Molecular authentication and quality control of crocus sativus and aloe barbadensis in raw material source and polyherbal medicine employing scar markers

Crocus sativus l. and aloe barbadensis mill. are well known functional ingredients in health and food products and are known for their medicinal properties as antioxidant,antidepressant,relaxant and cathartic agents. in this study,reliable quality control markers were developed for the quality assurance of c. sativus and a. barbadensis at raw material source as well as in finished herbal products. dna based sequence-characterized amplified region (scar) markers were developed from randomly amplified polymorphic dna (rapd) markers specific for both the species to detect its adulteration in commercial products. developed rapd markers were cloned and sequenced and scar primers were generated scar markers upon pcr amplification with genomic dna. these specific scar markers enabled unequivocal detection of adulterants in the commercially procured polyherbal medicine. c. sativus could not be identified through scar markers,instead scar amplicon of carthamus tinctorius was detected suggesting that although being labelled as one of the constituents,c. sativus may not have been used to prepare the polyherbal medicine. this simple analytical strategy could be used for large scale screening of medicinal plants at raw material source as well as in finished polyherbal medicine. © 2016,pakistan botanical society. all rights reserved.