Identification and authentication challenges of medicinal plants in Iran

Iran has a rich flora and after Turkey is the richest country of plant diversity in the Middle East. Iran with unique landscapes comprises about 8090 species of flowering plants of which almost 2324 are endemic. Iran is also a rich country in terms of medicinal plants and Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM) has played a very significant role in providing healthcare of the population. However, there are several challenges for herbal medicine, particulry in identification and authentication of them. The major problems of herbal drugs in Iran, are the misidentification and adulteration. Many of the medicinal plants available in the market have ambiguous identification along with adulteration and substitution. The spurious herbal drug has different compounds than genuine sample, which may lead to poor clinical efficacy, adverse effects, and unstable quality of related pharmaceutical products. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a reliable tool for making a distinction among genuine drugs and their adulterants. A wide range number of methods can be used for authentication, including conventional and modern approaches. Molecular techniques as modern approaches provides an efficient and reliable tool to overcome authentication challenges which will guarantee high quality herbal medicinal products, without adulterants and without side effects. Molecular techniques, such as DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, are the best ways for plant identification of constituents in powder and complex herbal products. This article will review the various methods of the identification of medicinal plants and provides awareness amongst the researchers, clinicians, traders and manufacturing units about the ambiguity of authenticity in the traded herbal raw materials which influence the safety, quality and efficacy of related pharmaceutical products.

Keywords:

Identification , Authentication , adulteration , medicinal plants , challenges , Iran