Official

Official" medicinal (also officinal or officinalis; from lat. officina: dispensing room, preparation room) are medicinal substances and medicinal plants, or defined components or preparations thereof. Furthermore, certain manufacturing and testing methods are designated as official if they are identified by published monographs of a currently valid pharmacopoeia, e.g. the European (ESCOP: European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy), German (DAB), Austrian (ÖAB), Swiss (PhH = Pharmacopoea Helvetica), WHO or European Union (HMPC = acronym for Herbal Medicinal Products Committee) pharmacopoeias.

Some plants bear the epithet "officinalis or officinale", e.g. "Melissa officinalis" in their name. This epithet refers to the use of the plant or certain important parts of it for the production of medicinal products or cosmetics.