Salacia Extract (Salacia reticulata)

Salacia extract is produced from the dried root and stem of Salacia reticulata Wight, a woody climbing liana of the Celastraceae — older literature places the genus in Hippocrateaceae — found in Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands and southern India. It is Saptarangi in Hindi, Saptachakra in Sanskrit, Ekanayakam in Malayalam, Ponkoranti in Tamil and Kothala himbutu in Sinhala, and it has been consumed for decades in Japan as a food supplement, which is where most of the export volume still goes. Buyers should understand the identity problem before they order. The genus is taxonomically difficult, several Western Ghats species — S. oblonga, S. chinensis, S. fruticosa, S. gambleana — are morphologically similar and are traded interchangeably under the same vernacular names, and part of the botanical literature holds that true S. reticulata is restricted to Sri Lanka. A DNA-barcoding survey of traded Ayurvedic raw drugs found 79% of samples authentic and 21% adulterated or substituted. Thovek confirms species identity on every lot; ITS2 barcoding discriminates the traded Salacia species and is available on request. The characteristic constituents are the sulfonium-sulfate thiosugars salacinol (CAS 200399-47-9, C9H18O9S2, MW 334.35), kotalanol, ponkoranol, salaprinol and neokotalanol, together with the C-glycosyl xanthone mangiferin (CAS 4773-96-0, C19H18O11, MW 422.34), kotalagenin 16-acetate and oligomeric proanthocyanidins including leucopelargonidin. Two standardisation conventions are in commercial use and they are not interchangeable. Total saponins by gravimetry, offered across the trade at 10–50%, is the volume specification; it is a broad, method-defined number and two suppliers' figures cannot be compared unless the method is agreed in writing first. Marker-specific assays give a much tighter number and a much lower one: published measurements put mangiferin at roughly 1% in Salacia root and stem extracts, so a high mangiferin percentage offered on an unenriched extract deserves scrutiny rather than a purchase order. Thovek supplies gravimetric saponin grades, mangiferin-enriched HPLC grades and salacinol-assayed material by LC-MS, and always states the method beside the figure on the certificate. In-vitro alpha-glucosidase inhibition is the assay conventionally used to characterise this botanical and can be run to order as a batch-to-batch consistency check. Salacia is a slow-growing liana harvested for its roots, and root harvest destroys the plant. S. reticulata was listed Endangered on Sri Lanka's 2012 National Red List and reassessed as Near Threatened in 2019, and several Indian Salacia species are recorded as threatened and heavily traded in the Western Ghats. Thovek prioritises cultivated and managed-collection material and can supply collection-area documentation where a buyer's sustainability programme requires it. The extract is vegan and vegetarian, with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten or nut inputs and no bovine or porcine material or processing aids; it is non-GMO and carries no declarable allergen. Salacia is not an everyday food in most Western markets, so the importer should confirm the regulatory and novel-food position in the destination country before shipment — that is a buyer responsibility and Thovek does not warrant market authorisation. Every consignment ships with a full certificate of analysis, botanical identity confirmation, heavy-metal, pesticide-residue and microbiological reports, an allergen and GMO statement and an MSDS. Organic (NPOP / NOP / EU), Kosher and Halal certified lots are available to order.