The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) recently announced the availability of analytical methods to help dietary supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers ensure the authenticity of ingredients labeled as Hoodia gordonii.

The two methods, which are currently available, employ both microscopic and high-performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) techniques. A high-performance liquid chromatographic method is also being developed and will be released in the future.

Promulgating these methods for quality assurance is part of

AHPA’s ongoing initiative to provide tools that enable the dietary supplements industry to self-regulate. “These techniques are complementary tools,” said Steven Dentali, PhD, AHPA’s vice president of scientific and technical affairs. “As such, they should be jointly deployed in order to help determine the identity and purity of tested material.”

The methods, along with color images of the results, are available at www.ahpa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=165.

Source: The American Herbal Products Association, www.ahpa.org