Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata): Quality of Food Supplements Versus Registered Herbal Medicinal Products

Abstract

The above-ground plant material from Passiflora incarnata is used for relief of symptoms of mental stress and to aid sleep. In Europe, passionflower products are marketed either as registered herbal medicinal products or as food supplements. Passionflower products for sleep disorders are increasingly recommended to patients by physicians or by social advertisement, but the potential consumers are in most cases not able to differentiate between food supplements or licensed herbal medicinal products. Analytical investigations by validated protocols on passionflower food supplements and registered medicinal products from different sources were performed to obtain an insight into the actual quality situation. TLC fingerprinting revealed the non-identity of five food supplements, while six products met the specification (five registered herbal medicinal products and one food supplement). A validated UHPLC method confirmed this result. LC-MS identified one food supplement containing only hyperoside and lacking other passionflower-related compounds. Quantitative determination of flavones by photometric protocol, as well as by a calibrated UHPLC, indicated that five out of six food supplements did not meet the specified content and identity, suggesting instances of food fraud. All registered herbal medicinal products conformed to the specification. As this analytical investigation is in line with other reports on the low quality of food supplements, transparent and intensified quality control is recommended. In addition, routine analyses of every batch using validated procedures by manufacturers on a batch-by-batch basis should provide a secure basis for improved product quality and for the safety of the consumer.

Keywords

Passiflora incarnata - Passifloraceae - flavone - food fraud - food supplements - quality

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 04. März 2025

Angenommen nach Revision: 17. April 2025

Accepted Manuscript online:
17. April 2025

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
07. Mai 2025

• References

• 1 European Medicines Agency. Passiflorae herba – herbal medicinal product: Herbal Medicinal Products Committee (HMPC). Zugriff am 25. April 2025 unter: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/herbal/passiflorae-herba
• 2 WHO Library. ed. WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants: Herba Passiflora; 2001. Zugriff am 25. April 2025 unter: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/42052/9789241547024_eng.pdf
• 3 Li QM, van den Heuvel H, Delorenzo O, Corthout J, Pieters LA, Vlietinck AJ, Claeys M. Mass spectral characterization of C-glycosidic flavonoids isolated from a medicinal plant (Passiflora incarnata). J Chromatogr 1991; 562: 435-446
• 4 Spencer KC, Seigler DS. Gynocardin from passiflora. Planta Med 1984; 50: 356-357
• 5 Aoyagi N, Kimura R, Murata T. Studies on Passiflora incarnata dry extract. I. isolation of maltol and pharmacological action of maltol and ethyl maltol. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 1974; 22: 1008-1013
• 6 Frye A, Haustein C. Extraction, Identification, and Quantification of Harmala Alkaloids in Three Species of Passiflora. AJUR 2007; 6: 19-26
• 7 Krenn L. Aktuelles über Passiflora incarnata . Z Phytother 2006; 27: 47-50
• 8 Sita Sharan Patel, Himesh Soni, Kaushelendra Mishra, Akhlesh Kumar Singhai. Recent updates on the genus Passiflora: A review. Int J Res Phytochem Pharmacol 2011; 1: 1-16
• 9 Avula B, Wang YH, Rumalla CS, Smillie TJ, Khan IA. Simultaneous determination of alkaloids and flavonoids from aerial parts of Passiflora species and dietary supplements using UPLC-UV-MS and HPTLC. Nat Prod Commun 2012; 7: 1177-1180
• 10 Wohlmuth H, Penman KG, Pearson T, Lehmann RP. Pharmacognosy and chemotypes of passionflower (Passiflora incarnata L.). Biol Pharm Bul 2010; 33: 1015-1018
• 11 European Pharmacopoeia. ed. Passionflower dry extract. 11th ed. Stuttgart: Deutscher Apotheker; 2023
• 12 Bilia AR, Costa MDC. Medicinal plants and their preparations in the European market: Why has the harmonization failed? The cases of St. Johnʼs wort, valerian, ginkgo, ginseng, and green tea. Phytomedicine 2021; 81: 153421
• 13 Jobst D, Hensel A, Kraft K. Positionspapier der Gesellschaft für Phytotherapie zur Abgrenzung von pflanzlichen Arzneimitteln und Nahrungsergänzungsmitteln. Z Phytother 2021; 42: 188-191
• 14 Heinrich M, Reiken B, Roether B, Müller A, Rumsch J, Symma N. Consensus statement on the outcome of the European herbal health products summit – Which way forward?. Planta Med 2024; 90: 1052-1055
• 15 Gaspar DP, Lechtenberg M, Hensel A. Quality assessment of bilberry fruits (Vaccinium myrtillus) and bilberry-containing dietary supplements. J Agric Food Chem 2021; 69: 2213-2225
• 16 Lechtenberg M, Hensel A. Determination of glucosinolates in broccoli-based dietary supplements by cyclodextrin-mediated capillary zone electrophoresis. J Food Compost Anal 2019; 78: 138-149
• 17 European Pharmacopoeia 11/3. ed. Uniformity of Mass (2.9.5). Stuttgart: Deutscher Apotheker; 2024
• 18 European Pharmacopoeia 7.0. ed. Passion flower. Stuttgart: Deutscher Apotheker; 2011
• 19 Armbrüster N. Health Claims für Lebensmittel – Was geschieht mit den Botanicals?. Z Phytother 2020; 41: 286-289
• 20 Kraft K. Position statement on the evaluation of health claims on foods and food supplements containing plants and their preparations. Phytomedicine 2016; 23: 1853
• 21 Meins J, Artaria C, Riva A, Morazzoni P, Schubert-Zsilavecz M, Abdel-Tawab M. Survey on the quality of the top-selling European and American botanical dietary supplements containing boswellic acids. Planta Med 2016; 82: 573-579