We all are exposed through air, food, drinks and skin contacts to harmful compounds throughout the period of our lifetime, including, a variety of pharmaceuticals and food-de‐ rived carcinogen metabolite (e.g. N-acetoxy-PhIP), [52], plant toxins (such as glycoalkaloids in nightshades1, cyanogenic glucosides 2, or pyrrolizidine alkaloids in some herbs and herbal teas), xenobiotics3 producing dur...

Microorganisms inhabiting medicinal plants belong to either saprophytic or pathogenic flora. Even those microorganisms which are characterized by low pathogenicity, under favorable conditions may infect people who have had contact with them. Compound tea bags contain increased levels of bacteria in view of pharmacopoeic norms. Single plant tea bags contain less bacteria and granulated teas have...

Ancient Chinese herbal texts as far back as the 4th Century Zhou hou bei ji fang describe methods for the use of Qing Hao (Artemisia annua) for the treatment of intermittent fevers. Today, the A. annua constituent artemisinin is an important antimalarial drug and the herb itself is being grown and used locally for malaria treatment although this practice is controversial. Here we show that the ...

Herb-drug interactions have turned out not to be a major issue in the European regulatory landscape. For a minority of herbal preparations, herb-drug interactions are clinically relevant, e.g., between high-dose St.John's wort extracts and a number of chemical substances. The inclusion of adequate information on such interactions into the package leaflet is important for the safe use of the pro...

Phytate phosphorus in 59 samples of herbal teas was determined within the range of 2.44-36.90 microg/mL. Extraction yield was statistically higher in extracts from the leaves than that found in extracts from other plant organs. Average total level of trace elements determined in medicinal herbs follows the order: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu, for major elements the order is: Ca > Mg > Na > K. Correlation ...