Betaine HCl + Pepsin Capsules

This is a two-component capsule rather than a single active, and the two components come from very different places. Betaine hydrochloride (CAS 590-46-5, EINECS 209-683-1, C5H12ClNO2, molecular weight 153.61, IUPAC carboxymethyl(trimethyl)azanium chloride, PubChem CID 11545) is the acid salt of betaine - the trimethylglycine first identified in sugar beet, Beta vulgaris, and named after it. The free base (CAS 107-43-7, C5H11NO2, molecular weight 117.15) accounts for 76.3% of the salt by mass, which is the conversion a formulator needs whenever a label declares betaine rather than betaine HCl. Pepsin (EC 3.4.23.1, CAS 9001-75-6) is the aspartic protease of the stomach, secreted in vivo as the zymogen pepsinogen and recovered commercially from the glandular layer of hog stomachs. Pepsin is most active between pH 1.5 and 2.5 and is not fully denatured until pH 8.0, so the pairing is straightforward formulation logic: the hydrochloride is the acid component and the protease is the enzyme component, and each is specified on its own terms rather than as a single blended potency. Pepsin is bought on NF potency designation, with 1:3,000 and 1:10,000 the standard trade grades - the ratio expressing the multiple of its own weight of coagulated protein substrate that the pepsin digests under the NF assay - while betaine hydrochloride is bought on assay. Both are moisture-sensitive, so blending and encapsulation run under controlled low humidity and the preferred pack is alu-alu blister or a desiccated, induction-sealed bottle. The origin declaration on this product is the commercially load-bearing one and buyers should read it before anything else. Pepsin is porcine. An HPMC capsule shell does not make the product vegetarian, and no build of it can be vegan, halal or kosher; ranges with those requirements need a plant- or microbial-protease formulation instead, which Thovek quotes separately. Beyond that the allergen picture is clean, with no milk, egg, fish, crustacean, soy, peanut, tree nut or gluten input. One regulatory point belongs in every market file: the US FDA ended over-the-counter marketing of betaine hydrochloride as a gastric aid drug in 1993, and the ingredient continues in trade as a dietary supplement component, so permitted status, permitted level and permitted label wording must be confirmed for each destination before artwork is signed off.