Studies show that it is possible to use the oxygen radical absorbency capacity (ORAC) assay to classify the radical scavenging power of natural products such as black cohosh. Currently, no efficient methods of fingerprinting cohosh populations have been devised. Fingerprinting cohosh populations provides potential methods of tracking the origins of cohosh extracts within various supplements. The correlation of location with a specific value of anti-oxidant capacity will allow for the protection of the medicinal herbs' natural habitats and authenticate the claims of manufacturers who produce supplements supposedly containing extracts of black cohosh. The anti-oxidant characterization method could potentially correlate quantifiable levels of the chemical constitution of the plant populations with their specific anti-oxidant capacity, which could further the understanding of what populations can be more efficiently targeted for alleviating specific symptoms and provide strategies to test mechanisms of black cohosh interactions in the body to influence diseases.