the cultivation of "root" medicinal plants of the 1st group, i.e. those species whose raw materials are underground organs: rhizomes, rhizomes with roots, roots, tubers, etc. Unlike other groups of medicinal plants, the raw raw materials of which are hand-harvested flowers), drying and post-harvest processing of raw materials. Less manual labor is required for the cultivation and harvesting of "herbal" plants, the raw material of which is fresh processed grass. Technological processes the cultivation and harvesting of such plants has a high degree of mechanization. The artificial drying process for all types of medicinal raw materials is highly energy-intensive.

When growing industrial batches of "root" medicinal plants, the manufacturer has to create an expensive washing facility.

Based on the experience of the procurement offices that worked until the 90s of the last century, they created their drying and storage facilities at stationary procurement points located within a radius of 50-70 km from the procurement sites. Procurement teams from 10 to 15 or more people, equipped with equipped vehicles and small equipment and various devices, worked on a rotational basis, daily sending the harvested plants to stationary points for drying, processing and packaging of raw materials.

Medicinal plant raw materials - whole medicinal plants or their part, used in dried, less often fresh as medicines or to obtain medicinal substances, phytopreparations, dosage forms and permitted for use by an authorized body in the prescribed manner.

Various organs of medicinal plants are used as medicinal plant materials. Homogeneous organs make up a single morphological group medicinal plant materials. In addition to organs, whole aerial parts of plants are used. Medicinal plant raw materials used in medicine are represented by:

barks -- Cortices,

flowers -- Flores,

leaves - Folia,

fruits - Fructus ,

seeds - Semina,

berries - Massage,

herbs - Herbae,

shoots - Cormus,

kidneys - Gemmae,

buds - Alabastra,

roots - Radices,

rhizomes -- Rhizomata,

bulbs - Bulba,

tubers -- Tubera,

corms - Bulbotubera.

Medicinal plant raw materials are harvested from both wild and cultivated medicinal plants. The quality of medicinal plant raw materials is regulated by NTD and is determined outward signs, numerical indicators; the main indicator is the content of active substances.

In Soviet pharmacognosy and in a number of foreign countries, chemical classification medicinal plant materials based on the content of certain groups of active substances .

According to the order of the Ministry of Health, a pharmacy should have 75 types of medicinal plant materials for the preparation of dosage forms and sale to the population. To obtain medicinal substances, up to 170 types of raw materials are used, 80 are included in the collection, 130 types are processed by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.