Abstract
Throughout the history of mankind, the use of medicinal plants has been a significant part of healthcare practices. Commercial herbal products (CHPs) are herbal materials and processed products that can be purchased from several outlets such as pharmacies and supermarkets. They are available in different forms such as pills, capsules, powders and extracts. These products are readily available without prescription and as such, consumers are able to self-medicate. The authenticity of such products forms the basis for their efficacy, safety and quality. Concerns related to the safety and efficacy of herbal products have been raised following reports that point towards the global widespread adulteration and species misidentification in the herbal product industry. This may result in the reduced therapeutic potential of the product as not all closely related species are pharmacologically or therapeutically equipotent. Adulteration can also result in unwanted adverse health effects and its detection needs to be prioritised. Currently, pharmaceutical companies use phytochemical profiling as a tool for authenticating products. However, this method can be affected by several factors such as the plant age and growing conditions. Therefore, the development and implementation of more robust and standardized quality control methods for the identification and authentication of species used in herbal products is of utmost importance. The absence of standard authentication methods easily subjects the industry to unethical practices that lead to the manufacturing of products that are non-compliant. This present study proposes the use of DNA barcoding as a tool to authenticate herbal products. For this study, a list of selected native plant species used in commercial herbal products traded in South Africa was compiled.
M.Sc. (Botany)