Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines or crude drugs produced from natural sources such as plants, microbes, and animals. It includes analysis of their biological, chemical, biochemical, and physical properties.

It is believed that the human body finds plant-derived medicines easier to accept due to the fact that they exist in nature and are not synthetic. About 25% of prescription medicines in the USA are believed to have an active ingredient from a natural source. In developing countries, it’s estimated that about 80% of their populations rely on traditional medicines made from plants and herbs.