Corso di Laurea in Tecniche Erboristiche

Requirements

Knowledge of basics in General chemistry and Organic Chemistry are essential for optimal learning of the course content.

Aim of the course

The educational objectives describe the role of the course within the overall academic programme, in particular the contribution of the course to achieving the educational objectives of the programme, in line with the intended professional profiles and employment opportunities (SUA CDS Framework: A4a; A2a).

The course aims to provide the necessary knowledge to support the development of skills for the correct and effective application of health and safety regulations in a chemical laboratory. It also aims to provide theoretical and practical knowledge of the main laboratory techniques for handling biologically active substances of natural origin. The course includes both theoretical and practical activities. Students will work in small groups to learn techniques for the purification of herbal drugs as well as synthetic procedures for the use of natural products in the synthesis of new active compounds. Groups will need to manage their time and resources in the laboratory and coordinate to produce a final report for each experiment.
This theoretical-practical course will equip graduates with the scientific and methodological skills necessary for the development of production and processing activities based on medicinal and food plants of health interest and their derivatives for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical purposes.

The expected learning outcomes describe what a student should know, understand and be able to do at the end of the learning process, in accordance with the relevant Dublin Descriptors and those defined by the academic programme (SUA CDS Framework: A4 b1, b2, c).

Knowledge and understanding. At the end of the course, students will have acquired both theoretically and practically the basic techniques required to work successfully and safely in a phytochemistry laboratory.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. Students will obtain various naturally derived compounds of nutraceutical and chemical interest in the laboratory and perform analyses to determine their melting point and purity using chromatographic methods.

Independence in intellectual production and critical judgement. Students will be able to apply the various techniques presented in the course to other plants to purify other naturally derived compounds based on their properties.

Soft Skills. Students will be able to communicate clearly, and effectively even complex chemical/physical concepts related to laboratory experiences. They will also acquire the ability to conduct independent bibliographic research using electronic databases.

Course content

Lectures.

The course covers the chemical, physicochemical and physical principles of the main techniques used in the laboratory to isolate, purify, synthesise and characterise a substance. The following topics will be covered:

The chemical-pharmaceutical laboratory:

1. Safety regulations in a chemical laboratory.

2. Laboratory equipment and instruments:

• Equipment in a phytochemistry laboratory.
• Heating techniques: Hot plates with or without thermostat.
• Stirring techniques: Mechanical stirrers, magnetic stirrers, sonicator.
• Vacuum generation and measurement systems: pumps (membrane, water, oil). Vacuum gauges: direct measurement (Bourdon manometer, mercury manometer), indirect measurement (resistance, thermocouple, ionisation).

3. Basic techniques and Operations:

• Extraction of active principles from plant drugs or aqueous extracts.
• Filtration.
• Purification of natural products by crystallisation.
• Distillation: classical distillation, continuous distillation, vacuum distillation and steam distillation.
• Drying: purification and drying of liquids, solids and gases. Commonly used drying agents.
• Common chromatographic techniques (TLC, CC) for monitoring the extraction and purification of naturally derived compounds.
• Purification and isolation of the crude product of a chemical reaction: filtration, extraction, concentration of the extract under reduced pressure.

4. Bibliographic research: methods for carrying out bibliographic research, both digital and traditional.

Laboratory practice.

Laboratory exercises will focus on the topics covered, with experiments on the extraction and/or analysis of active compounds from herbal drugs. Students will work in pairs to purify natural active compounds using extraction, crystallisation and flash chromatography techniques. Teaching materials will be provided via the Moodle platform to help with the correct execution of the first experiment. After conducting the experiment, they will explain it to the other pairs of students and provide them with the necessary tools to repeat the experiment accordingly. Each pair will carry out 4 to 5 experiments. The success of each experiment depends on the co-operation between the students, who will act as lab mates for four days. This experience simulates the dynamics of any workplace where scientific laboratory work is performed. At the end of the practical exercises, each pair of students will prepare a final report for each experiment.

The teaching will be provided through frontal lessons of 30 hours and 32 hours of curricular practical exercises in the laboratory, organized in several shifts based on the number of students.  

There is only one final examination, which consists of an oral interview. The oral interview (20-30 minutes) consists of three questions. The mark, expressed in thirty points, is determined on the basis of the candidate's ability to use the correct terminology and to link the different techniques. The candidate's ability to explain the techniques and demonstrate the knowledge acquired is heavily weighted.

Lectures, laboratory work and the use of audiovisual aids. The course materials are available on the e-learning platform Moodle, together with videos of the main techniques discussed in the course. During the months in which classes are held and afterwards, the Professor is available by appointment for individual meetings with students to clarify any doubts.