ChromaDex seals African botanical standards deal
AAMPS - a not-for-profit company dedicated to developing quality control and assurance standards for African medicinal plants and herbal products – was created in 2005 with the purpose of compiling a pharmacopoeia of the most important African medicinal plants to help them gain visibility on the world market.
The pharmacopoeia, which was published in 2010, provides botanical, commercial and phytochemical informational monographs on more than 50 of the most important African medicinal plants including the Madagascan Periwinkle, the South African Buchu and Pelargonium and the Namibian Hoodia Cactus.
ChromaDex, which specializes in phytochemical reference standards, botanical reference materials and contract analytical testing services, said the collaboration would provide industry with access to important materials referencing African botanicals.
A ‘remarkable’ set of monographs
AAMPS director Denzil Phillips said: “Through the efforts of AAMPS, the African botanical community has come together and produced a remarkable set of monographs.
“The relationship with ChromaDex will enable us to spread the word about the exciting properties of these amazing African botanical materials.”
The monographs in the pharmacopoeia were prepared by leading African scientists and reviewed by international experts and cover quality control issues, dosage, use, efficacy, pharmacology and safety of African medicinal plants.
Additional data include micro morphology of the plant material, distribution maps, HPLC traces and TLC chromatograms of adulterants.
Despite the fact that a large percentage of the world’s plant species are from Africa, relatively few have been commercialized, often because basic scientific information has not been available, said AAMPS.
