Ashwagandha root extract (high-withanolide)

This is a root-only extract of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanaceae), the Ayurvedic drug ashwagandha; extract CAS 90147-43-6, EINECS 290-434-9. Thovek supplies it from cultivated Indian root, principally from the Neemuch, Mandsaur and Manasa belt of western Madhya Pradesh and from Nagaur in Rajasthan, whose Nagauri ashwagandha holds a Geographical Indication registration and is the trade's preferred long, thick root. No leaf, stem or berry enters the charge. That restriction is not cosmetic: leaf material carries a markedly different withanolide profile, is richer in withaferin A, and a leaf-containing article sold against a root specification is a documented labelling problem in this ingredient. Root-only identity is confirmed on every lot by HPLC and HPTLC fingerprint rather than by assay alone. The assay is where ashwagandha contracts most often go wrong, so it is worth being blunt. "Withanolides" can be measured gravimetrically or by HPLC, and the two numbers are not interchangeable — material that assays around 2.5% gravimetrically commonly reports only 1-1.5% by HPLC, and because the method is rarely printed on a label two suppliers quoting "2.5% withanolides" can be offering materially different goods at materially different prices. Thovek names the method on the specification and on every certificate of analysis and will run the assay on whichever basis the buyer's own release specification uses. The pharmacopoeial anchor is USP Ashwagandha Root Dry Extract, which requires not less than 2.5% withanolides on the dried basis, calculated as the sum of withanolide aglycones (as withanolide A) plus withanolide glycosides (as withanoside IV), and permits water, alcohol, methanol or mixtures as extraction solvents; the companion USP Ashwagandha Root Powder monograph sets 0.3% on the same footing. Withanolide A and withaferin A share the formula C28H38O6, MW 470.6, with CAS 32911-62-9 and 5119-48-2 respectively. Withaferin A is reported per lot and can be capped to a buyer limit — a request that has become common as formulators tighten their own safety files. Buyers should also plan around market access before they order. Denmark prohibits ashwagandha in food supplements, and several other EU member states have restricted or are reviewing it, so destination-market status must be confirmed rather than assumed; the ingredient remains freely used in the United States, India and much of Asia. On the technical side, a purely aqueous extraction is available where an alcohol-free declaration is required, alongside conventional hydroalcoholic grades, and the native drug-to-extract ratio is stated on every specification with any carrier named and quantified rather than hidden inside the assay. The material is plant-derived and vegan, with no bovine, porcine, marine, dairy, egg, fish, crustacean, nut, sesame or gluten input; note only that Withania is a Solanaceae member, so this is not a nightshade-free ingredient. Every lot ships with a full certificate of analysis: HPLC assay and identity, loss on drying, ash, heavy metals by ICP-MS, residual solvents against ICH Q3C, pesticide screening and microbiology.