Pharmacognosy Applied to the Industrial Sector and Phytovigilance

The training objective of the course is the knowledge of the biological and/or pharmacological activities of natural products used for production of healthy products, food supplements, nutraceuticals, and medicines of natural origin at industrial level.
It will deal with plants and their derivatives used in the industrial sector, the active ingredients, their effects in humans, the doses capable of exerting health effects.
Particular attention will be paid to the characteristics that products should maintain in the industrial formulation for exerting beneficial effects. Knowledge will be provided to monitor the safety of natural products on the market and identify possible adverse effects and drug interactions (phytovigilance).

At the end of the course, students will know the main biological activities associated with products of natural origin, with particular attention to those marketed by the herbal, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Students should also be able to identify the aspects that influence the efficacy of a natural product and those that can make the product toxic and have an impact on safety. Moreover, students will be able to identify the substances occurring in the extracts that must be removed through the production process and those that must be present and adequately titrated as active components. The student will be aware of the potential interactions between drugs and natural products, and the methodologies to be adopted for an adequate phytovigilance.