A Comprehensive Approach to Identifying and Authenticating Botanical Products

Abstract

Whether they are being taken as dietary supplements by the general public or being evaluated in a clinical study, the authenticity of botanical products is a matter of paramount concern. Botanical specimens and the dietary supplements derived from them can vary in quality and in chemical constituent profiles because of a number of factors. Subtle variations in botanical specimens are known to have profound effects on the quality, efficacy, and safety of botanical dietary supplements and can potentially alter the results of clinical studies that rely on these materials. A complete array of authentication and evaluation tools can be utilized to provide a well-rounded scientific approach to the authentication of botanical products. It is vital that the authenticity of botanical supplements be established using appropriate analysis tools regardless of whether the end products are being considered for evaluation in clinical studies or are being developed for the consumer market.

Qualitative and Quantitative Content Determination of Macro-Minor Elements in Bryonia Alba L. Roots using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Technique

“…Additionally, each step of harvest, storage, processing, and formulation may significantly change the quality and uniformity of the final product, whether by preserving the desired marker components or by eliminating unwanted contaminants. 15 Therefore, methods to assure quality control in manufacturing and storage are required tools not only to ensure optimal efficacy but also safety of these products. Additionally, such controls are important for the evaluation of toxicological, pharmacological, or clinical studies involving botanical dietary supplements.…”

DNA Barcoding: An Alternative for the Identification of the Medicinal Plants Employed in Mexico

“…In the case of phytochemical analysis with techniques as TLC: Thin layer chromatography, HPLC: High pressure liquid chromatography, IR: infrared spectroscopy, NMR: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and X-ray, restrictions arise from the complexity of analyses the fragmented or powdered materials, which do not allow full identification (Mukherjee et al, 2010). Therefore, has been development several methods of species identification that allow to be applied to a large number of medicinal plants (Smillie and Khan, 2010). In the 1990 decade, the researchers began to work with the design of certification methods using the genome of medicinal plants (Shaw et al, 2002;Techen et al, 2004;Sucher and Carles, 2008;Hao et al, 2009a).…”

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“…genus species) name is determined based on this method. It is the first step for authentication 12 .…”

“…It is a simple, inexpensive and widely used method for the authentication of minerals 12 . Light microscopy and polarized microscopy are the common microscopes used for authentication.…”