EFSA's compendium of botanicals

EFSA’s Compendium of Botanicals is a database of botanicals that are reported to contain naturally occurring substances of possible concern for human health when present in food.

The compendium is not intended to conclude on the safety or non-safety of the listed botanical species but to help with the safety assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations intended for use in food, including supplements, by facilitating hazard identification.

The compendium does not list all bioactive substances present in a given botanical and their potential health effects, nor does it flag botanicals or botanical substances of possible concern for animal health when used as feed or feed additives. However, where adverse effects reported on animal health were found in the literature, they are reported in the compendium.

Information provided by the Compendium:

The Botanical Species. The taxonomy database “the Plant List” was taken as a reference. If not found in this database, or where the scientific name of the botanical was not officially accepted (“unresolved”), ARSGRIN was used. If still unsuccessful, the International Plant Name Index was consulted.

The Family. In many cases, botanicals from a given family contain similar groups of compounds. Therefore, knowing the family name may provide indications of the possible presence of similar compounds in other species not included in the compendium. The Plant List database was used as the main source of information.

The Plant Part in which the compounds of concern were reported to be present, or for which adverse effect(s) was reported without any identification of substances of concern.

The Preparation, including essential oils, linked to the presence of a substance of possible concern or an adverse effect.

The Substances or chemical groups of concern when they were identified. This compendium is intended for hazard identification, whereas risk assessment would require additional information on the concentration of the substance of possible concern in the product on the market, as well as the level of exposure of the consumer to this substance.

The Effect Description found in the scientific literature when they could not be associated to any of the compound(s) of concern. The toxicity of the compound(s) of concern will be characterized in a next phase of development of the compendium.

The Reference retrieved from literature searches for the data given, and/or standard reference textbooks providing monographs or more general scientific information for the botanicals considered.