The Plant Supply Chain: Chaperoning the Best Biomass from the Field to the Extraction Plant

Specific supply chain strategies are necessary to comply with the quality standards required for herbal products. These are not different from those of botanically-derived active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), with the initial challenges centering on the diversity and variability of the botanical nature, geographical origin and production system of a starting biomass. The implementation of specific Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) is therefore of critical relevance. Next, the authentication of a commercial plant species often requires a combination of morphological methods, phytochemical profiling and DNA fingerprinting. Finally, the characterization and quantification of constituents, markers and active principles require great skills, and critically and directly translates in the quality of the final product. Last but not least, legal (CITES) and regulatory (contaminants, residues) constraints must also be considered. It is therefore not surprising that concepts like traceability, quality, consistency and sustainability of the starting plant material are becoming important also for herbals.