06.01.06
Study Publicizes Black Cohosh Substitution with Chinese Cimicifuga
In late April, an article published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry reported that three of 11 black cohosh supplements purchased in the U.S. and tested did not contain black cohosh (Actaea racemosa syn. Cimicifuga racemosa). Instead, the three products contained less expensive extracts of Chinese cimicifuga (specific other Actaea spp.) that do not have all the same chemical compounds or clinical uses as the native North American plant. A fourth product indicated a probable mixture of the two plants. The products tested were purchased from 2002 through 2004. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Silver Spring, MD, last year added these Asian Actaea species to its list of potential botanical adulterants to warn industry to be on the lookout for this economic substitution. ”One of AHPA’s resp-onsible member companies brought this concern to the association’s attention a year ago,” said Steven Dentali, PhD, AH-PA’s vice president for scientific and technical affairs. “AHPA promptly notified its membership and has since identified a practical, appropriate, and inexpensive an-alytical method that industry can employ to differentiate between extracts of black cohosh from closely related Asian species.”
In late April, an article published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry reported that three of 11 black cohosh supplements purchased in the U.S. and tested did not contain black cohosh (Actaea racemosa syn. Cimicifuga racemosa). Instead, the three products contained less expensive extracts of Chinese cimicifuga (specific other Actaea spp.) that do not have all the same chemical compounds or clinical uses as the native North American plant. A fourth product indicated a probable mixture of the two plants. The products tested were purchased from 2002 through 2004. The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Silver Spring, MD, last year added these Asian Actaea species to its list of potential botanical adulterants to warn industry to be on the lookout for this economic substitution. ”One of AHPA’s resp-onsible member companies brought this concern to the association’s attention a year ago,” said Steven Dentali, PhD, AH-PA’s vice president for scientific and technical affairs. “AHPA promptly notified its membership and has since identified a practical, appropriate, and inexpensive an-alytical method that industry can employ to differentiate between extracts of black cohosh from closely related Asian species.”