Will The Real St. John's Wort Please Show Its DNA?

March 28, 2000  Source: ARS Quarterly Report

There are now strict labeling requirements for herbal supplements and one of the most popular — St. John’s wort — is getting special government scrutiny since only the flowering tops of the species H. perforatum are supposed to be used in its preparation. It seems that sometimes St. John's wort preparations are adulterated by addition of material from other species in the Hypericum genus.

To make sure consumers aren’t getting an adulterated product, Agriculture Research Service (ARS) scientists have come up with a way to genetically fingerprint the plant material in the herbal supplement In testing seed packages sold as H. perforatum, the researchers were able to use the genetic markers to detect contamination in some instances, according to the ARS Quarterly Report. While almost anything can be packaged and sold as a food supplement, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to assure consumers of authenticity when they buy these products. The ARS genetic fingerprinting for St. John’s wort resulted from an FDA request.

Since dietary supplements are basically unregulated, it’s important that the ingredients are correctly identified on labels to give consumers some margin of safety when making purchases.

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