PhytoAuthent: Molecular authentication of complex herbal food supplements for safety and efficacy

Abstract

The PhytoAuthent project was structured to gather, test, develop and apply, in real life case scenarios, molecular techniques, such as biochemical fingerprinting and DNA sequence-based methods, for plant identification of constituents in complex herbal products. The project had a strong focus on applied aspects like protecting consumers from health risks associated with product substitution and contamination of herbal products.

Keywords

• DNA barcoding
• DNA metabarcoding
• Herbal produc