Analytical progress
A number of methods have been published to allow better analysis of samples: New York-based scientists published details of a new DNA method for testing of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa).
Scientists from the FDA developed a rapid procedure to screen for adulterants in weight-loss products, which could benefit the industry by impacting the ‘rate at which these adulterated products find their way to the market’.
On the topic of adulterants, James Neal-Kababick, director of Flora Research Laboratories, told us: “most of the disasters I have seen in the industry could have been completely avoided or at least reduced to a blip on the radar screen had stakeholders engaged an expert in Phytoforensic science.
While not new research, a new tool was made available to the industry by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) with its AHPA Botanical Authentication Wiki.
The online tool is a centralized source of reference information containing both examples and techniques that have been successfully applied to authenticate selected botanicals. It’s the first known example of a wiki architecture being used to disseminate this kind of information.