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:
➡️ Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), which has a long history of use in European and Asian herbal traditions. It is often described as an adaptogen, a term used for substances to support resilience during physical or mental stress. Rhodiola is used not only as an adaptogen, but also marketed for mental focus, mental stamina, antioxidant support, and exercise recovery.
On the market, Rhodiola rosea is sold primarily as dried rhizome and root, and as standardized hydroalcoholic extracts that are commonly spray-dried for use in capsules, tablets, powders, or other dietary-supplement formulations.
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 view the full downloadable PDF post, go to it on LinkedIN here: