As with all processed products, there is a real challenge in guaranteeing the quality of plant-based health products. This is particularly true given that medicinal plants (i) have a variable composition depending on the environmental factors to which they are exposed, (ii) are in the majority of cases harvested products, leading to potential misidentification and contamination risks, and (iii) are raw materials sensitive to alteration.
To this end, the QUALITY network is involved in the research of specific identification markers, a kind of phytochemical fingerprint, for plant species. It produces monographs on medicinal plants. These documents bring together all the data on a botanical species, and can thus be used as a reference for quality control of raw materials and plant extracts. The QUALITY network also supports the creation of “quality control center” certified laboratories. Indeed, the development of this service offer is essential to support the deployment of quality regulations in the network’s countries.