We all have our favorite oxymorons - act natural, original copy, jumbo shrimp and the list goes on. With all the spam and misinformation surrounding the weight loss supplement Hoodia, I have been asked if "authentic Hoodia" should be added to the list of Oxymorons. It often does feel like "authentic Hoodia" is an apt Oxymoron, however, the secret that most of the supplement industry does not want you to know is that there are lab tests that can be done to find authentic Hoodia.

In case you have a terrific spam filter - here is the 411 on Hoodia. Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent plant that grows in South Africa. The SAN Bushmen have chewed on Hoodia for close to 1,000 years to reduce their appetite while on long hunting trips. Hoodia is now a highly sought after plant for it ability to suppress appetite. In fact, Hoodia Gordonii is in such high demand it is considered a protected plant and can only be exported with a special permit from the government of South Africa (a CITES permit).

To start, you should always ask to see the CITES Permit for any Hoodia you are looking to buy. However, the fact that a company can produce a document is no guarantee that that document applies to what you are buying from the company. For example, a company may have a valid CITES permit for 50 Kilos of Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa from 2005. The question then becomes, was the supplement you are about to buy actually made from the Hoodia bought under CITES permit in 2005? You really have no way of knowing if you just rely on the CITES or any other import documentation. These documents, if authentic, simply tell you the company you are dealing with has imported real Hoodia Gordonii at some point. These documents do not help you determine if the supplement you are buying from the company is real Hoodia Gordonii.

If you want to determine what is in a capsule of a supplement marketed as Hoodia Gordonii, you need to have the supplement lab tested. Okay, but what does lab tested really mean? When dealing with botanicals, such as Hoodia, there are three lab tests that can help determine the authenticity of a supplement.

Microscopy

In this test the sample of Hoodia is examined under a microscope (usually at 400x magnification). A well trained technician examines the cellular structure of the sample and looks for patterns that match the know cellular structure of Hoodia Gordonii. For example, it is known that pure Hoodia Gordonii has long fibers with whirled striations so this something a technician would try to find when examining a sample.

It is important to note that even if the Hoodia Gordonii plant has been dried, crushed, powdered and processed - the cellular structure should still be intact. So, an authentic finished Hoodia Gordonii supplement should still show the cellular structure of Hoodia when examined in a Microscopy test.

High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC)

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Chromatography as:

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