A clear example of the benefit of rapid assessment is the lab’s recent progress in analysis of an ethnobotanical compound, Acorus calamus, (sweet flag), which has a variety of medicinal applications [1]. The rhizome of this plant harvested from India has extraordinarily high carcinogen content, while that obtained from the United States Great Plains has significantly lower carcinogen content. Therefore, individuals using the rhizome of Acorus calamus for medicinal purposes must be aware of the point of origin of this unregulated product. In response, we have developed and applied a rapid extraction and separation protocol to quantify the amount of a specific carcinogen in a matter of minutes. Such work has implications regarding the medicinal use of ethnobotanical products, and perhaps points to a need to disseminate information accurately regarding these products and their source of origin.

1. KM Hanson, M Gayton-Ely, LA Holland, P. Zehr, B.C.G. Söderberg, “Rapid Assessment of beta-Asarone content of Acorus calamus by Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography”, Electrophoresis, 26(4-5), pp. 943-946 2005.