Kutki Extract (Picrorhiza kurroa Rhizome Extract)

Kutki extract is produced from the dried rhizome and root of Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth. (family Plantaginaceae, historically placed in Scrophulariaceae), a high-altitude Himalayan herb of the alpine belt from Ladakh and Kashmir east to Sikkim. Its defining chemistry is a C9 iridoid glycoside fraction: the crystalline bitter principle kutkin is a mixture dominated by picroside I (CAS 27409-30-9) and kutkoside, with picroside II (CAS 39012-20-9) the second routine marker, alongside picroside V, pikuroside, mussaenosidic acid, bartsioside and boschnaloside, and the phenolics apocynin and rosmarinic acid. Thovek supplies the trade-standard grades — kutkin (picrosides I and II) at 4% and at 10% w/w by HPLC — together with a gravimetric total-bitters grade for buyers whose legacy specification is written that way, and 10:1 native ratio material. Every lot ships with a chromatogram against a certified picroside reference standard, because 'bitters by taste' has never been an adequate release test for this ingredient. Kutki is the one botanical in this category with a hard export-control gate, and buyers must plan around it. Picrorhiza kurrooa has been listed in CITES Appendix II since 1997, on India's own proposal, following overharvesting of wild populations. Under India's EXIM policy the export of 29 plant species including Picrorhiza kurrooa is prohibited in the form of plant portions, derivatives and extracts obtained from the wild — only formulations made from them are exempt. Plant portions, derivatives and extracts of cultivated varieties are exportable subject to a Certificate of Cultivation from the Regional Deputy Director (Wildlife), the Chief Conservator of Forests or the Divisional Forest Officer of the state concerned, and, because the species sits in CITES Appendix II, a CITES export permit as well. Export is further restricted to notified ports including Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Kolkata, Cochin, Delhi, Chennai, Tuticorin, Amritsar, Calicut, Thiruvananthapuram, Kandla and Mundra. Thovek ships only cultivated-origin Kutki against that full documentation set; we do not quote wild-collected material at any price, and buyers should treat an unusually cheap offer as a compliance liability rather than a saving. Species identity is the second control point. Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora (formerly Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora), a Nepalese and eastern Himalayan relative not treated as threatened by CITES, is used heavily as a substitute and is chemically similar enough to pass a casual bitters check while being a different botanical entity. We confirm identity on the incoming rhizome by macro-morphology, HPTLC and, on request, DNA barcoding. The finished extract is vegan and vegetarian, contains no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, peanut, tree nut, sesame or gluten-source ingredient, and is non-GMO with halal and kosher certification available; any flow carrier used is maize-derived maltodextrin. Thovek describes composition and specification only — claim substantiation on the finished product rests with the brand owner in its own market.