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:
➡️ Oregano (Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum or Origanum onites), which is widely used as a culinary herb and has a long history of traditional medicinal use. Mediterranean oregano has been used as a flavoring and, traditionally, as a carminative, stimulant, expectorant, antiseptic, and support for respiratory and digestive complaints. Its characteristic aroma and many of its purported benefits are associated with volatile compounds, especially carvacrol and thymol. Laboratory and preclinical research cited in the BAPP Bulletin supports antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and immune-related activity for carvacrol-containing oregano oils, but the effects of a specific finished product depend on the botanical species, extraction method, dose, and chemical composition.
On the market, oregano is available as herbal teas, extracts, and dietary supplements. Dietary supplements may contain powdered herb, liquid or dry extracts, or oregano essential oil in capsules or softgels; oregano herb and oil also appear in lozenges, oral-health products, and topical 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.
For more detailed information on adulterants in botanicals, see the BAPP publications, which are freely available on their website. To see the full post, go to LinkedIn: