Panax Ginseng Root Extract

Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Araliaceae) is the Asian or Korean ginseng of commerce, and this extract is drawn from its dried main and lateral root. The characteristic constituents are dammarane-type triterpene saponins known as ginsenosides, split into the protopanaxadiol series (Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd) and the protopanaxatriol series (Re, Rf, Rg1). The European Pharmacopoeia monograph for ginseng root sets the content bar at not less than 0.40% for the sum of ginsenosides Rg1 and Rb1 by HPLC on the dried root, and the same HPLC marker set is used to release extract lots. Ginsenoside Rf is a useful identity handle: it occurs in Panax ginseng but not in American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, so a chromatogram settles the species question that a label alone cannot. Red ginseng, which is steamed before drying, carries the less polar ginsenosides Rg3, Rg5 and Rk1 generated by that heat step, and is quoted separately from white air-dried root. One number on a ginseng datasheet causes more disputes than any other, so it is worth stating plainly: total ginsenosides by UV colorimetry and total ginsenosides by HPLC are not the same measurement and do not produce the same figure on the same lot. UV colorimetry is a broad reaction that responds to material beyond the individual ginsenosides and reads substantially higher; ginsenosides themselves absorb poorly in the useful UV range and are hard to resolve fully because their structures are so similar. An 80% UV grade and an 80% HPLC grade are entirely different articles at entirely different prices. Thovek names the method on the specification, the certificate of analysis and the invoice, and we ask buyers to compare competing offers method-for-method rather than percentage-for-percentage. The powder is light yellow to yellowish-brown, free-flowing at 80 mesh and mildly hygroscopic, so it is best handled in a conditioned room and re-sealed promptly after sampling. It carries a characteristic odour and a slightly bitter note that formulators normally mask in beverage and sachet applications. The material is vegan and vegetarian, non-GMO, and manufactured with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten, sesame or tree-nut inputs and no animal-derived carriers or processing aids. Root is sourced from established growing regions in China and Korea; extraction, standardisation and final release testing are performed in India. Documentation supplied per shipment includes certificate of analysis with the assay method named, HPLC chromatogram, heavy-metal and pesticide-residue reports, allergen and vegan declarations, non-GMO statement, MSDS and certificate of origin.