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The American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), a nonprofit herbal research organization dealing with setting and publishing standards for quality control of herbal materials, announced in January that it has released its new monograph on Echinacea purpurea aerial parts.1
“On the quality side of things, there are numerous issues surrounding Echinacea that make manufacturing, choosing, or researching a quality product very complicated,” said Roy Upton, AHP executive director, in an AHP press release.1 “Confusion between species, the presence of adulterants, instability of potentially active compounds, and analytical difficulties create a great challenge for anyone working with Echinacea. Regarding efficacy and safety issues, there are controversies regarding proper dosing, which species or type of product to use, its short-term or long-term use, safety in pregnancy or auto-immune disease, etc. All of these issues are addressed and clarified in the monograph.”
AHP’s monographs establish national standards for assuring authenticity, purity, and quality control of the featured botanical, and they represent the most thorough and critical review of all aspects of that herbal ingredient currently available. The accompanying AHP Therapeutic Compendium provides a comprehensive and critical review of the currently available pharmacological, clinical, and safety data.
AHP’s monograph on Echinacea purpurea aerial parts was scheduled to be released in 2005, and an article about its imminent publication was published in HerbalGram 68;2 however, during final proofing of the monograph it was determined that some of the analytical work in the monograph had to be revised due to an issue in the substantiation process (D. Swisher, e-mail, January 11, 2007). AHP previously released a monograph on Echinacea purpurea root in 2004, and the organization plans to publish a monograph on Echinacea angustifolia root soon.1 A monograph on Echinacea pallida root is currently in development. The new monograph on Echinacea purpurea aerial parts costs $89.95. For more information or to order the monograph, contact AHP by mail at: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, P.O. Box 66809, Scotts Valley, CA 95067; by phone at 831-461-6318; by e-mail at admin@herbal-ahp.org; or visit the website www.herbal-ahp.org. The AHP monographs can also be ordered through the American Botanical Council by accessing the following website: http://www.herbalgram.org/bookcatalog/productsByCategory.asp?ci=24.
-Courtney Cavaliere
References
1. AHP releases monograph standards on Echinacea purpurea aerial parts (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) [press release]. Scotts Valley, CA: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia; January 2, 2007.
2. Blumenthal M. AHP publishes Echinacea purpurea aerial parts monograph. HerbalGram. 2005;68:16.
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