ADULTERATION OF CRUDE DRUGS AVAILABLE IN THE LOCAL MARKET OF KARACHI

Abstract

Medicinal flora and their isolated constituents have long been consumed for the maintenance of health and management of diverse ailments. In the trade and commerce of herbal medicines the major problem is adulteration. It may be due the lack of knowledge and sometimes intentional for the profit enrichment. In the present study the sample of twenty crude drugs including Terminalia chebula, Nigella sativa, Onosma bracteatum, Cucumis melo, Cassia senna, Vitex negundo, Piper nigrum, Sesamum indicum, Lallemantia royleana, Foenicum vulgare, Wrightia tinctoria, Sphaeranthus indicus, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Coriandrum sativum, Althea officinalis, Peganum harmala, Datura stramonium, Emblica officinalis, Pimpenella anisumand, Viola odorata were procured from local market and tested for adulteration according to the test of foreign matters in British Pharmacopeia 2019. Out of twenty crude drugs five of them including Cassia senna, Wrightia tinctoria, Althea officinalis, Pimpenella anisumand, Viola odorata have shown 2.257%, 3.6%, 7.2%, 14.27% and 4.356% adulteration respectively. The present study indicated 20% of specimen is adulterated which shows that adulteration existed in the crude drugs available in local market. There is a need of awareness and control methods to curtail such practice.