Application of Next Generation Sequencing Technologies for Authentication of Herbal Products: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Molecular authentication of medicinal plants is essential to ensure product quality, safety, and efficacy. Next    Generation Sequencing (NGS) has emerged as a powerful tool for accurate and high-throughput species identification, offering advantages over traditional methods. By analysing the DNA sequences of medicinal plants, NGS enables researchers to accurately identify and verify plant species, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of herbal remedies. The accurate recognition of taxa in heterogeneous samples is additionally possible by metabarcoding technique, which has been developed through next-generation sequencing. This review delves into the various NGS techniques along with metabarcoding technique for molecular authentication of medicinal plants, including principle, methodologies, challenges, and future prospects of NGS in the authentication of medicinal plants, emphasizing the importance of this technology in preserving the integrity of herbal medicines.