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ABSTRACT
This article presents several examples of applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as an analytical tool for characterising illegal health products. Some general considerations for a better understanding of the potential offered by the method are set out in the first section. The second section is devoted to the detection of adulteration in food supplements, a practice consisting in the fraudulent addition by the manufacturer of a substance with a potential therapeutic effect in a preparation advertised as natural. The third section endeavours to show the utility of NMR for the analysis of medicines, genuine or forged.
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Myriam MALET-MARTINO: Professor, PharmD, PhD - Biomedical NMR Group, SPCMIB Laboratory, UMR CNRS 5068, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
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Véronique GILARD: Professor, PhD - Biomedical NMR Group, SPCMIB Laboratory, UMR CNRS 5068, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
INTRODUCTION
Unlike developing countries, France is not affected by the presence of counterfeit medicines in the official distribution circuit, which is highly regulated and controlled. However, the widespread use of the Internet means that dietary supplements, like certain medicines, are regarded by the public as everyday consumer goods that can be purchased online, which can lead to the presence on French soil of products of poor quality, or even dangerous to health.
There are various analytical methods that can be used to control these preparations, including Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), which remains a powerful tool for structural determination for the analytical chemist, albeit a costly and not very user-friendly one. Using a number of examples relating to food supplements and medicines, we aim to demonstrate that this technique provides both qualitative and quantitative information on the composition of the sample, which, thanks to various recent methodological developments, should make it a rapid screening tool for the quality control of health products as practised in institutional or private control laboratories.
A glossary and table of acronyms appear at the end of the article.
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KEYWORDS
NMR | food supplements | adulteration | counterfeit medicines
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Bibliography
Websites
http://social-sante.gouv.fr/sante-et-environnement/denrees- alimentaires/article/complements-alimentaires (page consulted on 09/06/2016)
Regulations
Decree no. 2006-352 of March 20, 2006 on food supplements, transposing European Directive 2002/46/EC.
Journal officiel – Arrêté du 9 mai 2006 relatif aux nutriments pouvant être employés dans la fabrication des compléments alimentaires – Version consolidée 19/11/2006 – Article Appendix 1.
Official Journal – Order of June 24, 2014 establishing the list of plants, other than...
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