Valerian root extract

Valerian root extract is produced from the dried underground parts of Valeriana officinalis L. sensu lato — the rhizome together with the roots and stolons, the article the European Pharmacopoeia calls Valerianae radix. The standardisation marker is not a single molecule but a group: the sesquiterpenic acids, reported together and expressed as valerenic acid, CAS 3569-10-6, C15H22O2, Mr 234.3. The group also contains acetoxyvalerenic acid (C17H24O4) and hydroxyvalerenic acid (C15H22O3), and a specification that names only "valerenic acid" without saying whether the number is the single acid or the summed group is ambiguous. Thovek states which it is on the specification and on every certificate of analysis. The pharmacopoeial reference points are worth quoting, because the commercial 0.8% grade sits well above all of them and buyers routinely confuse the two scales. Ph. Eur. Valerianae radix (07/2015:0453) requires the whole or fragmented drug to hold not less than 4 mL/kg essential oil and not less than 0.17% m/m sesquiterpenic acids as valerenic acid; the cut drug monograph (07/2015:2526) drops those to 3 mL/kg and 0.10%. On the extract side, Valerianae extractum hydroalcoholicum siccum (07/2014:1898), made with ethanol 30-90% V/V or methanol 40-55% V/V, requires not less than 0.25% m/m sesquiterpenic acids, while the aqueous dry extract, produced with water at not less than 60 °C, requires only 0.02%. The EMA herbal monograph records the well-established-use dry extract at DER 3-7.4:1 in ethanol 40-70% V/V and traditional aqueous dry extracts at DER 4-6:1. A 0.8% concentrate is therefore a deliberately enriched hydroalcoholic article, not a pharmacopoeial default, and the aqueous and hydroalcoholic routes are chemically different products that should not be cross-substituted mid-contract. Two practical warnings. Valepotriates — valtrate, isovaltrate, didrovaltrate and relatives — occur in the drug at roughly 0.1-2%, are thermolabile and unstable, and degrade to baldrinals; well-made hydroalcoholic and aqueous extracts carry little or none, and Thovek tests and reports the level rather than staying silent on it. Separately, identity fixing matters more here than in most botanicals: "Indian valerian" or tagara is Valeriana jatamansi Jones (syn. V. wallichii DC.), a different species with a valepotriate-rich, valerenic-acid-poor profile and its own conservation pressures, and it is a common substitution in bulk trade. Thovek quotes it as a separate product and will not ship it against a V. officinalis specification. The powder carries the characteristic pungent valerian odour driven by isovaleric acid; this is inherent to genuine material, not a defect, and tablet and gummy formulators should plan coating or masking rather than reject lots for it. The extract is plant-derived and vegan, with no bovine, porcine, marine, dairy, egg, fish, crustacean, nut, sesame or gluten input.