At HimPharm we manufacture a large number of Herbal Extracts. These herbal extracts are either soft extracts or powdered extracts. The Herbal extracts are available as alcohol extracts, water soluble extracts or as a combination of both alcohol and water extracts, also referred to as hydroalcoholic extracts.
Raw herbs are herbs in their natural form. They consist of leaves, stems or roots, depending on the part of the plant to be used. Raw herbs are dried, sifted, then either cut or ground & milled into a powder. Herb Powders can be packed inside capsules, made into tablets, gummies, syrups or sold loose as herb powders so they can be added to a juice or smoothie.
The advantage of consuming a herb is that one gets the herb’s complete spectrum of plant chemicals, also called phytochemicals. This is specifically good if we do not know how a single chemical isolated from the herb (alkaloid) performs on its own, or if there is a lack of evidence on its actions. As preparing raw herbs is a simple process hence herbs tend to be less expensive than other forms discussed below.
Herbs and herb powders are not standardised. This means that they haven’t been tested to determine how much chemical components they contain. Without testing for chemical components, it is very hard to judge the quality & potency of a herb. Raw herbs & herb powders also have in-digestible plant fibres and comparatively fewer active ingredients or phytochemicals when compared to extracts. As a result, you won’t absorb everything in the herb powder. Because of this herb powders will be less potent, so to ensure complete dosage one will need to consume a significantly more raw herb powder to see benefits of the herb. Another point to consider while comparing raw herbs with extracts is that the chemical components in raw herbs can not be standardised. It has been seen that when a raw herb is assessed for its chemical components then the potency of the chemical constituents (phytochemicals) in the herb can differ from one plant to another. Also, there is a variation in the constituents of the herb based on the altitude where the herb is planted, time of harvest, soil conditions, etc. There can be many reasons for the difference in chemical components of a raw herb. As a result, it is extremely difficult to provide the same quality of raw herb or herb powder across different batches. If one were to experience great benefits from a particular batch of a raw herb, then it would be extremely difficult, almost impossible to match the same quality of the raw herb or to guarantee the same results for the herb in every batch that is manufactured for that herb. In contrast, it is possible to standardise herbal extracts based on the strength of a particular chemical component to achieve the same concentration and thereby the same effect with every batch of herbal extract that is manufactured.
Herbal extracts are preparations that are intended to concentrate the strength of the herb. Commercially available extracts can be produced as tinctures,fluid extracts and solid extracts.
This method typically involves soaking the herb in an alcohol and water base for various lengths of time. Tinctures are typically measured as a 1:5 or 1:10 extract, meaning that 20% or 10% of the finished product is herbal constituents and 80% or 90% is solvent.
These are stronger than a tincture, this method is often made from a water and alcohol mixture, or sometimes other solvents (e.g. glycerine). Fluid extracts are then distilled or filtered to remove some of the alcohol. Fluid extracts are typically 1:1 extract, meaning that 50% of the finished product is herbal constituents and 50% is solvent.
Generally made as a fluid extract, the difference being that the solvent (e.g. alcohol) is completely removed. The extract that remains can then be dried and ground into a powder to be put into capsules or tablets. As the solvent is removed from solid extracts, the measurement of their strength reflects the ratio of the finished herbal extract compared to the amount of crude herb that was used as the starting material. For instance, a 4:1 solid extract would mean that four parts crude herb was used to make one part extract. The more starting herb that was used to make one part extract, theoretically speaking, the stronger the extract should be (for example, a 50:1 extract should be 5 times stronger than a 10:1 extract). This is only theoretically the case because the concentration of the extract does not necessarily reflect the specific strength of particular active compounds within the herb.
A standardised herbal extract is an extract which, instead of merely reflecting the concentration of the extract itself (e.g. 4:1, 10:1, 50:1), actually guarantees the potency of one or more active compounds within the herb.
Non-standardised extracts do not reflect the potency of the herb regarding the active compounds that provide the benefits most attributed to the herb. For example, an extract is offered as a 50:1 extract, which of course, sounds very concentrated – and is from the standpoint of the strength of the extract itself. But does this 50:1 measurement tell us how much of the active compounds are found in the final extract? No. Perhaps this would not matter as much if every single leaf from every single tree contained the same number of active compounds. The reality is, however, that each batch of any harvested herb will contain slight or, possibly, great variations in the level of active compounds. Another problem that can arise is that the active compounds in herbs degrade in storage due to the effects of oxygen, heat, light, moisture, etc. Therefore, even herbs that contained high levels of active compounds at the time of harvesting could be weak at the time of processing. Also, the time of the year or the season in which a herb is harvested plays a role in the total percentage content of the herb. Unless there is a consistent level of the main active compounds, there can not be a consistent benefit to the end-user from one batch to the next, one bottle to the next.
The standardisation process concentrates on the active ingredient but may destroy some complementary or beneficial components. However, Standardised Full Potency (SFP) uses both a concentrated, standardised extract of active ingredient as well as the whole raw herb powder. This ensures that the components of the whole herb are present, thereby improving its efficacy.
Although there are thousands of published research studies that validate either the preventative or therapeutic benefits of countless herbs, much of the most recent and respected research involving many herbs have been carried out using standardised extracts. As a result, standardised extracts are the most likely form of those particular herbs to provide the health benefits consistent with those reported in such studies.
The majority of the research for herbal remedies concentrates on one herb at a time and in this way identifies the specific benefits of each herb. However, many herbs that have the same application, have different pathways to that benefit, so there may be times when it is appropriate to use herbs in combination to have the best effect. There is no evidence to support combining different herbs in one nutritional programme represents any additional concern around safety.
It is said that Poly-herbs, when extracted in combination, have better efficacy than an individual (single) standardised extract extracted separately and then combined. But more research, human trials and lab trials are required to confirm this with scientific rationale. However initial consensus on this seems to point to extracting herbs together, rather than combining them. Combined herbs from a manufacturing perspective would be less expensive when compared to combining single-herb extracts to achieve a final blend.
Below is a list of herbal extracts manufactured by HimPharm in bulk quantities.
