Quality Assessment of Herbal Medicinal Products in Benign Prostate Hypertrophy: Chemical Markers and Fingerprint Analysis

The study assessed the quality of herbal medicinal products used for treating benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) in the Syrian market, focusing on chemical markers and fingerprint analysis. Using GC/MS analysis, the researchers evaluated the fatty acids and tocopherols content in the products, finding that four samples met quality requirements, with tocopherol levels ranging from 181-875 µg/g, except one sample with 77.5 µg/g. The chromatographic fingerprint analysis identified a shortage of ∆7 phytosterols and the presence of parabens in some pumpkin seed oil samples, as well as the absence of lauric acid in one sample. The study underscores the importance of using active markers and chromatographic fingerprinting for the quality, efficiency, and safety evaluation of herbal products.