This post series on botanical ingredient adulteration is inspired by the excellent work coming out of the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) by the American Botanical Council (ABC), continuing today with:
➡️ Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus; Araliaceae) is native to northeastern Asia, with a long history of use in traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian medicine. It is best known as an adaptogen, used to help the body adapt to physical and mental stress, support vitality, and address symptoms such as fatigue and weakness, with official indications in Europe focusing on asthenia and tonic use.
Consumers most often encounter Eleuthero as preparations made from the root, including dried root for teas, powdered root in capsules and tablets, and liquid extracts or tinctures that may be sold as dietary supplements or over‑the‑counter traditional herbal medicinal products.
For companies, confirming identity is not optional; it’s a legal and ethical duty under cGMPs to verify that each incoming botanical is the right species, the right plant part, and meets agreed quality specs. Brands and manufacturers should be leaning on resources like the BAPP adulteration bulletins and implementing fit-for-purpose analytical methods, rather than relying on nonspecific tests that can miss plant-part adulteration.
Adulteration, in the regulatory sense, means a product is unsafe or of inferior quality because it fails to meet legal standards for purity, strength, or composition (including contamination).
Economic adulteration is emphasized in these posts: intentional substitution, dilution, or undeclared additions that misrepresent a botanical’s true identity or quality compared to what the label and consumer would reasonably expect. Accidental adulteration is also present in some species.
To see the full Carousel post (which is also a downloadable PDF, go to it on LinkedIn below by clicking the link. For more detailed information on adulterants in botanicals, see the BAPP publications, which are freely available on their website.