Chamomile extract

German chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla L. (synonyms Matricaria recutita L. Rauschert and Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert), family Asteraceae, is extracted from the dried flower heads known pharmacopoeially as Matricariae flos. The European Pharmacopoeia sets the flower drug at not less than 0.25% apigenin-7-glucoside, and the United States Pharmacopeia at not less than 0.3% apigenin-7-glucoside together with not less than 0.15% bisabolan derivatives. Our standard extract grade is standardised on total apigenin at not less than 1.2% by HPLC, the figure the nutraceutical trade has settled on, and an apigenin-7-O-glucoside grade (CAS 578-74-5, C21H20O10, MW 432.38) is available where a monograph-style marker is preferred. One technical point separates this powder from other chamomile articles and is worth settling before you write a specification. A water or hydroalcoholic dried extract carries the polar flavone and hydroxycinnamic fraction, principally apigenin, apigenin-7-glucoside and luteolin glycosides. It is not a meaningful source of the blue volatile constituents: alpha-bisabolol (CAS 515-69-5) and chamazulene, the latter formed from matricin during distillation, sit in the essential oil and are largely lost when the extract is dried. If your formula needs those, specify the steam-distilled or CO2 essential oil, which is a different product under a different tariff heading. Equally, do not confuse this species with Roman chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, which is a separate botanical with its own profile. The finished powder is a fine yellow-brown to light brown material with a sweet herbaceous, faintly honeyed note that carries well in tea premixes, evening sachets, capsules, gummies and cosmetic bases. On allergens, chamomile carries no regulated declarable allergen under EU Annex II or US FALCPA, and our material is free of milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten, sesame, peanut and tree nut. However, chamomile is an Asteraceae (Compositae) botanical and cross-sensitisation with ragweed, mugwort and chrysanthemum is documented in the literature, so many brands carry a voluntary Compositae advisory; we will supply the supporting statement on request. Flower material is sourced from Egypt, Eastern Europe and Indian cultivation, and every lot ships with solvent, carrier and assay method stated on the CoA.