AUTHENTICATION OF BARKS USED IN SOUTH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL HEALTHCARE WITH THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY

Bark products are an important source of medicine in South African traditional healthcare.
They are difficult or impossible to identify in the dried state in which they are sold, and misidentification or adulteration increasingly affect their appropriate use.
Thin Layer Chromatography was investigated for its potential to authenticate medicinal bark products.
Our preliminary study focused on eight bark species, identified by a traditional medical practitioner, that present problems of identity.
TLC-generated fingerprints of three reference samples of each species were compared.
At the intraspecific level, TLC was useful in confirming the relationship of hexane bark extracts, but was less meaningful in distinguishing between fingerprints of different species at the interspecific level.
Three medicinal bark products of each study species were purchased and their fingerprints were compared to a reference.
The technique proved useful in confirming the identity of several medicinal bark products.
TLC may be a useful tool for the authentication of medicinal bark products used in South African traditional healthcare.

III WOCMAP Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants – Volume 5: Quality, Efficacy, Safety, Processing and Trade in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

O.M. Grace, J. van Staden, A.K. Jäger, H.D.V. Prendergast

adulteration, fingerprints, identify, medicinal plant

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.679.8