Abstract
Garcinia L. (Clusiaceae) fruits are a rich source of (−)-hydroxycitric acid, and this has gained considerable attention as an anti-obesity agent and a popular weight loss food supplement. In this study, we assessed adulteration of morphologically similar samples of Garcinia using DNA barcoding, and used NMR to quantify the content of (−)-hydroxycitric acid and (−)-hydroxycitric acid lactone in raw herbal drugs and Garcinia food supplements. DNA barcoding revealed that mostly G. gummi-gutta (previously known as G. cambogia) and G. indica were traded in Indian herbal markets, and there was no adulteration. The content of (−)-hydroxycitric acid and (−)-hydroxycitric acid lactone in the two species varied from 1.7% to 16.3%, and 3.5% to 20.7% respectively. Analysis of ten Garcinia food supplements revealed a large variation in the content of (−)-hydroxycitric acid, from 29 mg (4.6%) to 289 mg (50.6%) content per capsule or tablet. Only one product contained quantifiable amounts of (−)-hydroxycitric acid lactone. Furthermore the study demonstrates that DNA barcoding and NMR could be effectively used as a regulatory tool to authenticate Garcinia fruit rinds and food supplements.
Highlights
Globalization in the trade of herbal products and an expanding commodity market have resulted in widespread consumption of medicinal plants as drugs, cosmetics and food supplements, both in developing and developed countries[1,2]
During interviews with vendors we elicited data for all known vernacular and trade names of Garcinia species (Supplementary Table S2), but we found that only Kodampuli (G. gummi-gutta) and Kokum (G. indica) were traded
The interviews with farmers from Western Ghats revealed that people predominantly collected G. gummi-gutta and G. indica from the wild, with quantities of Garcinia fruits up to 15 to 20 kg per day
Summary
Globalization in the trade of herbal products and an expanding commodity market have resulted in widespread consumption of medicinal plants as drugs, cosmetics and food supplements, both in developing and developed countries[1,2]. The predominant Garcinia species occurring in the Western Ghats, and these are locally traded as Kodampuli and Kokum, respectively (Fig. 1) These species are traded throughout India and exported to other countries as raw drugs, juices and extracts[7]. Several other species, such as G. morella (Gaertn.) Desr., G. cowa Roxb. The trade analysis of Garcinia species suggests that the demand for the dried fruit rinds (raw drugs) and its value-added products are increasing[4,7]. Adulteration may be considerable, given that there is no regulatory tool for quality control, no strict commercial testing for authentication of herbal products, and a lack of authentication along the value chains for highly traded medicinal plants[21]
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