title: Species Adulteration in the Herbal Trade: Causes, Consequences and Mitigation.
abstract: The global economy of the international trade of herbal products has been increasing by 15% annually, with the raw material for most herbal products being sourced from South and Southeast Asian countries. In India, of the 8000 species of medicinal plants harvested from the wild, approximately 960 are in the active trade. With increasing international trade in herbal medicinal products, there is also increasing concern about the widespread adulteration and species admixtures in the raw herbal trade. The adverse consequences of such species adulteration on the health and safety of consumers have only recently begun to be recognised and documented. We provide a comprehensive review of the nature and magnitude of species adulteration in the raw herbal trade, and identify the underlying drivers that might lead to such adulteration. We also discuss the possible biological and chemical equivalence of species that are used as adulterants and substitutes, and the consequences thereof to consumer health and safety, and propose a framework for the development of a herbal trade authentication service that can help regulate the herbal trade market.
authors.affiliation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India.
authors.forename: Ramanujam
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srirama
authors.affiliation: School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560065, India.|Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560065, India.
authors.forename: J U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Santhosh Kumar
authors.affiliation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Seethapathy
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (CBG), College of Biological Sciences, University of Guelph, Toronto, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Newmaster
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (CBG), College of Biological Sciences, University of Guelph, Toronto, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ragupathy
authors.affiliation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India.|School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560065, India.
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Ganeshaiah
authors.affiliation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India.|School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560065, India.|Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560065, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uma Shaanker
authors.affiliation: Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India. gravikanth@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gudasalamani
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7823-6553
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ravikanth
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003257:Consumer Product Safety / Q000592:standards*; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D004340:Drug Contamination; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D013810:Therapeutic Equivalency