SVILUPPO DI METODI ANALITICI PER IL CONTROLLO DI QUALITÀ DI INTEGRATORI ALIMENTARI A BASE VEGETALE DESTINATI ALLA PERDITA DI PESO E AL MIGLIORAMENTO DELLE PRESTAZIONI SPORTIVE

The market of food supplements is expanding quickly; these products, especially those derived from plants, are usually considered as "natural" and free of side effects. They are often used by patients at their own discretion, in a uncontrolled way and without medical advice. Furthermore, some of these supplements have never been included in clinical studies that prove their efficacy and / or safety and for some of these products do not exist a correspondence between the contents indicated on the label and the real one. This means that consumers could buy them, or also import them, if not available in the market of their country, without any difficulty but even without receiving any guarantee about their quality. In addition to the risk that these products may present for consumer’s health, there is a risk for professional athletes to obtain positive results in drug tests. The competent authorities and food businesses need for scientific information on the quality and safety of these products, including those imported from abroad. The purpose of the first part of this study was to conduct a systematic review on adverse effects of dietary supplements containing the plant Citrus aurantium, alone or in combination with other stimulant compounds. Data on adverse events in humans following the consumption of these products have been collected in the literature and a causality assessment of clinical cases, when not specified, was performed in agreement with the Pharmacovigilance Guidelline from the World Health Organization. The purpose of the second part of this thesis was to verify the contents of active amines and steroidal compounds in food supplements, paying particular attention to products based on plant extracts. Various analytical approaches have been used for the detection and quantification of these compounds: Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). This investigation has at the same time allowed us to verify the accuracy of the information given on the products label by comparing them with the actual content of the substances measured. This research is part of the activities in the European Project PlantLIBRA (Plant Food Supplements: Levels of Intake, Benefit and Risk Assessment). The project is part of the Seventh European Framework Programme, which aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of food supplements containing plants and derivatives, in order to support regulatory actions.