Chitrak Extract (Plumbago zeylanica)

Chitrak is the root of Plumbago zeylanica L., family Plumbaginaceae — Ceylon leadwort, doctorbush or wild leadwort in English, Chitraka in Sanskrit. It is the root and root bark that carry the article's value; the aerial parts contain the marker too but are not accepted against a root specification, and a supplier who quietly blends stem into a root lot is selling a different product. The recurring failure in this trade is species rather than plant part. White-flowered Plumbago zeylanica (Chitraka) and red-flowered Plumbago rosea L. (Rakta Chitraka) are collected from overlapping habitat, are treated as interchangeable by many collectors, and are not the same article — published comparative work treats them as distinct species with distinct material. Thovek verifies species at intake by macroscopic examination and HPLC fingerprint comparison and names the botanical source on the certificate of analysis. A buyer who specifies P. zeylanica receives P. zeylanica. The marker is plumbagin, 5-hydroxy-2-methylnaphthalene-1,4-dione, CAS 481-42-5, C11H8O3, MW 188.18 — a yellow naphthoquinone that is also the source of the root's acrid pungency. Plumbagin occurs in root, stem and leaf, with the root the richest tissue and the part harvested for extraction; HPLC with diode-array detection is the standard quantification route and is what Thovek uses. Content moves with root maturity, season and provenance, which is why the material is sold to an assayed figure against a plumbagin reference standard rather than to a nominal grade name. Standard offer is 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.5% plumbagin by HPLC, with 5:1 and 10:1 ratio extracts available where a buyer's monograph works on extraction ratio instead. Classical practice subjects the root to shodhana before use, and the comparative literature works with 'detoxified' Plumbago roots for precisely that reason; Thovek supplies classically processed material where a buyer's monograph calls for it, and states which route was used. The extract is a light to dark brown free-flowing powder with the characteristic acrid, pungent odour and taste of the root — a formulation constraint worth planning for, since the classical texts themselves note that the root is combined with other herbs to temper its intense pungency. It is soluble in ethanol and hydro-alcoholic systems and only sparingly soluble in water; a water-dispersible grade on a maize maltodextrin carrier is available for stick packs and premixes. Plumbagin is a skin and mucous-membrane irritant in concentrated form, so dry powder should be handled with gloves, eye protection and dust extraction, and the material is packed and stored away from light. The extract is plant-derived and suitable for vegan and vegetarian claims, free of milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, mollusc, peanut, tree nut, sesame, mustard, celery, lupin and gluten-bearing cereals, and non-GMO. It is supplied for licensed Ayurvedic manufacture; no authorised EU food use is established for the species, and buyers must confirm eligibility in the destination market before contracting. Thovek makes no health, nutrient or disease claim for the material.