Üsküdar University Herbarium Techniques Laboratory is a modern practice center where education and research activities are carried out regarding the processes of drying, preserving, and documenting plant specimens in compliance with standards, which are of critical importance in the fields of biodiversity conservation, plant taxonomy (classification), and botanical research.
- Main Objective: To transform students' theoretical knowledge in the fields of botany, plant morphology, and systematics into practical industry competencies through the stages of field sampling, drying, mounting on cardboard, and creating a digital database.
- Academic Contribution: The laboratory develops a strong research infrastructure in the fields of biodiversity and environmental sciences by enabling students to classify plant specimens according to scientific criteria, use taxonomic keys, and record floristic richness.
Devices and Technical Equipment Available in the Laboratory
The laboratory infrastructure consists of equipment that ensures plant specimens can be stored for many years without disrupting their morphological integrity and complies with international index documentation rules. Within the framework of Highlighted Features, the technical equipment in the laboratory includes:
- Wooden and Metal Plant Presses: Adjustable mechanical press units used to properly flatten fresh plant specimens collected from the field, make them lose their moisture, and prepare them for the drying phase.
- Plant Drying Ovens: Precision heating chambers that ensure pressed plant specimens are dehydrated at controlled temperatures without allowing fungus and mold formation, preserving their cell structure.
- Stereomicroscopes (Light and Digital Microscopes): High-resolution imaging systems that enable the examination of micro-morphological structures of plants such as calyx, corolla, stamen, and pistil, pubescence conditions, and seed surfaces to make accurate species identifications.
- Dissection Sets: Technical surgery-like instrument kits consisting of forceps, scalpels, needles, and magnifiers used to examine plant parts under a microscope and separate them according to identification keys.
- Deep Freezes for Pest Control: Low-temperature units where dried and mounted plant specimens are subjected to a shock freezing process for specific periods to protect them from pests such as herbarium beetles and mites.
- High-Resolution Digital Herbarium Scanners: Special scanning equipment that allows prepared herbarium sheets to be transferred to a digital environment without the need for physical contact and integrated into international virtual herbarium networks.
- Acid-Free Herbarium Cardboard and Storage Cabinets: Long-lasting acid-free papers on which plant specimens are sewn, and steel-locked storage cabinet systems where specimens are stored away from moisture, light, and external factors.
Research Areas and Fields of Application
The practical curricula and scientific studies carried out in the laboratory cover the most fundamental processes of modern plant science and pharmaceutical botany:
- Taxonomic Identification and Classification: Scientific naming of unknown plant species collected from the field at the family, genus, and species levels using flora books and identification keys.
- Herbarium Archive Management: Sewing dried plants onto acid-free cardboards using special techniques, preparing standard herbarium labels containing geographical location, date, collector name, and habitat information belonging to the plant, and placing them in cabinets in systematic order.
- Documentation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Archiving medicinal plant specimens used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries as reference material (vouching) and carrying out authentication processes.
- Ethnobotany and Biodiversity Studies: Identification of local plant uses belonging to specific regions, monitoring of endemic plant species, and processing population statuses into digital databases.
Contributions to Students and the Industry
The Herbarium Techniques Laboratory provides students with the vision to read nature with a scientific methodology while preparing them for the industry as experts needed by the green economy and biotechnology market.
- Analytical Field and Archive Discipline: Students learn the strict rules of transforming living material in nature into a scientific document, international labeling standards, and database management by practicing them firsthand.
- Sectoral Employment Opportunities: Graduates who successfully use the technical methods and diagnostic tools in this laboratory can be employed as "Botany Specialists", "Herbarium Curators", "Quality Control Specialists", or "R&D Technicians" in medicinal and aromatic plant processing facilities, R&D laboratories producing pharmaceutical and cosmetic raw materials, seed and agricultural organizations, natural history museums, botanical gardens, and environmental consultancy firms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which departments use this laboratory?
This laboratory is actively used primarily by students of the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants program, as well as Molecular Biology and Genetics and other bioengineering or health sciences programs that have a botany/plant science-focused course curriculum.
What tests and analyses are performed in the laboratory?
Macroscopic and microscopic morphological analyses of plants, floristic species determination and identification, plant moisture optimization and drying quality controls, and digital archive database entry validation analyses are performed in the laboratory.
Is drug production from plants carried out in the laboratory?
No, this laboratory is not a drug production facility or an extraction laboratory. The focus of the laboratory is to apply herbarium techniques such as drying, identifying, and storing plant specimens in compliance with standards to serve as a reference for the pharmaceutical industry and the scientific world. Plant chemistry and extraction processes are carried out in the university's relevant pharmacognosy or chemistry laboratories.
Is the laboratory open to external sectoral collaborations?
Yes, the laboratory has an infrastructure open to sectoral collaborations within the scope of correct identification (authentication) of plant species used as raw materials by companies operating in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic sectors, regional flora screening projects, and virtual herbarium database development studies.
Can students keep the plants they collect themselves here?
Yes, students can include plant specimens they have collected, dried, and labeled in accordance with scientific criteria within the scope of field studies, graduation projects, or academic research into the education collection, subject to the approval of the faculty members responsible for the laboratory and herbarium acceptance protocols.
