This program aims to establish meaningful quality guidelines for the manufacture of herbal extracts. It is a system for ensuring the production of consistent quality extracts with guaranteed minimum levels of active constituents.
The constituents chosen as ‘quality indicators’ are carefully selected and represent the most up-to-date scientific knowledge available. The process of developing Quantified Activity extracts is complex and involves many steps. Once the constituents are selected and the quantified activity levels are set, the focus is to ensure the supply of consistent quality raw material and the retention of the constituents throughout the manufacturing process.
Quality indicators
To date, MediHerb has quantified the activity of over 70 herbs through this program. To our knowledge such a program has never been undertaken in Australia, nor has it been matched anywhere in the world. With the MediHerb Quantified Activity program, we have linked together all of the possible parameters that can affect product and extract quality and can guarantee that a high quality, efficacious extract will be produced every time.
‘Quantified Activity’ vs. Standardisation
Standardised extracts have a specific measure of active constituents contained in that extract. At times, we receive a herb that has higher levels than our minimum specification, however we never dilute to meet a minimum specification. Herein lies the difference between Quantified Activity and Standardisation - with standardisation, extracts with an active level that exceeds the specified standard would then be diluted to fall within that standard.
Standardised Extracts: In those cases where there is strong clinical data supporting the use of a standardised extract, MediHerb has adopted that standard and dosage approach for its tablet products.
Full Spectrum Extracts Mean Greater Efficacy but Lower Herb Equivalents per Tablet
Practitioners often compare herb equivalence on tablet labels in an effort to gauge the most effective formula for their patients. However, herb equivalence can be quite misleading when comparing potency of products. The process of standardisation can encourage an approach to manufacturing herbal extracts that only focuses on the one active constituent or marker compound whilst ignoring the remaining phytochemical profile of the herb. When a herb is extracted with a solvent, the resulting phytochemicals that are extracted will depend upon the type of solvent employed. By using a combination of solvents, one can selectively extract an individual compound or one group of compounds. However, this process produces a herbal product or a product bordering on a pharmaceutical, because the phytochemical profile of the raw herb and the ratio of active constituents to marker compounds can be greatly altered.
