สารบัญ

          In 1989, the Thai Pharmacopoeia Committee appointed the Subcommittee on the Establishment of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia with the mission of establishing  the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia, a companion publication to existing Thai Pharmacopoeia.  The Subcommittee’s responsibilities are:

          1. selecting appropriate herbal drugs and herbal drug preparations based on public health and industrial demand for further consideration by the Thai Pharmacopoeia  Committee;

          2. establishing specifications for herbal drugs and herbal drug preparations selected by the Thai Pharmacopoeia Committee and compiling the corresponding monographs;

          3. publishing the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia;

          4. attending to all matters related to the preparation of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia.

          In 2010, the Thai Pharmacopoeia Committee appointed three specialized subcommittees to provide the existing subcommittee with data on specific fields in order to facilitate the work of the Subcommittee on the Establishment of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia, as well as to accelerate the work process, making it possible to meet the goal of launching new editions of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia regularly. The responsibilities of each of these Subcommittees are described as follows:

          1. The Subcommittee on the Pharmacognostic and Botanic Specifications for Thai Herbal Monographs

This Subcommittee is responsible for:

               1.1 producing drafts of the pharmacognostic and botanic specifications of the Thai herbal monographs, i.e. nomenclature, definitions, plant descriptions, macroscopical and microscopical descriptions, and other related information; 

               1.2 submitting the drafts to the Subcommittee on the Establishment of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia for approval; 

               1.3 attending to all matters related to the preparation of pharmacognostic and botanic specifications.

          2. The Subcommittee on the Physico-chemical Specifications and Safety for Thai Herbal Monographs

This Subcommittee is responsible for:

               2.1 producing drafts of the physico-chemical specifications of the Thai herbal monograph, i.e. constituents, packaging and storage, identification, assay, ashes, extractives, and other related information; 

               2.2 producing draft information on the safety of the Thai herbal monographs, i.e.  categories, contra-indications, warnings, precautions, additional information, dosage, and other related information; 

               2.3 submitting the drafts to the Subcommittee on the Establishment of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia for approval; 

               2.4 attending to all matters related to the preparation of the physico-chemical and safety specifications.

          3. The Subcommittee on Standards for Thai Herbal Drug Preparations

This Subcommittee is responsible for: 

               3.1 producing draft specifications for Thai herbal drug preparations preselected by the Thai Pharmacopoeia Committee and compiling these specifications in monographs in the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia; 

               3.2  submitting the drafts to the Subcommittee on the Establishment of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia for approval;

               3.3 attending to all matters related to establishing the specifications for Thai herbal drug preparations.

               3.4  preparing appendices of the tests related to the Thai herbal monographs.

          This publication is included in a series known as the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia.   Despite the fact that the majority of monographs being on medicines of plant origin, due to their extensive use, the various terms described in the text, such as herbal drugs or materials, refer not only to plants but also to animals and minerals used for medicinal purposes.  The pattern of the various monographs is relatively inconsistent due to the fact that they were compiled from various publications of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia.  For instance, the illustrations of thin-layer chromatograms may be found as colour drawings or colour photographs.

          Furthermore, it is to be noted that two monographs of the Thai Pharmacopoeia: Cannabis Extract and Cannabis Sublingual Drops from Thai Pharmacopoeia II Volume I Part 1 Supplement 2020 are reproduced in this edition of the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Thus, all topics related to the standards and quality testings of such monographs, for instance, General Notices, Methods of Analysis, Reagents, etc. shall refer to the Thai Pharmacopoeia II (TP 2011) and its Supplement 2020. In case of doubt or dispute, reference shall be made to the aforementioned Thai Pharmacopoeia.

          Any comments or suggestions from readers/users are welcomed by the Subcommittees in order to further refine the information in this publication. Such comments will be considered when the monographs are revised so that the most useful information is provided.