adulterations of herbal drugs

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3.2  ADULTERATIONS OF HERBAL DRUGS

Adulteration or debasement of an article refers to a set of deliberate or accidental admixtures in which undesirable materials 

(free from or inferior in therapeutic and chemical properties) are admixed with an herbal medicinal product. They may be 

classified into several categories.

Spoilage

 is one type of adulteration, in which, microbes or pests infest a product. As a result, a product becomes unfit 

for use. In order to address this problem, the drying and storage conditions of the product need to be improved.

In the case of Deterioration, the original herbal medicinal product is rendered inactive or less active through maltreat-

ment, aging, or extraction, followed by marketing of the exhausted residue.

Admixture

 may be defined as the act of adding one substance to an herbal medicinal product accidentally due to igno-

rance or carelessness.

Sophistication

 refers to the case of a spurious or inferior material being mixed into a drug in order to defraud. One ex-

ample that may be cited is the addition of starch into ginger, followed by the addition of a little bit of coloring matter, which 

results in a perfect shade of yellow color.

In some cases, an herbal medicinal product is entirely replaced with a different substance. This is known as substitution. 

One example is the supply of cheap cottonseed oil in place of olive oil (

Evans, 2009

).

Herbs are the major components in all traditional systems of medicine. Adulteration and substitution are found most 

frequently in the raw material trade of medicinal plants. Adulteration has become a common malpractice in the herbal raw 

material trade. Deforestation and the extinction of several plant species has resulted in the unavailability of authentic plant 

species. Due to this, adulteration and substitution of many herbal medicinal products are encouraged. In the case of an 

adulterated herb, it has often been noticed that several adverse reactions take place due to the incorporation of some unin-

tended herbs. Scientific studies have been able to discover several adulteration techniques that are difficult to detect without 

employing proper microscopic studies (

Sarin, 1996

).