Chapter 6 - Quality Assurance and Quality Control of Medicinal and Aromatic Herbs

Abstract

The basic and one of the important tools in forming high-quality herbal products is evaluation. There is increasing awareness and general acceptability of the use of herbal drugs in today's medical practice. Cultivation, collection, drying, storage, and processing for market display the final quality of an herbal product. Large numbers of essential drugs are extracted from medicinal plants, which are primary source of health care for maximum of world's population living in developed and developing countries. Herbal products are the source of western medicine and herbal medicine as well. The expanding industry accompanied by surety for assurance of quality, efficacy, and safety meets the demand for botanical products. Plants that are used as drugs, dietary supplements, and herbal medicines are identified at the species level. Due to scarcity of drug and its high price prevailing in the market, nowadays, substitution and adulteration of herb is very common due to which there is an increase in consumers' and manufacturers' disappointment and critical consequences. It is imperial to maintain the quality and purity of a product in the medicinal market owing to medicinal properties attributed to it. This chapter covers various tools like morphological, microscopic, physical, chemical, and biological tools employed for the evaluation of herbal drugs. The initial step of an extensive process of quality assurance is absolute identification and is as well critical for the characterization of the genetic diversity, phylogeny, and phylogeography and the protection of endangered species. This chapter brings to light the processes of good quality assurance and standardization of herbal medicines and products.