Curcumin + Piperine Blend

This is a two-component blend, not a single extract, and it is specified as such. The bulk of the article is turmeric rhizome extract from Curcuma longa L., family Zingiberaceae, standardised to not less than 95.0% total curcuminoids by HPLC. Curcuminoids are a three-compound family rather than one molecule: curcumin (CAS 458-37-7, C21H20O6, MW 368.38) makes up roughly 75–80% of the fraction, with demethoxycurcumin at about 15–20% and bisdemethoxycurcumin at about 3–5%. The minor partner is black pepper fruit extract from Piper nigrum L., family Piperaceae, standardised to not less than 95.0% piperine by HPLC — piperine being the pungent amide alkaloid, CAS 94-62-2, C17H19NO3, MW 285.34. The blend ratio is the commercial decision and it belongs on the purchase order rather than being assumed. Ratios of 100:1, 50:1 and 20:1 by weight of curcuminoid extract to piperine extract are all routinely contracted; because the pepper component is itself a 95% assay, the nominal piperine content of the finished blend follows arithmetically from the ratio and is stated as a measured figure on the certificate of analysis, not calculated on paper. Thovek assays the finished blend for both markers rather than relying on the incoming component certificates, because a two-powder dry blend at a 100:1 ratio is a genuine homogeneity problem and blend uniformity is where these products fail. Every lot ships with the ratio, both marker assays and the blend uniformity result. Purity work on curcumin is not routine box-ticking. Turmeric-derived material has a long adulteration history — metanil yellow, Sudan dyes and lead chromate used as colour extenders, and synthetic curcumin substituted for plant-derived, which HPLC alone will not distinguish. Screening for the dye adulterants is standard on every lot, and natural-origin confirmation of the curcuminoids by carbon-14 biobased content (ASTM D6866) is available on request for buyers making a natural-source claim. The blend is a free-flowing orange-yellow to yellow-brown powder, practically insoluble in water and soluble in ethanol and acetone, with water-dispersible grades available for beverage work. It is fully plant-derived and suitable for vegan and vegetarian claims, is non-GMO, and is free of milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, mollusc, peanut, tree nut, sesame, mustard, celery, lupin and gluten-bearing cereals. Curcumin is light- and alkali-sensitive, so it should be held below 25 °C, protected from light, and formulated below pH 7 where colour stability matters.