Special Edition: Botanicals
St John’s wort
St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is most commonly used for depression. There is strong scientific evidence that it is effective for mild to moderate depression.
According to the recent report from the American Botanical Council, sales of St John’s wort were $6 million in US mainstream multi-outlet channel in 2015, and a further $2.5 million in the natural retail channel (HerbalGram 111).
Mainstream sales of St. John’s wort grew 8.4% year-on-year, according to the HerbalGram report.
Adulteration has also been reported to be a problem for St John’s wort products, with a paper published this month by scientists from CAMAG, Alkemist Labs, USP, Arizona Nutritional Supplements and AHPA reporting that 40% of a sample of 37 St John’s wort products may be adulterated with synthetic dyes and/or uncharacteristic flavonoids.
Image © iStock
