The standardization of officinal medicinal plants used in the Eurasian Economic Union: comparison with other pharmacopoeias

Pharmacopoeias are important resources for the quality control of medicinal plants and their products. Considering that approximately 80% of the world population to different extents relies on medicinal plants for the prevention and treatment of medical ailments the safety and suitability of medicinal plants is extremely important. Unfortunately, for many medicinal plants the active component or group of components responsible for their pharmacological activity are unknown. In such cases, the standardization of the medicinal plant material is performed using reference compounds that are either contained in the plant, but are known to not mediate the plants biological activity or are not contained in the plant at all, but find use as auxiliary reagents, for example, to help identify the necessary chromatographic zones/peaks. Additionally, many medicinal plants do not have qualitative or quantitative analysis procedures in place or use methods with low selectivity (spectrophotometry, colour reactions). In these cases, it is impossible to confidently and adequately standardize the medicinal plant material. Two other issues that complicate medicinal plant standardization include the variability of its chemical composition depending on multiple biotic and abiotic factors and the lack of sufficient data on the chemical composition of some plants. In this review, we analyzed medicinal plants common to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), European, United State and Japanese Pharmacopoeias. We have analysed and systematized literature data devoted to the relation between the chemical composition and pharmacological activity of the plants presented in this review. Based on the analysed data, we have suggested more rational and adequate methods for the quality assessment and quantitative standardization of medicinal plants.

Automated summary

Pharmacopoeias are essential for quality control of medicinal plants and their products, especially considering the significant reliance on medicinal plants for healthcare worldwide. However, standardizing medicinal plant material can be challenging due to unknown active components, lack of analysis procedures, and variability in chemical composition. In this review, we analyzed literature data on medicinal plants in different pharmacopoeias and proposed more rational methods for quality assessment and standardization.