The term organoleptic literally means the impression on five sense organs of man, namely, eyes, nose, tongue, ears, and touch. Organoleptic evaluation is a qualitative method wherein the worker (pharmacognosist) uses his sense organs to study the characteristic features of crude drugs, especially the crude drugs of plant origin. In this method, the worker uses the sense of sight, smell, taste, hearing, and feeling, to study the crude drugs and records data such as size, shape, colors (external and internal), markings, fractures, texture, odor, taste, and so on. The methodology involved in this study is known as Organoleptic in general and the data obtained is referred to as Sensory characters in particular.
As Organoleptic study is entirely based on the sense organs of Man, who is an important member of animal kingdom, the term Zoological may be aptly applied for this study in a broader sense. Furthermore, the term Zoological brings uniformity among the pharmacognostic parameters. [1] However, in a strict sense, a specific name is required to replace or to represent the Organoleptic study, as the term Organoleptic is unimpressive and unfamiliar to the readers. Keeping this in mind, the author has coined a new term by combining two familiar words, namely, 'phyto' which means plants and 'sensology' which means the study of senses/sense organs of Man. In short, the new term, 'Phytosensology,' may be defined as 'the study of plants or plant parts (vegetable crude drugs) using Sense organs'. This term is coined on the basis of the term Phytochemistry (study of chemicals that are present in plants).
