Philippine E-Journals

The most important challenge that arises in the use of food supplements is its incomplete assessment of quality and efficacy. A quantitative descriptive study was designed to conduct the quality of the commercially available food supplement products containing Ampalaya. This includes the physico-chemical and microbial analyses. The findings revealed that the appearance and weight uniformity of the capsules conformed to the standard. The disintegration time revealed wide variation among the test products. The moisture content of the five products was high but the four products conformed to the specification limit of 5%-12%. The ash content was also high and did not conform to the specification standard, which is 14%. The level of Cd and Aerobic Plate Count have exceeded the allowable limit however, Pb, Hg, yeast and mold conformed with the specifications set by Federal Drug Administration and so with the weight uniformity, disintegration and moisture content. There was no significant difference in terms of its weight uniformity, yeast and molds and APC analyses. But there is a significant difference in disintegration test, moisture, ash and mineral content and levels of heavy metals. This implies that there is a need for a continuous monitoring of the quality of the commercially available herbal supplements.