Abstract
DNA barcoding is a widely accepted technique for the identification of plant materials, and its application to the authentication of commercial medicinal plants has attracted significant attention. The incorporation of DNA-based technologies into the quality testing protocols of international pharmacopoeias represents a step-change in status, requiring the establishment of standardized, reliable and reproducible methods. The process by which this can be achieved for any herbal medicine is described, using Hypericum perforatum L. (St John’s Wort) and potential adulterant Hypericum species as a case study. A range of practical issues are considered including quality control of DNA sequences from public repositories and the construction of individual curated databases, choice of DNA barcode region(s) and the identification of informative polymorphic nucleotide sequences. A decision tree informs the structure of the manuscript and provides a template to guide the development of future DNA barcode tests for herbals.
Highlights
The use of DNA-based methods to identify herbal materials has been widely accepted as a complementary method to phytochemical and physical testing methods [1,2,3,4,5,6]
The choice of DNA barcode region and testing platform for a specified target herbal will depend upon practical considerations as well as more theoretical parameters of barcode efficiency
Barcode quality control tests for the herbals industry [7] and in developing reference barcodes for pharmacopoeial monographs [54,55]
Summary
The use of DNA-based methods to identify herbal materials has been widely accepted as a complementary method to phytochemical and physical testing methods [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The ability of DNA-based methods to detect and identify contaminating materials has been its most beneficial feature, and it is this quality that sets these methods apart from others. It is widely accepted that the most beneficial and appropriate application of DNA-based methods to the herbal industry will be upstream of production [7]. These methods are applied to select seeds to be grown under conditions in line with cGACP guidelines. Before any processing has occurred, DNA-based identification of the raw materials can provide a certainty of identity that is unparalleled, together with the detection of contaminating plant material
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