Hoodia, a cactus-like plant, has been eaten by the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert to reduce hunger and increase energy for around 100,000 years.
Its reputation as an effective appetite suppressant has led to a surge in demand in the United States, but the market has become swamped with adulterated material that is either cut with other substances or is of a different species that does not contain the active molecule.
This has meant that suppliers of genuine South African Hoodia gordonii need to have rigorous checks in place to ensure authenticity.
But if the laboratories have different testing methods and therefore come to different conclusions as to bio-active molecules and purity standards, that task becomes a lot more difficult.
As a first step towards solving the conundrum, Stella Labs has sent replicate samples of its Hoodia gordonii to testing laboratories that dispute each other's chemical methodology.
Stephen Holt of Holt MD Lab, a client of Stella Labs, said: "It is important to apply science when defining a standard.
A validated reference standard needs to be defined, a proven test methodology needs to be applied and measurable quantitative results need to be disclosed."
Stella Labs managing director Craig Payton told NutraIngredients-USA.com that the initial step is to reconfirm IBC's testing results for Stella's own material.
Preliminary results are expected to be delivered within a month.
Going forward, the company hopes to work on producing a validated reference standard.
"We want to go to the industry as a whole and say 'here is what we believe to be real hoodia gordonii," said Payton.
He added that Stella Labs has submitted material purporting to be Hoodia gordonii from other suppliers for testing in the past, and has found some from South Africa to be of a similar quality to its own but other samples, or unknown origin, to be substandard.
External links to companies or organisations mentioned in thisstory: Stella Labs