Combined Liquid Chromatography-mass Spectrometry and Next-generation DNA Sequencing Detection of Adulterants and Contaminants in Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Herbal Medicines

A Review on Application of DNA Barcoding Technology for Rapid Molecular Diagnostics of Adulterants in Herbal Medicine

The rapid molecular diagnostics of adulterants in herbal medicine using DNA barcoding forms the core of this meticulously detailed review, based on two decades of data. With 80% of the world's population using some form of herbal medicine, authentication, quality control, and detection of adulterants warrant DNA barcoding. A combined group of keywords were used for literature review using the PubMed, the ISI Web of Knowledge, Web of Science (WoS), and Google Scholar databases. All the papers (N = 210) returned by the search engines were downloaded and systematically analyzed. Detailed analysis of conventional DNA barcodes were based on retrieved sequences for internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (412,189), rbcL (251,598), matK (210,835), and trnH-psbA (141,846). The utility of databases such as The Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), NCBI, GenBank, and Medicinal Materials DNA Barcode Database (MMDBD) has been critically examined for the identification of unknown species from known databases. The current review gives an overview of the ratio of adulterated to authentic drugs for some countries along with the state of the art technology currently being used in the identification of adulterated medicines. In this review, efforts were made to systematically analyze and arrange the research and reviews on the basis of technical progress. The review concludes with the future of DNA-based herbal medicine adulteration detection, forecasting the reliance on the metabarcoding technology. DNA barcoding technology for differentiating adulterated herbal medicine.

A Review of Authenticity and Authentication of Commercial Ginseng Herbal Medicines and Food Supplements

Ginseng traditional medicines and food supplements are the globally top selling herbal products. Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolius and Panax notoginseng are the main commercial ginseng species in herbal medicine. Prices of ginseng products vary widely based on the species, quality, and purity of the used ginseng, and this provides a strong driver for intentional adulteration. Our systematic literature search has reviewed the authenticity results of 507 ginseng-containing commercial herbal products sold in 12 countries scattered across six continents. The analysis of the botanical and chemical identity of all these products shows that 76% are authentic while 24% were reported as adulterated. The number of commercial products as well as the percentage of adulteration varies significantly between continents, being highest in South America (100%) and Australia (75%), and lower in Europe (35%), North America (23%), Asia (21%) and Africa (0%). At a national level, from the five countries for which more than 10 products have been successfully authenticated, the highest percentage of adulterated ginseng products were purchased from Taiwan (49%), followed by Italy (37%), China (21%), and USA (12%), while all products bought in South Korea were reported to be authentic. In most cases, labeled Panax species were substituted with other Panax species, but substitution of ginseng root, the medicinally recommended plant part, with leaves, stems or flowers was also reported. Efficient and practical authentication using biomarkers to distinguish the main ginseng varieties and secondary metabolite spectra for age determination are essential to combat adulteration in the global marketplace.

Safety monitoring of herbal medicines in Nigeria: worrying state of pharmacovigilance system based on WHO core pharmacovigilance indicators

Introduction: Herbal medicines (HMs) have shown therapeutic and toxicological potentials. Thus, the WHO expanded the pharmacovigilance (PVG) scope to include HMs. This study appraised the state of PVG system in Nigeria for the safety monitoring of HMs using WHO core PVG indicators. Methods: Between January and June 2019, 39 PVG experts were requested to independently appraise the PVG system in Nigeria for safety monitoring of HMs using WHO PVG core structural (CSIs), process (CPIs) and outcome (COIs) indicators. The 27 indicators (CSIs = 10, CPIs = 9 and COIs = 8) were scored 3, 2, 1 and 0 for adequate, fairly adequate, inadequate and uncertain states, respectively. CSIs index (CSII) was determined by dividing the summation of CSIs mean score by total obtainable score (30) and expressed in percentage. This was applied to CPIs and COIs to obtain CPIs index (CPII) and COIs index (COII), respectively. Results: The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of participants’ age was 43.6 ± 10.3 years with mean ± SD work experience of 15.3 ± 9.3 years. Majority had doctoral degree (35.9%; 14/39; P >0.05) and were medical doctors (28.2%; 11/39; P > 0.05). Twelve of the 27 indicators scored at least 2.0 and CSIs, CPIs, and COIs accounted for 75.0% (9/12), 0.0% (0/12) and 25.0% (3/12), respectively (P < 0.05). The total mean score was 27.3 ± 0.2 for CSIs as against 8.0 ± 0.3 for CPIs and 11.2 ± 0.4 for COIs (P < 0.05). The CSII, CPII and COII were 91.0%; 29.6% and 46.7%, respectively (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Most of the structural elements are in place for safety monitoring of HMs in Nigeria. However, the process and outcome of PVG indicate an inadequate state. Thus, deliberate efforts are required to ensure the realization of PVG objectives.

Detection and quantification of cashew in commercial tea products using High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis

Tea, a popular aromatic infusion and food supplement, prepared from Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze leaves, is often subjected to adulteration with various undeclared inorganic and plant-derived materials. Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) nut husk is one of the most common plant tea adulterants. To date, there are limited DNA-based technologies for tea authentication and quantitative detection of adulterants. Herein, we used a universal plant DNA barcoding marker coupled with High Resolution Melting (Bar-HRM) analysis to authenticate tea products from cashew ground nut. Additionally, cashew-specific markers coupled with HRM technology were used to detect and quantify adulteration of tea with cashew DNA. This methodology can reliably detect admixtures as low as 1% v/v cashew in commercial tea products. Overall, our results demonstrate that the HRM technology is a strong molecular approach in tea authentication, capable of detecting very low adulterations in DNA admixtures. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: In this study, we established the use of high-resolution DNA-based technologies for the detection of cashew adulteration in tea, even in very low quantities. The technology could be applied to a greater range of plant-based tea adulterants. This work is expected to facilitate the traceability and authenticity of tea products and form the basis for the development of strategies against fraudulent practices.