Botanicals – challenges abound, solutions in sight?

Abstract

• Botanicals are highly complex formulations sold as food supplements or as herbal medicinal products. • Regulatory status may differ from country to country. • Quality and authenticity issues may be associated with botanicals. • Hyphenated techniques and DNA-based methods are best suited for authentication. Plant food supplements have experienced increasing popularity and constitute an economically very important group of products. There is a dangerous misperception by many consumers that ‘plant-derived’ means ‘natural’ and ‘safe’. However, various problems are associated with botanicals, including regulatory issues, the complexity of products, interactions with prescription drugs, potential contaminations with natural and anthropogenic toxins, and intentional adulteration, for example, with synthetic pharmaceuticals. Tremendous efforts have been made in the control of the quality and authenticity of botanicals using hyphenated techniques or DNA-based methods. This contribution aims to provide a brief overview of the latest developments in botanicals research, covering the relevant literature mainly between 2015 and 2020. Where appropriate, reference is made also to important papers published earlier.