History of Ginseng Nomenclature, Taxonomy, and Trade, and Review of Evidence for Pomegranate Adulteration Published in HerbalGram

 

The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program has published two additional full papers in HerbalGram. Steven Foster is the author of an extensive review on the history, nomenclature, and trade of various plant species sold under the common name of “ginseng” in addition to Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng, Araliaceae) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). He details the history of Asian ginseng trade and documented cases of ginseng adulteration and fraud from the 18th-century literature up to the 1990s. Steven Foster will finish his overview on ginseng adulteration in a follow-up paper focusing on the current problems encountered in the marketplace.

 

The second paper, an overview of pomegranate (Punica granatum, Lythraceae) juice and fruit extract adulteration, is by John H. Cardellina II, PhD, and Mark Blumenthal. It gives a short review on the history of pomegranate use, its chemical composition, and lists current evidence for fraudulent adulteration, mainly by adding lower-cost fruit juices to pomegranate juice, or by adding pure ellagic acid from non-pomegranate sources to fruit extracts. As with all publications that are released as part of the Program, these two papers are freely accessible to ABC members and registered users on the Program’s website.