Manufacturers of botanical-based products are often faced with the timely and expensive task of finding botanical starting materials of correct species identity or of suitable quality. Currently, manufacturers are forced to send samples from multiple suppliers to off-site quality laboratories for proper species identification, a process that may lead to longer turn-around times for production.
 
Developing and transferring simple laboratory botanical species authentication methods to the field and obtaining field testing results that align with laboratory results can improve the overall timeline and expense. The use of field botanical authentication is a win-win: botanical manufacturers can focus on correctly identified materials, while suppliers benefit by receiving more accurate, higher-grade ingredients.
 
Choosing DNA-Based Testing for Field Botanical Authentication
DNA-based in-field testing applications have great potential for initiating botanical species authentication. Scientifically, due to the fidelity and specificity of genetic information in plant species, DNA-based methods are the most efficient tools to precisely authenticate the target botanical species and detect species substitution, which is a common form of botanical materials adulteration.
 
Technically, other botanical identification approaches, such as morphological and chemical methods, require well-trained experts to conduct the test and interpret the results. However, for the DNA-based method, once it is designed based on solid scientific knowledge, it does not require professional personnel to perform the test and interpret the result. Therefore, DNA-based testing is a valuable tool for non-experts, such as botanical materials procurement agents and suppliers, to use.
 
A Platform for DNA-Based Field Botanical Authentication: Equipment & Fit-For-Purpose Methods 
The key for DNA-based species authentication relies on the difference of DNA sequences between species. These differences can be amplified and identified through a process called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Field testing requires portable equipment that can reliably conduct the PCR process outside laboratories.
 
Herbalife Nutrition is evaluating a patented Hyris platform, which offers the unique capability to perform full PCR-based genetic analysis of biological samples in any kind of setting. With a weight of only 1.15 kg and a footprint of 10x10x12 cm, the Hyris bCube incorporates all the hardware and software needed for testing.
 
In addition to portable equipment, the test method is another critical factor for field testing. There are a few commercial DNA-based field-testing kits available. However, they only identify single or several close botanical species. In other words, these testing kits only identify the target species without addressing the exclusive species with close profiles (either morphologically or chemically similar).
 
Herbalife Nutrition is focusing on developing fit-for-purpose DNA-based methods to not only identify the target botanical but also to detect its common adulterants. Through these processes, we are able to fulfill the regulatory requirements for botanical identification, and more importantly, reduce the risks for commercial adulteration to protect consumers and companies.
 
By combining the Hyris bCUBE with customized test methods developed by Herbalife Nutrition or with the existing catalog of Hyris test kits, it can be used as a fully portable testing laboratory to provide highly accurate results, reducing the time and costs associated with traditional methods.
 
Putting the New Platform to Work
An example of this identification method in action is a test on botanicals used in some Herbalife Nutrition products, parsley and celery leaf powders. Both botanicals have similar morphological and chemical profiles. In order to clearly differentiate and detect these two botanical materials, Herbalife Nutrition developed a probe-based PCR method based on the multiple channel signal detection capability of Hyris bCube. It allows both parsley and celery targets to be detected in a single reaction by using a unique fluorescent dye for each amplicon-specific probe. Combining with a simplified DNA-extraction procedure, we have successfully tested the method outside the laboratory with field samples and obtained results that match laboratory analysis.
 
DNA-Based Field Botanical Authentication Moving Forward 
Combining the probe-based PCR method with bCube allows us to identify the target botanical and detect its adulterants in the field. The process works particularly efficiently when we have knowledge about its adulterants.
 
However, there are always new botanicals for which we have limited knowledge. In this case, we can still use bCube to amplify certain DNA marker regions, called “barcodes” then sequence them outside the laboratory and compare to a cloud database. Portable, real-time DNA sequencing devices from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, offer such opportunities, which we are working on developing further.