The label on a herbal decoction lists 3 plants as the main components of the decoction. But most herbalists do not disclose all the plant materials used in preparations. What analysis can I perform to identity the unlisted materials?
This is tricky Turkson, unless you have markers of specific plants that you suspect in the first place or that are well established, then you can make some headways. Otherwise its a daunting task given the fact that some of the compounds in the medicinal plants from the different species will react.
Thanks so much Godwin. There are no known markers. Can GC MS be of help to some extent?
Spectrometry?? Even then there are many compounds which are found in many different species so you’d have to have suspect plant species and have unique compounds to search for each. Ask your herbalist or manufacturer to disclose
It is always difficult to establish the identity of plants in a product that are not stated on the label. You can start by verifying the 3 plants stated on the label using chromatography (TLC and HPLC) and GC-MS.
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