Validation and Optimization of qPCR Method for Identification of Actaea racemosa (Black Cohosh) NHPs

Actaea racemosa (black cohosh) herbal dietary supplements are commonly used to treat menopausal symptoms in women. However, there is a considerable risk of contamination of A. racemosa herbal products in the natural health product (NHP) industry, impacting potential efficacy. Authentication of A. racemosa products is challenging because of the standard, multi-part analytical chemistry methods that may be too costly and not appropriate for both raw and finished products.

In this paper, we discuss developing and validating quick alternative biotechnology methods to authenticate A. racemosa herbal dietary supplements, based on the use of a species-specific hydrolysis PCR probe assay.

A qPCR-based species-specific hydrolysis probe assay was designed, validated, and optimized for precisely identifying the species of interest using the following analytical validation criteria: (1) specificity (accuracy) in determining the target species ingredient, while not identifying other non-target species; (2) sensitivity in detecting the smallest amount of the target material; and (3) reliability (repeatability and reproducibility) in detecting the target species in raw materials on a real-time PCR platform.

The results show that the species-specific hydrolysis probe assay was successfully developed for the raw materials and powders of A. racemosa. The specificity of the test was 100% to the target species. The efficiency of the assay was observed to be 99%, and the reliability of the assay was 100% for the raw/starting and powder materials.

The method developed in this study can be used to authenticate and perform qualitative analysis of A. racemosa supplements.