Pharmacopeia in the context of "Dioscorides"

Pedanius Dioscorides (Ancient Greek: Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, Pedánios Dioskourídēs; c. 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De materia medica (in the original Ancient Greek: Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς, Peri hulēs iatrikēs, both meaning "On Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. For almost two millennia Dioscorides was regarded as the most prominent writer on plants and plant drugs.

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is a pharmacopeia (compendium of drug information) for the United States published annually by the over 200-year old United States Pharmacopeial Convention (usually also called the USP), a nonprofit organization that owns the trademark and also owns the copyright on the pharmacopeia itself.

The USP is published in a combined volume with the National Formulary (a formulary) as the USP-NF. If a drug ingredient or drug product has an applicable USP quality standard (in the form of a USP-NF monograph), it must conform in order to use the designation "USP" or "NF". Drugs subject to USP standards include both human drugs (prescription, over-the-counter, or otherwise) and animal drugs. USP-NF standards also have a role in US federal law; a drug or drug ingredient with a name recognized in USP-NF is considered adulterated if it does not satisfy compendial standards for strength, quality, or purity. USP also sets standards for dietary supplements and food ingredients (as part of the Food Chemicals Codex). USP has no role in enforcing its standards; enforcement is the responsibility of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other government authorities in the United States.