Is the term substitution relevant to Pharmacognosy and/ or vegetable crude drug industry?

Abstract

Since each and every drug plant has its own characteristic features, in terms of its botanical characters, chemical composition and therapeutic properties, considering the highly potential drug plants as genuine plant and less potential (allied or non-allied) drug plants as substitutes is unjustifiable. Moreover, the term Substitution is being used for a couple of centuries in a wrong sense in pharmacognostic studies or in the vegetable crude drug industry. Therefore, the term ‘Substitution’ has to be replaced by the relevant and appropriate term, ‘Alternative’ or ‘Alternative source’.

Keywords: Substitution; alternative; alternative source; pharmacognosy; crude drug industry