Adulteration of crude drugs
Adulteration of crude drugs
➢ The adulteration and substitution of herbal drugs is the burning problem in herbal
industry and it has caused a major effect in the commercial use of natural products.
➢ Adulteration in market samples is one of the greatest drawbacks in promotion of
herbal products.
➢ The term 'adulteration' or debasement of an article covers a number of conditions,
which may be deliberate or accidental.
➢ Adulteration is a practice of substituting the original crude drug partially or fully with
other similar looking substances which is either free from or inferior in therapeutic
and chemical properties.
➢ Or adulteration may be defined as mixing or substituting the original drug material
with other spurious, inferior, defective, spoiled, useless other parts of same or
different plant or harmful substances or drug which do not confirm with the official
standards.
➢ Main intention is to enhancement of profits
Reasons for Adulteration of crude drugs
➢ unavailability or scarcity of particular crude drug
➢ High price prevailing in market
➢ Unwanted adverse effects of desired crude drug are there and have a
choice of other drug with similar pharmacological effect and less unwanted
after effects.
➢ Deforestation and extinction of many species
➢ Incorrect identification of many plants
➢ Most common in contraband drugs
Conditions of adulteration
➢ Inferiority is a natural substandard condition (e.g. where a crop is taken
whose natural constituent is below the minimum standard for that particular
drug) which can be avoided by more careful selection of the plant material.
➢ Spoilage is a substandard condition produced by microbial or other pest
infestation, which makes a product unfit for consumption, which can be
avoided by careful attention to the drying, and storage conditions.
➢ Deterioration is an impairment of the quality or value of an article due to
destruction or abstraction of valuable constituents by bad treatment or aging
or to the deliberate extraction of the constituents and the sale of the residue
as the original drugs.
Conditions of adulteration
➢ Admixture is the addition of one article to another through accident,
ignorance or carelessness e.g. inclusion of soil on an underground organ or
the co-collection of two similar species.
➢ Sophistication is the deliberate addition of spurious or inferior material with
intent to defraud; such materials are carefully produced and may appear at
first sight to be genuine e.g. powder ginger may be diluted with starch with
addition of little coloring material to give the correct shade of yellow colour.
➢ Substitution is the addition of an entirely different article in place of that
which is required e.g. supply of cheap cottonseed oil in place of olive oil.
Direct or intentional adulteration
➢ Direct or intentional adulteration is done intentionally which usually includes
practices in which a herbal drug is substituted partially or fully with other
inferior products.
➢ Due to morphological resemblance to the authentic herb, many different inferior
commercial varieties are used as adulterants.
➢ These may or may not have any chemical or therapeutic potential.
➢ Substitution by “exhausted” drugs entails adulteration of the plant material with
the same plant material devoid of the active constituents. This practice is most
common in the case of volatile oil-containing materials, where the dried
exhausted material resembles the original drug but is free of the essential oils.
➢ Foreign matter such as other parts of the same plant with no active ingredients,
sand and stones, manufactured artifacts, and synthetic inferior principles are
used as substitutes.
TYPES of adulterants
Substitution with Inferior Commercial Varieties
Due to morphological resemblance to the authentic drugs, different inferior
commercial varieties are used as adulterant which may or may not have any chemical
or therapeutic potential as that original natural drug.
Eg. Arabian Senna (Cassia angustifolia), dog Senna (Cassia obovata) and avaram senna
(Cassia auriculata) have been used to adulterate Senna (Cassia senna); Japanese
ginger (Zingiber mioga) to adulterate medicinal ginger (Zingiber officinale).
Cassia obovata Cassia acutifolia
TYPES of adulterants
Adulteration using Artificially Manufactured Substances
To provide the general form and appearance of various drugs, some materials are
artificially manufactured and are used as substitute of the original one.
Eg. artificial invert sugar for honey; paraffin wax after yellow coloration substituted for
bees wax, bass wood in place of Nutmeg, compressed chicory in case of coffee berries.
Bees Wax Paraffin wax
Bass Wood Nutmeg
TYPES of adulteration
Substitution by Exhausted Drugs
Here the same plant material is mixed which is having no active medicinal components
as they have already been extracted out. This practice is most common in case of volatile
oil containing materials like clove, fennel etc., where the dried exhausted material
resembles the same like original drug (similarly with drugs like Cascara sagrada and
ginger). Sometimes when coloring matters have been extracted or removed during
exhaustion, the residue is re-colored with artificial dyes as is done with saffron and red
rose petals.
Exhausted Cloves Cloves Saffron Safflower
TYPES of adulterants
Substitution by Superficially Similar Inferior Natural Substances
Usually here the adulterated product has no relation with the genuine article, may or
may not have any therapeutic or chemical component desired.
Eg. leaves of species - Ailanthus are substituted for belladonna, senna, mint etc.; saffron
admixed with saff flower, peach kernel oil with olive oil, etc.
Atropa belladonna Alianthus glandulosa
TYPES of adulteration
Addition of Synthetic Principles
Sometimes to fortify inferior natural products, synthetic principles are added
Eg. adding citral to oil of lemon; benzyl benzoate to balsam of Peru etc.
Adulteration using the Vegetative Matter of the Same Plant
The presence of vegetative parts of the same plant with the drug is also one type of
adulteration.
Eg. liver warts and epiphytes growing in bark portion are mixed with Cascara or
Cinchona; excessive amount of stems in drugs like lobelia, stramonium, etc.
Liver warts
Lichens Mosses Epiphytes
TYPES of adulterants
Adulteration of toxic materials
In this type of adulteration the materials used for adulteration would be toxic in nature.
Eg. A big mass of stone was found in the centre of a bale of liquorice root. Limestone
pieces with asafetida, lead shot in opium, amber coloured glass pieces in colophony,
barium sulphate to silvergain cochineal and manganese dioxide to blackgrain cochineal,
are few examples in this adulteration.
Black grain - Cochineal Silver grain - Cochineal Colophony
TYPES of adulterants
Adulteration of Powders
Powdered drugs are found to be adulterated very frequently. Adulterants used are
generally powdered waste products of a suitable colour and density.
Eg. Powdered olive stones for powdered gentain, liquorice or pepper, brick powder for
barks, red sanders wood to chillies; dextrin for powdered ipecacuanha, are few
adulterants.
OLIVE STONES GENTIAN ROOTS RED SANDERS WOOD
INDIRECT OR UNINTENTIONAL ADULTERATION
➢ Confusion in vernacular names between indigenous system of medicine and
local dialects
➢ Lack of knowledge about authentic plant
➢ Non availability of authentic plant
➢ Similarity in morphology and or aroma
➢ Careless collection
➢ Other unknown reasons
INDIRECT OR UNINTENTIONAL ADULTERATION
➢ Confusion in vernacular names between indigenous system of medicine and
local dialects:
▪ In Ayurveda - Parpatha – Fumaria parviflora
▪ In Siddha – Parpadagam – Mollugo pentaphyla
➢ Lack of knowledge about authentic plant
▪ Nagakesar – Mesua ferra – Two celled ovary
▪ Callophyllum inophyllum – single celled ovary
➢ Non availability of authentic plant
▪ Hypericum perforatum – Euporean countries – compressed thin phloem,
hollow pith, absence of calcium oxalate crystals
▪ Hypericum patulum – India – broader phloem, partially hollow pith,
presence of calcium oxalate crystals
INDIRECT OR UNINTENTIONAL ADULTERATION
➢ Similarity in morphology and or aroma
▪ Ratanjot – Ventilago madraspatana – Western Ghats
▪ Arnebia euchroma – present drug
▪ Both yields Red dye
➢ Careless collection
➢ Other unknown reasons
