Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin on Ashwagandha Roots and Root Extracts Published by BAPP
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera,
Solanaceae) roots have a history of use as part of the Ayurvedic medicine system
in India. The roots are used as a general tonic to increase strength, energy,
and sexual stamina. The recent success of ashwagandha roots (alone or as
leaf/root combination) in the global market has increased the pressure on the
supply chain, and may be partly responsible for the appearance of ingredients
labeled to consist of powdered root or root extracts that contain undeclared
leaf material. Similar to the situation with Asian ginseng, where the leaves
contain some of the same ginsenosides as the roots, ashwagandha leaves contain
some of the same steroid lactones (known as withanolides) as the roots,
possibly passing analytical tests that rely on measuring the total withanolide
content. Currently, the costs for ashwagandha leaves in India are approximately
60-90% lower than for high quality roots.
The ashwagandha bulletin,
co-authored by Vineet Kumar Singh,
MPharm, Deepak Mundkinajeddu, PhD, and Amit Agarwal, PhD, from herbal extract
supplier Natural Remedies (Bangalore, India), Jonathan Nguyen and Sidney Sudberg
from Alkemist Labs, a contract analytical laboratory, and Stefan Gafner, PhD,
and Mark Blumenthal from ABC, summarizes the published data on
adulteration, provides information on the importance and recent growth of
ashwagandha sales in the US dietary supplement market, and includes a section
on analytical methods to detect adulteration.1 Manufacturers of
dietary supplements containing ashwagandha roots and root extracts may use the
bulletin as a source of information on quality issues with the ingredient and as
a basis to implement appropriate guards against purchasing adulterated
material.
Reference
- Singh VK, Mundkinajeddu D, Agarwal A,
Nguyen J, Sudberg S, Gafner S, Blumenthal M. Adulteration of ashwagandha roots and extracts. Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin. Austin, TX:
ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program; 2018.
