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The American Herbal
Products Association (AHPA) announced in late October 2012 the launch of a new,
collaborative, wiki-style website designed to provide information on botanical
authentication techniques, including many industry-provided microscopy images
and other identification tools.1 The AHPA
Botanical Authentication Wiki, currently
in beta format, features authentication resources for more than 120 botanicals,
a number that is expected to grow.2
“The AHPA
Botanical Authentication Wiki is a centralized source of information containing
both examples and techniques [that] have been successfully applied to
authenticate and qualify selected botanical materials,” explained
Merle Zimmermann, PhD, AHPA’s information analyst (email, November 29, 2012). “These techniques are provided as a service to
the trade and to further the production of high-quality botanical commodities.”
In addition to providing a
collaborative and expanding database of authentication tools, the move to a
wiki-format allows for easier IT maintenance and a layout that is likely very
familiar to users, due to the worldwide popularity of the free online
encyclopedia Wikipedia.
“The site is run using the
same MediaWiki software which powers Wikipedia…. This reduces training
requirements and effort needed for staff and editors when contributed material
is added to the site,” said Zimmermann. “This said, the site is not open for
general editing, as Wikipedia is. There is a limited select group of editors
with access to posting material on the site, including AHPA staff members and
authentication experts who volunteered to participate during the initial alpha
site development."
As such, registered users
are provided only with viewing access, but contributions from qualified
individuals are encouraged. Contributor forms are available through the site,
which allow users to submit their own information that is then reviewed by the
expert advisory committee.
“The site is a technical
reference tool directed towards botanical authentication experts, so the
material discussed and presented in the entries are put forward for this
particular type of user, who is already an expert, and who is using the site as
part of a multifaceted toolkit of authentication resources,” added Zimmermann.
“It is not intended or directed towards the use of the general public, and
presumes a certain level of experience in the authentication arena.”
From the Wiki’s homepage,
available at www.botanicalauthentication.org,
registered users can access a variety of authentication resources, such as
macroscopy and microscopy images, data on high-performance thin-layer
chromatography (HPTLC), practicals or white papers, and AHPA’s Known
Adulterants Guidance list, which the organization has been publishing since
1997.3
The Known Adulterants
Guidance section includes herbs such as black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) root and rhizome, Ginkgo biloba leaf, hoodia (Hoodia
gordonii) aerial parts, skullcap (Scutellaria
lateriflora) flower, and bilberry (Vaccinium
myrtillus) fruit, among others. Each entry is linked to an expansive
database of authentication tools, including botanical images from supporting
industry organizations.
Less than a few months
old, the site has already been well received by many industry members. “User
responses have been quite positive,” said Zimmermann. “We’ve received a good
amount of correspondence from our target audience of industry experts inquiring
about access, as well as management members and small business owners who would
use the tool along with their own or contracted specialists to improve
efficiency and get more and better analysis done with the same amount of
starting resources.”
As
more resources become available, AHPA’s website will become an increasingly
important authentication tool for industry members. “AHPA is to be
congratulated for producing this important new quality control resource,” said
American Botanical Council Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal. “The
Botanical Authentication Wiki will someday become a widely used resource for
companies in the herbal products industry, both in the United States and
internationally, and will significantly help enhance industry efforts to ensure
proper identity of botanical raw materials.”
The AHPA Botanical Authentication
Wiki currently is sponsored in part by Alkemists Laboratories and CAMAG Inc.,
both of which have provided authentication tools that are featured throughout
the site. Such professional laboratory-sponsored images, techniques, and
information are noted with a small logo in each section.4
As
the site is still in its infancy, APHA continues to welcome feedback.
Specifically, the organization is welcoming ideas for the next botanicals it
will feature on the site. For more information or to submit botanicals of
interest, AHPA contact information can be found here.
Zimmerman
hopes the site will allow for quicker and improved access to authentication
tools, a main goal of AHPA’s Botanical Authentication Program. “The turn-around
time between a cutting-edge botanical becoming important to the industry and
authentication methods being developed and shared can … be reduced compared to
a paper-and-ink publishing schedule,” he said. “The site on its own [is] not, in
this beta form, currently an exhaustive reference on all authentication topics,
but it stands as a quick resource for consultation, allowing for savings and
increased productivity for these experts.”
—Tyler Smith
References
1. AHPA
introduces web-based wiki technology to assist with botanical authentication activities.
[press release] Silver Spring, MD: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia. October 25,
2012.
2. Welcome
and About AHPA’s Botanical Authentication Wiki. AHPA Botanical Authentication
website. Available here. Accessed December 3, 2012.
3. About
the AHPA Botanical Authentication Program. American Herbal Products Association
website. Available here. Accessed November 30, 2012.
4. Site sponsors. AHPA Botanical
Authentication website. Available here.
Accessed December 3, 2012.
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