Botanical material

Mavrodineanu R, ed. 1977) Procedures Used at the National Bureau of Standards to Determine Selected Trace Elements in Biological and Botanical Materials. National Bureau of Standards Spec Publ 492. National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC. 

Allelochemicals found in extracts of such botanical materials as plant leaves can often be well separated by liquid chromatography (LC). Identification of the separated components on-line by mass spectrometry (MS) is of great value because LC has the ability to deliver samples into the ion source of the spectrometer with low or no thermal decomposition. 

The number of fresh varieties, dosage forms, and formulations in combination with the variability in botanical material make it impossible to evaluate all of these products in animal models or clinical trials. As a minimum, several products used by the patient community should be obtained and authenticated. The testing and selection criteria should include multiple-lot testing, cost, and product availability, and take into consideration how these products are used. Drug combinations are being examined... 

The importance of unequivocally identifying botanical material, and naming it correctly, complete with the authority, is well illustrated in a study of four distinct Ervatamia species, all of which have at some time been named E. orientalis, with consequent inevitable confusion.64 The leaves of E. orientalis (R. Brown) Domin (=Tabernaemontana orientalis R. Brown), from New Guinea, unlike the other... 

J. A. Nobrega, Y. Gedinas, A. Krushevska, R. M. Barnes, Determination of elements in biological and botanical materials by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission and mass spectrometry after extraction with a tertiary amine reagent, J. Anal. Atom. Spectrom., 12 (1997), 1239D1242. 

Hao, Z. Parker, B. Knapp, M. Yu, L. 2005. Simultaneous quantification of a-tocopherol and four major carotenoids in botanical materials by normal phase liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. J. Chromatogr. A. 1094 83-90. 

Mistletoe is sometimes assumed to have hepatotoxic potential, based on a case report of hepatitis due to an herbal combination product claimed to have had mistletoe as one of its ingredients (3). However, the allegation that mistletoe was the probable cause of the illness has been rightly criticized, inter alia because the botanical material was not authenticated. The incriminated product also contained skullcap, which is hepatotoxic. 

To take away the mystery from the word supercritical, it should be recognized that a supercritical fluid can be used like any other solvent for maceration and percolation processes. The only restriction is that it must be handled under high pressure, a fact that requires a special and expensive design of the extraction apparatus. This obvious disadvantage however is compensated by many benefits as demonstrated below. Supercritical C02-extraction of botanical materials is today a well-developed and reliable procedure applied on an industrial scale for about 20 years. The equipment is available turn-key from various suppliers in multi-purpose design or tailor made for special applications. 

C02-extraction is best suitable for dry botanical materials, i.e. with a water content of about 10%. For fast and complete extraction the material needs conditioning which is achieved by cutting and powdering mills and by pelletisation which is recommended for materials with low bulk density, i.e. herbs and flowers. 

A 3 X 500 litre multipurpose extraction plant which is operated 250 days, for 24 hours each day, and with a change of raw material every two weeks has a capacity of 500-600 tons of botanical material a year and the extraction expenses are estimated to be 3 ( 30%)/kg feed in total. Costs of the raw material and raw material conditioning have to be added, as well as the costs of analysis and marketing if applicable. This price can be considerably reduced to about 1/kg solid feed or less if there are no product changes, if the hardware layout is adjusted to the feed material to be processed, if the extract separation from the gas is optimised and if the scale of the installation is increased. 

Increased use of African medicinal plants on the continent and in international trade has stimulated new efforts to monitor the quality of these botanical materials with the formation of the African Herbal Pharmacopoeia project. The first monographs to establish identity and criteria for quality control were introduced in 2009. This efifort will no doubt lead to a greater sense of confidence in many of the leading botanical raw materials of African origin in the medicinal plant trade. 

The distinction between naturally and artificially flavored food used to be as simple as the difference between raspberries and hard candies flavored with amyl acetate. In the future the choice is more likely to be between genetically engineered botanical material, physically and enzymatically processed, and a manufactured food with added natural flavoring complexes, prepared by thermal and enzymatic processes, or their precursors. 

It is well known that botanical materials may contain various soil and/or mineral fractions, and may therefore be difficult to dissolve [15,16]. Since the white clover material contains silicates, it was necessary to treat the material with HF to ensure complete digestion and recovery of the total metal content. Results obtained with destructive methods without using HF were therefore withdrawn, unless the laboratory could prove that the residue of the digest did not contain the elements determined. Neutron activation analysis was an important method for identifying the losses due to incomplete digestion. 

The greatest difference from the Swedish edition (1993) is the deletion of mnch botanical material—at the request of my co-author. The minimum necessary to understand the systematic classification of the drugs is kept whilst reference is made to textbooks in botany. 

AHPA. July 2011. Code of Ethics Business Conduct. Silver Spring, MD American Herbal Products Association. Altamirano, J., S.R. Gratz, and K.A. Wolnik. 2005. Investigation of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides in commercial comfrey-containing products and botanical materials by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. /. AOAC Int. 88(2) 406-412. 

Environmental factors, additives, or contaminants. Classifications do not consider potential adulteration of botanical materials, although known adulterations that present health risks may be listed in an Editors Note. Safety concerns of this sort must be addressed by the manufacturing practices of suppliers and manufacturers, who are responsible for assuring that herbal products are not contaminated or adulterated. 

Botanical polysaccharides exist as structural constituents of plant cell wall [64]. The main types of polysaccharides involved in cell wall are rigid fibrillar chitin (or cellulose) matrix-Uke (3-glucan, a-glucan, and glycoproteins [64-70]. Therefore, the selectirai of an effective extraction procedure for plant polysaccharides will have to depend on the cell wall structure [64]. In general, the basic theory of extraction of polysaccharides from botanical materials is to break the cell wall under certain conditions such as pH value, temperature, irradiation with microwave, and ultrasonic radiation [65,71]. 

The botanical materials are usually powdered, and then hot water extraction is performed [72-79]. This will be, occasionally, performed in combination with certain supplementary procedures that include microwave [80-82] and ultrasonic radiation for the effective extraction of polysaccharides from botanical... 

Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Polysaccharides As mentioned earlier, hot water extraction followed by some of the supplementary methods such as microwave- and ultrasonic-assisted tissue degradation techniques will be beneficial for the effective extraction of polysaccharides from botanical material [81-84]. Occasionally, these supplementary methods are employed directly without subjecting the plant material... 

Hydrodiffusion Hydrodiffusion is basically a modification of steam distillation that provides a shorter processing time, a higher yield, and greater steam economy. It differs from the conventional steam distillation in that the steam is passed into the top of the container, passes through a bed of botanical material supported on a grill, and is condensed below the extraction bed. Other than the improvements mentioned above, the process has the same properties as the conventional form of steam distillation. 

Expression techniques largely involve crushing or macerating the botanical material to release the essential oils so that they can be washed free from the plant matrix. There are a number of methods used but, basically, they all involve maceration followed by washing. 

Treatment of occupational illness may cause sensitization. With the use of botanical material for its pharmacologic properties, one may see patients who break out to plants in occupations where there should not be an opportunity for exposure. For example, reactions to Arnica montanUy Matricaria chamomillay Echinacea angustifoliay Hamamelis spp.. Calendula officinalis [434] and Melaleuca alternifolia are reported in alternative treatments . The latter is said to cross-react with colophony and contains eucalyptol, which caused systemic contact dermatitis in one patient [435, 436]. 

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