Nirgundi Extract (Vitex negundo)

Nirgundi is the Ayurvedic name for Vitex negundo L., a shrub of the Lamiaceae (long placed in Verbenaceae) whose leaf is the officially recognised drug in the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Thovek supplies the leaf as a hydro-alcoholic extract powder, offered either as a native ratio concentrate or standardised to a contracted marker level. The characteristic constituents of the leaf are iridoid glycosides — principally agnuside (CAS 11027-63-7, C22H26O11, MW 466.44) and negundoside (CAS 82451-20-5, C23H28O12) — alongside p-hydroxybenzoic acid and the flavonoids casticin and luteolin. Agnuside is the ester of aucubin and p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and validated reversed-phase HPLC-PDA methods resolve all three principal markers in a single run of about 25 minutes. One identity point deserves emphasis at the purchasing stage. Agnuside is the standard assay marker for Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree) as well, so a certificate showing an agnuside percentage does not by itself prove that the material is V. negundo. Thovek releases every lot against a combined dossier: botanical authentication of the incoming leaf by macroscopy and microscopy, an HPTLC fingerprint of the finished extract, and quantitative HPLC on both agnuside and negundoside — negundoside being the more discriminating of the two for V. negundo leaf. Buyers formulating in a category where chasteberry is also present should specify which species they are ordering in the purchase specification, not only the marker. The material is a plant-derived powder with no animal, dairy, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten or nut input at any stage, making it suitable for vegan and vegetarian label claims. Carrier-free (native) grades and spray-dried grades on maltodextrin or gum acacia are both available; where maltodextrin is used it is maize-derived and must be declared on the buyer's ingredient statement. Lots are released against AYUSH/API contaminant limits for ASU herbal products, with pesticide residue and aflatoxin screening on request. Thovek states composition and food-technology function only and makes no therapeutic or disease claim; the buyer is responsible for claim substantiation in the destination market.