Ethnopharmacy Full Module: Explore Global Herbal Medicine, Safety, Science, and Product Making
Explore the world of ethnopharmacy with Dr Tony Booker and guest experts from industry in this dynamic course, blending traditional herbal wisdom with modern science — covering product making, safety, quality, and global regulation of medicinal plants.
This module is delivered over 5 scheduled classes across several weeks. It can be taken as a CPD course or counted as credit toward the UKTATM Diploma in Chinese Herbal Medicine, with 40 hours of scheduled learning and 110 hours of independent study.
Instructors: Dr Tony Booker, with guest speakers from industry and regulatory affairs.
Includes lectures, tours, and conferences.
Flexible learning access included.
What Makes It Distinctive
Explore herbal medicines through multiple lenses.
Developed under the leadership of Dr Anthony Booker, this programme offers a rare opportunity to explore herbal medicines through traditional knowledge, modern pharmaceutical science, regulatory practice, and real-world product development.
“Where traditional herbal knowledge meets modern pharmaceutical science.”
Dr Booker brings together over two decades of experience across pharmaceutical manufacturing, hospital pharmacy, herbal medicine research, quality assurance, regulatory auditing, and clinical practice. His career has focused on understanding how medicinal plants move from source to finished product, and how quality, safety, efficacy, and innovation can be maintained throughout that journey.
The complete lifecycle of herbal medicines
What makes this programme distinctive is its emphasis on the complete lifecycle of herbal medicines. Participants explore medicinal plants beyond their traditional uses, examining how sourcing, processing, extraction, formulation, manufacturing, testing, and regulation shape the products ultimately used in clinical practice.
By integrating pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacology, toxicology, and quality assurance, the programme provides a deeper understanding of both the science and practice of herbal medicine.
Traditional knowledge, medicinal plants and contemporary healthcare
Beyond manufacturing and regulation, the course considers the broader field of ethnopharmacology, exploring the relationship between traditional knowledge, medicinal plant use, and contemporary healthcare.
Particular emphasis is placed on sustainability, ethical sourcing, and the challenges associated with global medicinal plant supply chains. Through real-world case studies, participants will gain insight into how medicinal plants move from cultivation and collection through to processing, manufacture, and patient use.
Course Overview
Bridging Traditional Herbal Medicine, Pharmaceutical Science, and Regulatory Practice
This module forms part of our Diploma in Chinese Herbal Medicine and is also available as a Continuing Professional Development course for qualified herbal practitioners and other healthcare professionals seeking to expand their knowledge of herbal medicine manufacturing, quality assurance, and regulation.
The course is particularly relevant for practitioners interested in preparing bespoke herbal medicines for individual patients, as well as those wishing to gain a broader understanding of the development, manufacture, and regulation of commercial herbal products, food supplements, and cosmeceuticals.
The module provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles of Good Manufacturing Practice, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance across a wide range of natural health products. Participants will develop an understanding of the standards required to ensure product quality, safety, efficacy, and consistency throughout the manufacturing process.
A key feature of the course is its strong practical focus. Students will gain hands-on experience in the formulation and manufacture of a variety of dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, creams, ointments, and herbal plasters. Practical sessions are designed to provide an appreciation of both traditional and modern approaches to herbal product development and production.
Quality, Safety & GMP
Understand Good Manufacturing Practice, quality systems, product safety, efficacy, consistency, and compliance.
Hands-On Product Making
Gain practical experience creating dosage forms such as tablets, capsules, creams, ointments, and herbal plasters.
Regulation & Auditing
Learn how quality systems operate in practice and develop insight into GMP auditing and regulatory pathways.
Practical Learning
Hands-on experience: develop, evaluate, and formulate herbal products with confidence.
Learning extends far beyond the classroom through practical workshops, applied learning, case studies, and product development exercises.
Product making and formulation
Through a series of practical workshops, participants gain hands-on experience in the creation and evaluation of a wide range of herbal products, including tinctures, liquid extracts, oil infusions, creams, ointments, capsules, tablets, soaps, and herbal plasters.
Alongside manufacturing techniques, students are introduced to the principles of formulation design, stability, preservation, bioavailability, and product performance.
Quality control and analytical insight
Participants also develop an understanding of the analytical and quality-control processes that underpin modern herbal medicine.
From identifying authentic plant materials and recognising adulteration, to interpreting certificates of analysis and understanding laboratory testing, the programme provides valuable insight into how quality is established, monitored, and maintained.
Phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology
The module examines the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of medicinal plants, providing students with the knowledge needed to evaluate efficacy, identify potential safety concerns, and recognise and manage adverse reactions associated with herbal medicines.
Regulatory frameworks and GMP auditing
The course explores the regulatory frameworks governing herbal medicines, food supplements, and cosmetic products. Participants will learn how quality systems operate in practice, gain an introduction to analytical techniques used in quality control, and develop the skills required to assess manufacturing processes through GMP auditing.
Learning Outcomes
Think like a herbalist. Understand like a pharmaceutical scientist.
A particular strength of the programme is its ability to connect scientific understanding with professional creativity.
By exploring how extraction methods, dosage forms, excipients, and manufacturing processes influence the characteristics of herbal preparations, participants are encouraged to think critically about formulation development and product design. This creates opportunities to innovate whilst remaining grounded in scientific evidence, quality standards, patient safety and product efficacy.
By the end of the course, participants will have developed a strong understanding of the scientific, practical, regulatory, and ethical considerations underpinning the safe and effective use of herbal medicines in both traditional and modern healthcare settings.
By bringing together traditional herbal medicine, pharmaceutical science, and regulatory expertise, this programme provides a uniquely integrated learning experience. It equips practitioners with the knowledge and practical skills needed to understand, evaluate, develop, and apply herbal products with confidence in an increasingly sophisticated healthcare landscape.
Evaluate quality and safety
Understand how product quality is established, monitored, maintained, and assessed throughout the product lifecycle.
Develop product confidence
Apply formulation principles to practical product making and evaluate dosage forms with greater confidence.
Practise ethically
Consider sustainability, ethical sourcing, supply chains, regulation, patient safety, and product efficacy.
Transform traditional knowledge into contemporary practice and create signature herbal products.
Join the Ethnopharmacy module as part of the Diploma in Chinese Herbal Medicine or as a standalone CPD course for qualified practitioners and healthcare professionals.
Your Teachers on the Course
Learn from experienced educators and industry professionals with expertise in herbal medicine, product quality, formulation, manufacturing, and regulatory standards.
Dr Anthony Booker
Herbal Medicines, Pharmacognosy, Ethnopharmacology & Quality Assurance
Dr Anthony Booker is an internationally recognised expert in herbal medicines and natural product quality assurance. He brings together scientific research, pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory knowledge, and clinical practice in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.
Read full bio
Trained initially as an analytical chemist, Anthony completed an MSc in Pharmacognosy and a PhD in Ethnopharmacy at UCL. His doctoral research examined how supply chains, processing methods, and manufacturing practices affect the quality and safety of turmeric products.
He has over two decades of experience across academia, pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory affairs, and clinical practice. He spent twelve years in the pharmaceutical industry, working on the quality assurance of natural-product-derived medicines, and also helped establish a hospital pharmacy manufacturing facility for solid dosage forms, creams, and ointments.
Anthony has served as a compliance auditor for both the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine and the British Herbal Medicines Association, assessing herbal medicine manufacturers and suppliers against quality and regulatory standards.
His research focuses on the quality, safety, and effectiveness of herbal medicines. His work on herbal product adulteration was featured on the BBC TV series Trust Me, I’m a Doctor. He currently leads a herbal medicines testing programme at the University of Westminster and contributes to national and international policy and standards development.
Anna Blunden
Product Development, Formulation, Manufacturing & Regulatory Compliance
Anna Blunden has extensive laboratory, formulation, and product development experience. She brings practical industry knowledge in product innovation, manufacturing scale-up, quality, safety, sustainability, and compliance.
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Anna spent 18 years working as a Laboratory Technician in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Brighton, developing strong technical expertise in analytical techniques, scientific processes, and quality standards.
In 2017, she began making natural soap as a creative hobby, which grew into a successful business. In 2020, she founded Little Sussex Soap, creating handcrafted products sold through local markets and online.
After four years of building her brand, Anna was approached by ecoLiving Manufacturing. She later became Product Development Manager, where she formulates and scales up new product lines, drives product innovation, and oversees regulatory compliance to ensure high standards of quality, safety, and sustainability.
How You’ll Learn
The module combines lectures, practical workshops, and tutorials to cover theory, medicinal plant study, and product making.
In addition to guided study, students will join an interactive forum to discuss pharmacognosy topics with teaching staff. You'll also have the opportunity to collaborate with peers on group work and access self-directed study materials, including background reading and theory consolidation.
Students receive herb samples to classify and organize by Chinese medicine, botanical, and phytochemical categories, building their own herbarium. Herb identification and product making can be learned through either in-person classes or online.
Total Student Learning and Teaching Hours
(40 hours of contact teaching and 160 hours of home study)
200 Hrs
Lectures
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Quality control, manufacturing and auditing
Different methods and analytical techniques used in quality control. How to test for correct species, heavy metals, pesticides, adulterants and contaminants.
The manufacturing process for powders and granules, dry bed granulation, fluid bed granulation, freeze drying. Tinctures and liquid extracts and other extraction methods. Understanding excipients in powders and granules.
Licensing, Regulation and Auditing for food supplements and herbal medicines
The roles of different regulators. The MHRA and the FSA. The BHMA and the HFMA. How herbs are regulated in other countries.
Pharmacopoeias and the minimum content of active ingredients in raw herbs.
What licensing is needed for what product? Food supplements, cosmetics and herbal medicines. The steps in obtaining a Traditional Herbal Registration.
Practical tincture and liquid extract manufacture
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Pharmacology and toxicology.
Understanding pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and toxicology and how these relate to herbal medicines.
Side effects and adverse reactions to herbs. Herb drug interactions.
Examining the different types of side effects and adverse reactions and what action to take to prevent these or to manage them once manifested.
Practical Herbal soap manufacture
How to obtain safety certification for cosmetic products.
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Traditional and modern pharmacognosy techniques.
Understanding certificates of analysis
Here we will look through common adulteration techniques and how to spot them. We will look at examples of fake herbs and how to identify these without the need for complex instruments.
Sustainability and the supply chain.
Fieldwork studies in India, China and Taiwan
Practical Manufacture of creams and ointments
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Making creams, ointments, tablets, capsules and tinctures
Understanding the manufacturing process. How to make medicines and sure the best stability and preservation. Understanding bacteria, moulds and biofilms and the steps to take to minimise them in production.
Capsule filling
Content uniformity testing
Disintegration and dissolution testing
Friability testing
Microbial limit tests and environmental monitoring
Preservation and Stability testing for herbal products
Practical tablets and capsule manufacture
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Phytochemistry of medicinal plants and Chinese herbs with particular active ingredients.
The origins of powders, tinctures and decoctions and how bioavailability is affected by different dosage forms.
Herbs that can be taken in their raw forms. Granule dosing, the correct way.
Understanding turnover rate and its clinical significance
Single herb granules versus granule formulas and blending formulas for the best clinical results.
Latest research in pharmaceutics.
Practical Making herbal plasters
Tours and conferences (in-person)
Attendance at one or more of the following: Species and Medicinal Conference (UCL), Kew Gardens Ethnobotany Lecture, or Bristol Chinese Herb Garden Virtual Tour.
