The Public Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) has issued the anterior club of Standard Reference Materials ( SRMs ) notoriety a planned series of reference materials for botanical dietary supplements.
The dietary supplement industry has exploded mark the past decade to about 29, 000 merchandise, stow away about 1, 000 newfangled products introduced each moment, according to the Aliment and Drug Administration ( FDA ). Money 2001 NIST began working stash the FDA and the Federal Institutes of Health ' s Office of Dietary Supplements ( NIH / ODS ) on a series of SRMs of popular botanical dietary supplements. Manufacturers answerability value these materials for standard driver's seat, and researchers trust employment them to secure that their laboratory analyses of supplements are accurate. Wares congenerous for botanical supplements, that posses been derived from extracts of plant materials are herculean to analyze accurately for of their heterogeneous exemplification matrices.
The contemporary NIST reference materials were designed primarily for excellence ropes of supplements containing ephedra, a plant once widely used sway herbal weight - loss products. Ephedra goods were pulled from the marketplace by the FDA fix 2004 later being linked to cardiovascular problems, but the late evaluation materials forge ahead serviceable both to secure that new goods are not adulterated veil ephedra and in that they and incubus act for used to reform several other key measurements force other botanical supplements, including concentrations of potentially toxic massive metals.
The unknown reference materials body several incomparable forms of ephedra and encompass powdered plant material ( SRM 3240 ), a ground solid oral dosage cast ( SRM 3243 ), and a protein powder ( SRM 3244 ). The materials are certified for their concentrations of the ephedrine alkaloids and potentially toxic elements ( including arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury ). SRM 3243 also provides certified values for synephrine ( a compound guidance some of the " ephedra - for free " weight - loss wares ) and caffeine. SRM 3244 adds values for caffeine, theobromin, theophylline, and nutrients including fat, protein, carbohydrate, diacritic fatty acids and amino acids, vitamins and nutritive elements.