Botanical Adulterants Monitor: Issue 20, September 2020
Dear Reader,
The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted the botanical industry in many ways, most importantly by demanding new approaches to keep employees safe while attempting to avoid disruptions of the botanical supply chain and product manufacturing and distribution. The sharp increase in sales of herbal and fungal ingredients with immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties related to consumer interests as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a situation where the demand may outpace the supply, and therefore create a situation where the risk of economically motivated adulteration (EMA) is increased. One of these ingredients is the elder (Sambucus nigra) berry, where members of the botanical ingredient supply industry have reported cases of adulteration, e.g., by adding undisclosed anthocyanidin-rich extracts from black rice (Oryza sativa).1 Similarly, suppliers were found to fish for certificates of analysis (CoAs) by sending authentic ingredients to reputable contract analytical laboratories, only to later falsify the CoAs in order to provide their ingredients with documentation implying third-party testing that was never performed.2 This emphasized not only that adulteration comes in various shapes and forms, but, more importantly, manufacturers of herbal dietary supplements have to stay vigilant, and actively make efforts to be informed of issues with adulteration that go beyond the undisclosed fraudulent substitution, dilution, and/or spiking that may suddenly arise in a period of supply chain dislocations and shortages.
In July, to help responsible members of the botanical industry defend themselves against sellers of fraudulent lavender oil, the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) issued a peer-reviewed bulletin on the adulteration of the essential oil of English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), also known as common lavender or lavender. Adulteration of lavender oil appears to be common, and we hope that the information provided in this document will be of use to those involved in purchasing or quality control of lavender essential oil.
The Industry Alert section reports on ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) leaf extracts with an unusual fingerprint. Based on the available information, it is not clear if the discrepancies are due to the use of a specific low-polarity ion-exchange resin in the manufacturing process, or if this represents a sophisticated form of adulteration. BAPP also received HPLC-Vis chromatograms representing anthocyanin fingerprints from 25 bulk dry extracts and eight finished dietary supplements labeled to contain elder berry extract. Five of the bulk extracts and two finished products were found to be devoid of any elder berry.
The first review of published papers in the Science Update section described an investigation into the quality of commercial broccoli (Brassica oleracea convar. botyris var italica) dietary supplements. Only five of the 13 tested products complied with label specifications, and three products contained glucosinolates from species other than broccoli.
Among the dietary supplements that have experienced substantial increases in sales in the United States are those made with fruiting bodies or mycelium of fungi. In a very timely publication, Frommenwiler et al. reported the results of the high-performance thin-layer (HPTLC) analysis of 50 commercial reishi (Ganoderma spp.) fruiting body dietary supplements from Canada, France, Switzerland, and the United States, exposing the high variability in the chemical composition of commercial reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) products. There is an inherent high degree of chemical variability between fruiting bodies and mycelium biomass products that does not imply adulteration but rather a lack of consensus or even general agreement of what constitutes a profile that reflects a quality product and requires future discussion and investigation.
Next, the results of two papers evaluating the composition of commercial cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) bulk ingredients and dietary supplements are summarized. A team of Italian researchers discovered adulteration of cranberry products with hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and black mulberry (Morus nigra) extracts using a combination of ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) or UV/Vis and mass spectrometric (MS) detection. The second paper looked at nine cranberry dietary supplements sold in the United States using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy and HPLC-Vis. One supplement did not contain any cranberry but was composed of ascorbic acid and excipients instead.
The section is completed by a paper on the contents of phenethylamine derivatives in commercial bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium) dietary supplements, although the authors used a very broad definition and also included products that were labeled to contain bitter orange powder/extract with pure constituents (e.g., hordenine, octopamine), or pure constituents alone. Products labeled as made from bitter orange powder/extract were authentic, although they failed to meet the standardization claims in many instances. Some of the discrepancies may be explained by differences in the analytical methodology used by the manufacturers versus the researchers, but could point also towards intentional adulteration. Those products that had pure constituents on the label had a high risk of containing synthetic adulterants.
All of us at BAPP, including the American Botanical Council (ABC), the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi, hope that you, your family, friends, and co-workers are safe. It is our goal to provide information in the “Botanical Adulterants Monitor” that is of use for those in the quality control and assurance, research and development, and purchasing of herbal dietary supplement manufacturers. By increasing the awareness of botanical ingredient adulteration and presenting new techniques to detect adulteration, we aim to help prevent adulterated ingredients from finding their way into the herbal dietary supplement, natural cosmetic, personal care, and other finished botanical products supply chains, and thus, eventually, to consumers. We encourage you to please share the contents of this newsletter with your colleagues.
Stefan
Gafner, PhD
Chief
Science Officer
American
Botanical Council
Technical Director, ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program
References
- WholeFoods Magazine Staff. Artemis raises concerns
on adulteration of elderberry. WholeFoods Magazine [online]. 2020. https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/supplements/news-supplements/artemis-raises-concerns-on-adulteration-of-elderberry/.
Accessed August 7, 2020.
- Krawiec S. Alkemist
Labs warns industry of falsified certificates of analysis being circulated.
Nutritional Outlook [online]. 2020. https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/affroneye-well-suited-for-formulations-targeting-gamers-and-overall-eye-health-says-pharmactive.
Accessed August 7, 2020.
