Short communication: Influence of pasteurization on the active compounds in medicinal plants to be used in dairy products.

Interest from the dairy industry in adding herbal drugs to milk and yogurt products raises the question of whether these plant materials can be pasteurized. Root material of Rhodiola rosea, Eleutherococcus senticosus, and Panax ginseng, all plants with adaptogenic activities, was pasteurized. The content of active compounds in the root material before and after pasteurization was quantified by HPLC analysis. The results show that the eleutherosides in E. senticosus, and to an extent the ginsenosides from P. ginseng, could withstand pasteurization, whereas salidroside and rosavin from R. rosea did not survive pasteurization. Thus, R. rosea is not suitable for products requiring pasteurization.