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Review
. 2024 Aug 30:15:1426210.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1426210. eCollection 2024.

A U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) overview of Pan American botanicals used in dietary supplements and herbal medicines

Roy Upton  1 , Ignacio Agudelo  2 , Yadira Cabrera  3 , Armando Caceres  4 , Angela Calderón  5 , Fernando Calzada  6 , Rosa Camacho  7 , Fernando da Costa  8 , Cecilia Dobrecky  9 , Roberto Enciso  10 , Marcela Escobar  11 , Mina Fakhary  12 , Edward Fletcher  13 , Quanyin Gao  14 , Olga Lock  15 , Rachel Mata  16 , Mirtha Parada  17 , Wilmer Perera  18 , Luis Miguel Pombo  19 , Eike Reich  20 , Eric Sanchez  21 , Mario Juan Simirgiotis  22 , Christian Sood  23 , Virginie Treyvaud Amiguet  24 , Martha Villar  25 , Ricardo Ghelman  26 , Mariana Cabral Schveitzer  26 , Caio Fábio Schlechta Portella  26 , Adriana Wolffenbüttel  26 , Bettina Ruppelt  26 , Fabiana Souza Frickmann  26 , Janette Gavillan-Suarez  27 , Kristin Allen  28 , Luis Diego Alvarado  29 , Nandakumara Sarma  29 , Robin Marles  30 , Maria Monagas  31 , Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos  29   32
Affiliations
Review

A U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) overview of Pan American botanicals used in dietary supplements and herbal medicines

Roy Upton et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a nonprofit, scientific, standard-setting organization, and world leader in establishing quality, purity, and testing standards for medicines, foods, and dietary supplements. USP quality standards are used in more than 140 countries and are legally recognized by more than 40 countries. Currently, there is renewed interest in herbal medicines globally, and health policies are being implemented worldwide for the use of complementary and traditional medicine. In response, USP has developed a robust body of monographs that can be used to guide industry and regulators in ensuring the quality and safety of botanical ingredients used in dietary supplements and herbal medicines. Throughout the Pan American regions, there is a strong tradition of using botanicals as herbal medicines and, as in other regions, a growing desire for botanical dietary supplements. This underscores the need for public quality standards to ensure quality, reduce the flow of substandard and adulterated products, and ensure public health and safety. In April 2022, USP launched the Pan America Botanical Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines Expert Panel, with experts representing 12 different countries. The Expert Panel's work focuses on developing quality control standards for the most important botanical ingredients used in the respective countries, ingredients that are also of global importance. This article provides an overview of the state of botanical dietary supplements and herbal medicines in different Pan American regions with a focus on the regulatory status of herbal products, the development of national quality and research initiatives, and policies related to agriculture conservation and sustainability, among other topics.

Keywords: botanicals; dietary supplements; herbal medicines; quality; standards.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author MF was employed by Pharmavite LLC. Author EF was employed by Native Botanicals Inc. Author WP was employed by CAMAG Scientific Inc. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Quality Standards for Botanical Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines are central to fulfilling public health strategies, and implementation of policies and regulations to sustain the different medicine practices guaranteeing safety and efficacy, independent of the regulatory framework existing throughout the Pan Am region.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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