Safety aspects of herbal products containing compounds with a potential risk

Abstract

Certain herbal drugs and herbal drug preparations contain compounds with a potential risk of use, such as pyrrolyzidine alkaloids (in Comfrey root, Symphyti radix, Coltsfoot leaf, Farfarae folium, Butterbur root, Petasitidis rhizoma), coumarin (in the Cassia bark, Cassiae cortex, Melilot, Meliloti herba), estragole (in Basil, Basilici herba, bitter/sweet fennel, Foeniculi amari/dulcis fructus, Aniseed, Anisi fructus), thujone (in Sage leaf, Salviae officinalis folium, Wormwood, Absinthii herba) or asarone (in Sweet flag rhizome, Calami rhizoma). For these ingredients and herbal drugs/herbal drug preparations which contain them, there are acceptable, limited daily intakes as well as recommendations for duration of use. Since pharmacist plays a key role in advising patients on the use of herbal products, including those containing compounds with a potential risk, it is very important to know the characteristics and proper use of these herbal products.

Keywords

• pyrrolizidine alkaloids
• coumarin
• thujone
• estragole
• asarone