Is the Herb in Your Supplement What It Says on the Package?, with Dr Markus Ruhsam (RBGE) (Plants and Our Health #5)

Not Another Science Podcast

Less than 1% of tropical plants have been screened for their potential medicinal uses. Yet many common drugs today are derived from plants. On this episode of Plants & Our Health, we talk with Dr Markus Ruhsam on the impressive potential of plants to the pharmaceutical industry and to help us look after our own health, now and in the future. We also discuss a research project Markus led using DNA barcoding to identify whether herbal supplements contained the plants they say they do, which turned out some intriguing results.

To learn more about Markus’ investigations into the contents of herbal supplements, or to find out how you could start exploring the medicinal uses of your local plant life, you can reach Markus by email at [e-mail]

‘Plants & Our Health’ is a 10-part miniseries made in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and kindly supported with funding from the British Ecological Society.

Not Another Science Podcast is co-created by Helena Cornu and Tom Edwick, brought to you by Edinburgh University Science Magazine (EUSci). Our podcast manager is Alix Bailie. The logo was designed by Apple Chew, and the cover art was designed by Heather Jones.

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Music is Wallpaper by Kevin MacLeod (Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4604-wallpaper; License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)