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:
➡️ Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), a woodland herb whose root and rhizome have long been used in North American herbal medicine as antimicrobial, immune support, bitter, and tonic preparations.
On the market, goldenseal appears primarily as root and rhizome-based ingredients and extracts. Bulk raw material is sold as whole fresh or dried roots and rhizomes, cut-and-sifted pieces, or powdered root/rhizome, and these are manufactured into hydroalcoholic and glycerin–water liquid extracts as well as powdered dry extracts that may be encapsulated or tableted.
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 view the whole downloadable PDF post, click the link. For more detailed information on adulterants in botanicals, see the BAPP publications, which are freely available on their website.