Volume 5, Issue 2, June 2015, Pages 118–127
Discussion
Phytochemical variation: How to resolve the quality controversies of herbal medicinal products?
Abstract
Plants
and plant products possess therapeutic potential and are duly utilized
for the production of traditional as well as modern medicines worldwide.
It is evident that the chemical composition of a plant and possible
synergy of its constituents impart therapeutic potential to a plant or
plant product(s) (HMPs). However, genomic composition, developmental
stage and ambient environmental conditions often cause spatio-temporal
variation in the chemical profile of plants. Likewise, harvesting
techniques, post-harvest processing, storage conditions, widespread use
of pesticides, frequent adulteration and microbial contamination also
cause a notable variation in chemical profile of medicinal plant
material. The occurrence of phytochemical variation in plant material
obtained from different geo-biological sources eventually induce
discrepancies in its therapeutic profile. Consequently a variation in
chemical composition and therapeutic profile of plant material causes
routine complications for the validation of therapeutic efficiency and
safety of HMPs.
With the global upsurge in the usage
of HMPs together with the concurrent reports on chemical variation,
adulteration and safety concerns there is an urgent need to institute
regulatory and diagnostic measures to meet the objectives of WHO
Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014–2023. In this regard, DNA based
diagnosis and quantitative profiling of chemical markers accompanied by
conventional purity measurements should provide a complete set of
quality assurance for medicinal plant material and HMPs. The
implementation of an integrated approach of DNA barcoding and
quantitative metabolomics has therefore become essential to ascertain
potency, purity, consistency and safety of medicinal plants as well as
HMPs practised in traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda,
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kampo and other systems of traditional
medicines worldwide.
Keywords
- Medicinal plants;
- Herbal medicine;
- Herbal medicinal products;
- Phytochemical variation;
- Quality control;
- Chemical marker
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