Current Good Collection Practices and conservation of medicinal plants (ex-situ and in-situ) MCQs With Answer

Introduction
This quiz compilation on Current Good Collection Practices and conservation of medicinal plants (ex-situ and in-situ) is designed for M.Pharm students studying Advanced Pharmacognosy I (MPG 102T). It emphasizes practical and regulatory aspects of sustainable harvesting, post‑harvest handling, documentation and traceability, and modern conservation strategies including seed banks, botanical gardens, cryopreservation and in vitro approaches. Questions probe identification, timing, quality preservation, legal instruments like CITES and the Nagoya Protocol, and community‑based conservation models. Use these MCQs to test applied knowledge needed for responsible sourcing, maintaining phytochemical integrity, and designing conservation plans that balance pharmaceutical needs with biodiversity protection and fair benefit‑sharing. Good luck!

Q1. What is the primary objective of Current Good Collection Practices for medicinal plants?

• Maximizing yield per hectare irrespective of quality
• Ensuring consistent identity, quality and sustainable supply of plant material
• Promoting monoculture of medicinal species
• Reducing labor costs during harvesting

Correct Answer: Ensuring consistent identity, quality and sustainable supply of plant material

Q2. Which harvesting time is generally recommended for collecting aerial parts rich in essential oils to preserve maximum volatile constituents?

• Midday when temperature is highest
• Late evening after dew formation
• Early morning after dew evaporates but before midday heat
• During flowering at any time of day

Correct Answer: Early morning after dew evaporates but before midday heat

Q3. What is the key purpose of preparing voucher specimens during collection of medicinal plants?

• To increase the weight of collected material for sale
• To serve as a permanent reference for taxonomic authentication and future verification
• To use as a fertilizer at the collection site
• To enable faster drying of herbal material

Correct Answer: To serve as a permanent reference for taxonomic authentication and future verification

Q4. How does geotagging (GPS coordinates) enhance current good collection practices?

• By anonymizing collection sites to hide location
• By providing traceability, reproducibility and habitat data for quality assessment
• By increasing the market value of material irrespective of origin
• By serving as a substitute for botanical identification

Correct Answer: By providing traceability, reproducibility and habitat data for quality assessment

Q5. For heat‑sensitive and volatile phytoconstituents, which post‑harvest drying method is preferred to maintain quality?

• Direct sun drying on concrete
• High‑temperature oven drying (>80°C)
• Shade drying with good airflow at ambient temperatures
• Boiling followed by air drying

Correct Answer: Shade drying with good airflow at ambient temperatures

Q6. Which definition best describes in‑situ conservation of medicinal plants?

• Conserving plant species in germplasm banks only
• Conserving species within their natural habitats and ecosystems
• Conserving plants exclusively in botanical gardens and nurseries
• Conserving only seed samples under laboratory conditions

Correct Answer: Conserving species within their natural habitats and ecosystems

Q7. Which of the following lists correctly represents ex‑situ conservation techniques for medicinal plants?

• Community harvesting, rotational grazing, fire control
• Seed banks, botanical gardens, cryopreservation, in vitro tissue culture
• Selective logging, habitat fragmentation, urbanization
• In-situ monitoring, legal protection, protected areas only

Correct Answer: Seed banks, botanical gardens, cryopreservation, in vitro tissue culture

Q8. Which international agreement specifically regulates international trade in selected endangered plants and animals that may include medicinal species?

• Nagoya Protocol
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• Cartagena Protocol

Correct Answer: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Q9. What is the principal conservation advantage of micropropagation (tissue culture) for threatened medicinal plants?

• It guarantees long‑term seed viability without storage
• It allows rapid clonal multiplication of elite, disease‑free planting material for restoration
• It replaces the need for any field conservation
• It is cheaper than seed collection

Correct Answer: It allows rapid clonal multiplication of elite, disease‑free planting material for restoration

Q10. Which statement correctly distinguishes orthodox and recalcitrant seeds in ex‑situ conservation?

• Orthodox seeds are sensitive to drying; recalcitrant seeds tolerate desiccation and freezing
• Orthodox seeds tolerate drying and low temperature storage; recalcitrant seeds cannot be dried or frozen without loss of viability
• Both seed types behave identically under cryopreservation
• Recalcitrant seeds are ideal for long‑term seed bank storage

Correct Answer: Orthodox seeds tolerate drying and low temperature storage; recalcitrant seeds cannot be dried or frozen without loss of viability

Q11. The Nagoya Protocol primarily addresses which aspect related to use of genetic resources for medicinal plants?

• Prohibiting all export of medicinal plants
• Enforcing immediate commercialization without restrictions
• Access and fair and equitable benefit‑sharing arising from utilization of genetic resources
• Providing free patents for traditional remedies

Correct Answer: Access and fair and equitable benefit‑sharing arising from utilization of genetic resources

Q12. Which practice is an example of sustainable harvesting for wild medicinal plant populations?

• Harvesting all mature plants in a single season
• Removing roots of every plant to maximize yield
• Rotational harvesting, leaving seed‑bearing individuals and protecting regeneration zones
• Using heavy machinery to clear undergrowth for easier collection

Correct Answer: Rotational harvesting, leaving seed‑bearing individuals and protecting regeneration zones

Q13. Which factors commonly cause significant variation in phytochemical profiles of collected medicinal plant material?

• Genotype (chemotype)
• Environmental factors and harvest time
• Post‑harvest processing and drying conditions
• All of the above

Correct Answer: All of the above

Q14. When is ex‑situ conservation preferred over in‑situ conservation for a medicinal plant species?

• When a species has a large, healthy wild population with stable habitat
• When habitat destruction is irreversible and immediate risk of extinction is high
• When community management is effectively protecting the species in situ
• When legal protection is already in place and effective

Correct Answer: When habitat destruction is irreversible and immediate risk of extinction is high

Q15. Which conservation strategy best maintains ongoing evolutionary processes and genetic diversity of a medicinal plant species?

• In‑situ conservation within natural habitats
• Ex‑situ conservation only in botanical gardens
• Long‑term cryopreservation of seeds alone
• Seed storage without field populations

Correct Answer: In‑situ conservation within natural habitats

Q16. Cryopreservation as an ex‑situ conservation tool is most suitable for which purpose?

• Short‑term storage of harvested aerial parts for immediate use
• Long‑term storage of shoot tips, embryos or germplasm at ultra‑low temperatures to preserve viability for decades
• Field planting to increase in‑situ genetic exchange
• Drying and packaging herbal powders

Correct Answer: Long‑term storage of shoot tips, embryos or germplasm at ultra‑low temperatures to preserve viability for decades

Q17. What is a key benefit of involving local communities in conservation and collection programs for medicinal plants?

• Ensuring exclusion of traditional knowledge from management plans
• Improving compliance, integrating traditional ecological knowledge and enabling equitable benefit‑sharing
• Replacing community rights with corporate control
• Reducing the need for legal instruments such as the Nagoya Protocol

Correct Answer: Improving compliance, integrating traditional ecological knowledge and enabling equitable benefit‑sharing

Q18. Which pre‑treatment is commonly used to break physical seed dormancy caused by hard seed coats?

• Cold stratification at 0–5°C for several weeks
• Scarification by mechanical abrasion, hot water or acid treatment
• Immediate sowing without pretreatment in any soil
• Storage at room temperature in darkness for years only

Correct Answer: Scarification by mechanical abrasion, hot water or acid treatment

Q19. For definitive species authentication of closely related medicinal plants and detection of adulterants, which analytical method is considered most reliable?

• Simple macroscopic inspection alone
• Thin layer chromatography (TLC) only
• DNA barcoding combined with chemoprofiling
• Smell and taste assessment by collectors

Correct Answer: DNA barcoding combined with chemoprofiling

Q20. One of the primary roles of botanical gardens in ex‑situ conservation of medicinal plants includes:

• Commercial monoculture production to replace wild harvesting exclusively
• Education, scientific research, maintenance of living collections and material for reintroduction programs
• Permitting unrestricted collection of wild specimens
• Storing only dried herbarium sheets without living plants

Correct Answer: Education, scientific research, maintenance of living collections and material for reintroduction programs

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