Terminalia arjuna extract

Arjuna is the stem bark of Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arn. (family Combretaceae; basionym Pentaptera arjuna Roxb. ex DC.), a large deciduous tree native from the Indian subcontinent to Myanmar. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India defines the drug Arjuna as the stem bark specifically, and that is the part Thovek extracts: bark is dried, milled and taken through hydroalcoholic or aqueous extraction, then concentrated and spray dried. The chemistry is a mix of pentacyclic triterpenoids and hydrolysable tannins. Arjunolic acid (CAS 465-00-9, C30H48O5, MW 460.7) is the marker the trade settles on, accompanied by arjunic acid, arjungenin and the glycoside arjunetin; the tannin fraction of the bark typically runs about 12-15% and includes punicalagin and casuarinin, with gallic and ellagic acids, flavonoids and phytosterols alongside. Identity is the live risk on this ingredient, more than assay. Arjuna bark is visually similar to the bark of other Terminalia species growing in the same forests, and substitution or dilution with Terminalia alata or Terminalia tomentosa bark is a documented trade problem; root material and mixed bark sweepings also turn up. Insist on the pharmacopoeial part - stem bark - and on a species-level identity test rather than a generic organoleptic check. On assay, arjunolic acid by HPLC against a characterised reference standard is the honest number. "Total saponins" by gravimetry is a much larger and much softer figure that measures the whole precipitable fraction, and tannin content reads differently by titration than by UV as gallic acid equivalents. A percentage without a named method is not a specification, and comparing two quotations across two methods is comparing nothing. Bark is taken from living trees, so provenance carries weight for buyers with a sourcing policy: Thovek documents whether material is plantation-grown or wild-collected, and wild-collected Indian botanical material can attract access-and-benefit-sharing obligations under the Biological Diversity Act alongside DGFT export conditions - raise this early if your own supply-chain audit will ask. The extract is vegan and vegetarian, non-GMO, and free from milk, egg, fish, crustacean, soy, peanut, tree nut, sesame, celery and mustard; maltodextrin carriers where used are maize-derived and gluten-free. It is astringent and tannin-bearing, which means it will bind protein and complex with iron and other metal ions - check it against protein bases and mineral premixes before scale-up. Brands formulate arjuna into the cardiovascular wellness category; Thovek makes no health claim for it, and substantiating any claim in the destination market is the buyer's responsibility. Batch documentation covers assay, loss on drying, ash, heavy metals, residual solvents, pesticide residues and microbiology, with allergen, GMO, irradiation and country-of-origin statements.