Herbs of Commerce

There are several limitations that lead to potential for patient harm with the current regulation of herbals under the DSHEA. First, botanical nomenclature is not standardized. Common names for herbals may vary depending on the region of the country. A single herb may have more than a dozen common names (e.g., echinacea), or one common herbal name may refer to several different species (e.g., yellowroot and snakeroot). To avoid confusion, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has published Herbs of Commerce, a text of more than 500 herbs with the preferred common name, Latin binomial, and appropriate synonyms. 

Polygalaceae), Virginia (Aristolochia serpentaria, Aristolochiaceae) and white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum, Asteraceae). In the United States, a list of standardized common names called Herbs of Commerce (American Herbal Products Association, 1992) was adopted by the FDA as the only permitted source for common names on product labeling. Products that contain plants not listed in Herbs of Commerce are required to use the correct Latin name of the plant on the label. In addition to difficulties with nomenclature, problems have arisen because of the difficulty in determining exactly which plants are present in a finished product. Capsules that contain more than one plant and/or a dried crude extract make identification of the plant(s) by traditional means such as microscopy virtually impossible (Betz et al., 1995). Determination of the identity of a misidentified plant then becomes a matter of looking for specific toxic chemical constituents, which is usually a needle in a haystack approach unless symptoms are characteristic of a particular compound. Good quality assurance of raw material obviates the need for this detective work. 

American Herbal Products Association (1992) Foster, S. (ed.), Herbs of Commerce, American Herbal Products Association, Austin, TX. 

McGuffln, M., J. Kartesz, A. Leung, and A.O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce. 2nd ed. Silver Spring, MD American Herbal Products Association. 

Secondatia, Tetragastris, and Trichilia (Kletter et al. 2004). According to Herbs of Commerce, "catuaba" is the standardized common name for Erythroxylum catuaba (McGuffin et al. 2000). 

Port Townsend hosts a farmers market during the growing season from May to October. On Saturday, 8 30am-lpm, the market is held behind the city hall on Washington and Madison streets. On Wednesday, 4-6 30pm, it s uptown on Lawrence and Polk Streets. The market features locally grown produce, flowers and herbs. There is also a culinary festival in November. Contact the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce at o 360-385-7869 for details. 

Riddle, J. 1997. Eve s herbs A history of contraception and abortion in the West. Gambridge, MA Harvard University Press. Steinmetz, M.D., P. Tognetti, M. Mourgue, ]. Jouglard, and Y. Millet. 1980. The toxicity of certain essential oils of commerce Oil of hyssop and oil of sage. Plant Med. Phytother. 14(l) 34-45. 

From medieval times, herbs have been used to flavour and preserve fermented malt liquors but only the hop Humulus lupulus L.) is used on a commercial scale today. It is grown throughout the temperate regions of the world solely to meet the demands of the brewing industry (Table 12.1). Hops of commerce are the dried cones of the female plant but much of the crop is processed into powder, pellets or extract. In Western Europe the yield of hops is now expressed in zentners (1 zentner = 50 kg = 110 lb). Earlier, centals (100 lb) and hundredweight (112 lb) were used in Britain. 

True melissa oil, or oil of balm, is the distillate of the herb Melitsa Mcmalis, a plant indigenous to the Northern Mediterranean littoral and Western Asia. It is tdso cultivated in North America. The leaves have an odour recalling that of a mixture of lemon grass and citronella. The yield of oil is, however, so small that the melissa oil of commerce is practically invariably the result of the distillation of lemon oil with a little citronella oil (or citronellal) over the leaves of the plant. 

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), which was founded in 1983 to promote the responsible commerce of products that contain herbs, is now in the United States the national trade association and voice of the herbal products industry. It is comprised of companies doing business as growers, manulacturers, and marketers of herbs and herbal products. AHPA has been active in creating standards for herbal products, and has done so by drawing on the expertise of its members and their extensive experience. 

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