3.2.1 Various Means of Adulterations in Herbal Medicine
Adulteration is performed by deliberately admixing foreign matter (usually with wrong, inferior, or cheaper plant materi-
als, synthetic drugs, etc.) to herbal materials or preparations to maximize profits. Inorganic matter or unofficial plant parts
may also be incorporated into the drug (
Pferschy-Wenzig and Bauer, 2015
).
Table 3.4
demonstrates several cases in which
synthetic products are substituted for herbal drugs. Some herbal weight-loss products are regularly substituted with con-
ventional allopathic medicines, such as stimulants, anorexics, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, diuretics, and laxatives
(
Vaclavik et al., 2014
).
Different types of adulterations will be illustrated in the following sections.
3.2.1.1 Substitution With Inferior Commercial Varieties
Owing to a macroscopic similarity to the original drugs, various inferior varieties of the same species are used as an adulter-
ant. Some examples are:
1. Indian Senna (Cassia angustifolia) has been adulterated with Arabian Senna, C. obovate (dog Senna), and Provence
Senna (C. auriculata).
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