Agharkar Herbarium (AHMA)

It is a known fact that medicinal plants play a significant role in providing important crude drugs. Plant-based drugs have been used in modern medicine, alternative systems of medicine, and also in traditional systems of medicine. In India, about 80% of the population is dependent on herbal remedies and uses Indian systems of medicine for their health care. Most of these plant-based drugs are marketed through wild collections by unskilled collectors. Very few of these herbs are being cultivated as a source for crude drugs. In this situation, there are many chances of adulteration/substitution of crude drugs in the greed for money. Most of the pharmaceuticals are dependent on such traditional collectors and identify the raw materials through their experienced personnel.

The efficacy of crude drugs collected is directly responsible for the genuine plant material used as a crude drug. However, availability of genuine material is questionable considering the facts; as, (i) Till today most of the crude drugs i.e. medicinal plants/ plant parts are being collected from wild, (ii) Due to various anthropological pressures, and developmental projects these resources are depleting vary fast, (iii) Cultivation practices of vary few medicinal plants are known and (iv) The ratio of number of registered pharmacies, their over growing demand and available habitats where these medicinal plants grow are inversely proportional. In this situation, the crude drug repository of genuine specimens with their passport data plays a significant role.

The Herbarium at Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Sciences (AHMA) activity was awarded international status by The New York Botanical Garden with the acronym AHMA (Agharkar Herbarium of Maharashtra Association) in the year 1984. One of the unique features is 950 crude drug samples in the repository.

Specimens are in the form of whole plants or plant parts, such as roots, leaves, bark of stem or root, flowers, fruits, seeds, and unorganized exudations, such as gums or resins. These specimens are genuine field samples and/or market samples. Crude Drug Repository specimens are being preserved using standard methods. As per WHO’s guidelines, complete information of the specimen is maintained in the form of passport data uniformly. The specimens are arranged as plat-oriented drugs, animal-oriented drugs, and minerals. The plant-oriented drugs are arranged per plant part used in/as crude drug; viz., whole plant, root, leaf, stem/bark, inflorescence/flower, fruit, seed, unorganized drug, animal. The repository serves as the backbone for all projects related to medicinal plant research. In ARI, we are rendering the authentication service of crude drugs to students/researchers, / manufactures.