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What is GAP |
GAP is the abbreviation of “Good Agricultural Practice of Medicinal plants and animals” which regulates the qualities of Chinese Medicinal herbs. It regulates a whole set of controls at every stage of herb development from the ecological environment, germplasm and breeding, to the culturing, raising, collection, transporting, packaging and quantitative administration. |
| Why GAP |
The raw herb material is formed through different growing & production stages. Different germplasm, ecological environment, culture technology, and different harvesting times and processing methods can all influence the herbs output and quality. So it is easy to see that there are quite a lot of risks from buying herbs from different sources in the market. In the open market, herbs in the same genus, but not the same species are often confused and mixed together with the right species. However, only the right species will have the most active ingredients. For example: The genus Radix Valerianae has many species, but only Valeriana officinalis L. is the genuine and authentic one collected in the pharmacopeia.
Timing of the harvest is critical for some herbs. For example, Herba Artemisiae Scopariae should be collected in the third lunar month. If harvested late, the herb will lose its effectiveness. How can the client be sure that the herb purchased is harvested at the right time?
It is sometimes hard to get consistent quality in different batches of herbs bought at different times and places in the market. For example: Does this batch of ginseng have the same content of ginsenosides as the batch in the year before last?
The solution is the highest standard of quality and control from raising the herbs. |
| GAP-1st workshop of GMP |
Today GMP is an important management process in the west. It has long been the standard for western medicine, but for Chinese traditional herbal medicine, GMP as a quality control standard is not enough, as growing the herbs is the root to controlling the final herbal product. So for a GMP factory producing Chinese herbal products, quality is guaranteed right from the herb plantations.
Herbasin has implemented both GAP and GMP standards in manufacturing Chinese herbal products. The GAP plantation is our first workshop. |
| GAP in Herbasin |
We are always making an effort to give customers the best herbs and herbal products and now we are using the highest GAP standards for our herbs before it reaches our processing facilities. We have a set of standards, which is higher than Chinese pharmacopoeia 2000, meeting European quality standard. Some examples:
Our Astragali Radix (batch number 0210****) contains 39.1% Astragali (17% in Chinese pharmacopoeia), pesticides levels were zero. Heavy metals levels meet the European standards.
Our Codonopsis Radix (batch number 0210****) contains 61.6 % Codonopsis (50% in Chinese pharmacopoeia), pesticides were zero. Heavy metals levels meet the European standards.
Semen Platycladi has a common problem with aflatoxin but with our special processing method, our Semen Platycladi consistently meets European standards. |
| More about GAP |
Sulfur free and pesticide free are among the very basic of rules included in the GAP standard. The rules are comprehensive and cover every aspect of growing herbs. The basic contents of the GAP Manual are as follows:
Chapter 1: General; the general purpose and mission statement of GAP standards.
Chapter 2: Ecological environment; the ecological environment and requirements of it in respect to factors such as gas, water, and soil.
Chapter 3: Germplasm and breeding materials; properly identifying species and assuring the quality of germplasm resources.
Chapter 4: Cultivation of herbs and the raising of animals; the cultivation of medicinal herbal plants and the raising of animals for medicinal products.
Chapter 5: Harvesting and processing; harvesting the herbs at the correct seasonal time, along with drying and processing the herbs at this time.
Chapter 6: Packaging, shipping and storage; packaging (containing packing materials), transportation and storage should be standardized.
Chapter 7: Quantitative and qualitative management; quantitative and qualitative management of the conditions, properties, impurities, moisture content, and ash content.
Chapter 8: Personnel and equipment; personnel training, qualification terms, and factory and laboratory equipment in the production field.
Chapter 9: Administration of documents and archives; management of records, archives and computer software for maintaining all records.
Chapter 10: Supplement; definitions of terms and illustrations.
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Prof.
Dr. Zhuo Ronghan give lecture |
Discuss
the herb quality |
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