Botanicals, analysis

The botanical quality of ginseng preparations is problematic (1). For instance, when a case of neonatal andro-genization was associated with maternal use of Siberian ginseng tablets during pregnancy, botanical analysis showed that the incriminated material almost certainly came from Periploca sepium (Chinese silk vine) (2). 

Biogeographical revision of Argentina (Andean and Neotropical Regions) an analysis using freshwater fishes. Journal of Biogeography 35,1564-1579. Luther, H. (1963). Botanical analysis of mute swan faeces. Acta Vertebrata 2, 266-267. 

The application of linear discriminant analysis of the 16 amino acids foimd in Spanish honeys established both botanical and geographical differences (Perez Arquillue and Herrera Marteache, 1987). Gas chromatography (GC) analyses of free amino acids showed obvious differences when honey samples from the UK, Argentina, Australia, and Canada were compared (Gilbert et al., 1981). Pawlowska and Armstrong (1994)... 

Pollen analysis in combination with other techniques is still an effective tool for the authentication of the botanical origin of honey (Persano Oddo et ah, 1995 Von der Ohe et ah, 2004). It can distinguish polyfloral and different types of unifloral honeys (Mateo and Bosch-Reig, 1998). It can also indicate the percentages of different nectar contributions in honey products. A polymerase chain reaction technique and an... 

Barth, O. M. (2005). Botanical resources used by Apis mellifera determined by pollen analysis of royal jelly in Minas Gerais. Brazil. ]. Apicult. Res. 44, 78-81. 

Beretta, G., Caneva, E., Regazzoni, L., Bakhtyari, N. G., and Facino, R. M. (2008). A solid-phase extraction procedure coupled to H-NMR, with chemometric analysis, to seek reliable markers of the botanical origin of honey. Anal. Chim. Acta 620,176-182. 

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Inc. (USP) in 2000 issued the USP criteria for levels of evidence for botanical articles [117]. While issued for botanicals, the criteria have application to all therapeutic agents. The USP criteria rank evidence from I to IV, with Level I being the strongest. Within Level I, the randomized controlled clinical trial is ranked highest, followed by meta-analysis and epidemiological studies. Level II consists of the same designs, but with methodological flaws. Level III includes inconclusive studies, and Level IV is anecdotal evidence. 

The labile nature of the components necessitates that, for fundamental investigations, the starch should preferably be extracted from its botanical source, in the laboratory, under the mildest possible conditions.26 Industrial samples of unknown origin and treatment should not be used. The characterization of the starch would appear to entail (1) dissolution of the granule without degradation, (2) fractionation without degradation, (3) complete analysis of the finer details of structure of the separated components (including the possibilities of intermediate structures between the extremes of amylose and amylopectin), and (4) the estimation of the size, shape, and molecular-weight distribution of these fractions. 

Constantino M. Torres, David B. Repke, Kelvin Chan, Dennis McKenna, Augustin Llagostera, and Richard E. Schultes. "Botanical, chemical, and contextual analysis of archaeological snuff powders from San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile." Current Anthropology 32 (1992) 640-49. 

The analysis of soils and plant material are common examples used to demonstrate ICP applications. Dahlquist and Knoll(43) compared the preparation and ICP analyses of botanicals (16 elements) and soils (11 elements) with few exceptions the ICP values for the CII botanicals were in excellent agreement with the assigned values, and the soil analyses were in excellent agreement with FAA analyses of soil digests. )ones( 4) reported the analysis of 17 elements in plant material and soils but confirmation of the two analyses was not given. Alder, et. aJ.(75) describe the unique analysis of ammonia-nitrogen in soils by gas evolution into an ICP no interferences were observed from the concomitants evaluated and acceptable recoveries were obtained. Irons et. al.(76) compared the ICP analyses of 13 elements in NBS orchard leaves and bovine liver to the data obtained by FAA and energy dispersive x-ray. 

Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESTMS) for analysis of sildenafil has also been developed and applied to 40 botanical products. About half of the analyzed samples proved to contain undeclared additives of the three drugs sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil <2004JPBA525>. A similar electrokinetic capillary chromatography method to that proposed for the determination of sildenafil 82 has been reported for vardenafil 98 and tadalafile 99. Statistical evaluation of the electrophoretic results was achieved. The described method is thought to be rapid and sensitive <2004JCH231>. 

The CHPA commissioned a study entitled Self-Care in the New Millenium American Attitudes Toward Maintaining Personal Health and Treatment. They conducted 1505 telephone interviews in January of 2001, using random telephone numbers. African-Americans and Hispanics were oversampled to conduct in-depth subgroup analysis. Of particular interest is the finding that 96% of respondents felt confident that they could take care of their own health. This might explain why so many people want access to pharmacologically active botanicals. These products do not require a prescription and thus allow patients to treat themselves. 

Yuan M, Hong Y. Heterogeneity of Chinese medical herbs in Singapore assessed by fluorescence AFLP analysis. Am J Chin Med 2003 31(5) 773-779. Wu K-M, Farrelly J, Birnkrant D, et al. Regulatory toxicology perspectives on the development of botanical drug products in the United States. Am J Ther 2004 11(3) 213-217. 

Collects information, maintains a database of botanical applications, and performs periodic analysis on the status of botanical new drug development. 

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