Inside the Extract: Yield, Ratios, and the Role of Beta Glucans

• Plant to extract ratios do not completely describe botanical extracts
  • Quality of raw starting material
  • Extraction solvent
  • Extraction time
  • Extraction temp
  • Type and % of excipients
• Crude botanical extracts without an excipient are called native or genuine extracts
  • Excipients are often added to
    • Improve material handling characteristics
    • To standardize constituent concentrations
• DER (Drug to extract ratio) ratio of starting material to native extract
• Why are extracts made?
  • Concentrate desired constituents
  • Decrease content of unwanted constituents or impurities
  • Improve shelf life
  • Standardize material
• Marker Compounds are constituents that may or may not be associated with therapeutic activity and are used as process controls (beta glucans!)
  • May help demonstrate identity when specific to the botanical raw material
  • May not vary in proportion with other compounds of greater importance relative to therapeutic activity, due to
    • Genetics
    • Growing conditions
    • Stability during processing
    • Stability during storage
• Relationship between identified constituents to an extracts biological activity is rarely clear due to complexity of botanical extracts
• A native extract ratio of 10:1 means 10g of dried raw material was used to produce 1g of native extract
• Biggest misconception is that a higher ratio represent a stronger or “better” extract
  • YIELD DEPENDS ON EXTRACTION PROCESS
  • Amount of extractable material
  • Most dry botanical materials have an extractable biomass of 10-25 % 10:1 and 4:1 respectively. If 100% of the biomass was converted to dry extract that would be 1:1

Best practice:

Quantity of genuine extract: ex 80 %

DER genuine: 3-6:1

Other Excipients: 20 %

Extraction Solvent: Ethanaol 70 % V/V

Microencapsulation of Oleoresin (from garlic) using maltodextrin- optimal 10 % garlic 60 % maltodextrin at 200C https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.08.011

Microencapsulation of Anthocyanins (from black glutinous Rice)

https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/13/9/1326

Starch/Beta Glucans https://www.nammex.com/beta-glucan-breakdown-digesting-the-power-of-mushrooms/

Starch –is a polysaccharide comprising glucose monomers joined in α 1,4 linkages

Cyclodextrins- α-1,4-glycosidic bonds, with three major variants – α-, β-, and γ-CDs – comprised of six, seven, and eight d-glucose units, respectively.

AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) starch test enzyme hydroloysisi test

B-glucans a Polysaccharide composed of glucose joined at β-linked d-glucose molecules linked to one another by 1–3 glycosidic chain with 1–6 glycosidic branches. (1-6 chains tend to be longer in yeast)

Mushroom beta glucans typcially have a branched structure with both 1,3 and 1,6 linkages where beta glucans from cereals tend to be more linear and contain more 1,4 linkages