Abstract
Background: Nowadays many people depend on herbal medicine for their healthcare needs; however, handmade herbal drugs are not screened for efficacy and safety. Undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients have been detected in herbal medicine, even if there are claims to be natural. This study determines the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in a weight gain herbal supplement collected from an Iranian online herbal shop. Methods: One packet of herbal supplement (containing 45 tablets), advised as a weight gain product, was gathered from an online herbal shop in Iran. The sample was analyzed to detect undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry instrument, based on Iranian forensic standard operating procedures 920118-2655. Results: The cyproheptadine was detected in this herbal supplement at a concentration higher than the therapeutic dose. Conclusion: Although synthetic drugs cannot be produced except by permission of the licensing authorities, there is no regulation for herbal supplement production in Iran. Therefore, herbal supplements’ serious quality and safety concerns must be assured for patients’ health.
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