American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) Chief Science Officer Maged Sharaf, PhD, delivered a presentation, “Industry Initiatives to Ensure Continued Quality and Sustainability,” during the 17th Annual International Conference on the Science of Botanicals (ICSB) held April 3-6 in Oxford, MS.

Dr. Sharaf’s plenary explored several AHPA initiatives including the AHPA Foundation for Education and Research on Botanicals’ multi-year osha field research project. The project compiled data on the natural distribution of osha and examined the impact of variable harvest pressures on osha’s populations.  
 
Dr. Sharaf’s session also included AHPA’s Good Agricultural and Collection Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices for Botanical Materials guidance and the results of a black cohosh case study.

This guidance serves as a template that growers, harvesters, and processors can adapt to their operations and is designed for small and large producers. The guidance and assessment program will help the industry ensure that herbal raw materials used in consumer products are accurately identified, not adulterated with contaminants that may present a public health risk, and fully conform to all quality characteristics for which they are represented.

The study centered on the status of black cohosh in the U.S. market compared to botanical reference materials. It revealed trends of black cohosh being sold in the market and the chemical markers that differentiate black cohosh from other species of interest.

The event featured world-renowned speakers, provided a perspective on developments in natural products and botanicals—with a focus on the current trends including regulatory aspects, and the latest research. The event offered a forum to establish collaborations between universities and research institutes and industry.

The conference was supported by a cooperative agreement between the National center for Natural Products Research (University of Mississippi) and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is co-sponsored by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica/CAS, China; the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine; Sri Lanka; the American Society of Pharmacognosy; the Society for Medicinal Plant Research; the Korean Society of Pharmacognosy; The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and AHPA among other organizations.