Semax

Mostly novel botanical extracts, and quantifying actives in things to a much higher standard. So rather than just standardizing to 5% withanolides, we will separate and quantify each withanolide. They all do different things. So grouping them together doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Same goes for other things like rhodiola, polygala, panax ginseng, lemon balm, gotu kola, etc. You can see we already started doing that with panax ginseng and gotu kola.

https://nootropicsdepot.com/panamax-panax-ginseng-schisandra-capsules/

In our PanaMAX, we are breaking down each ginsenoside for you to see. This is why we did a combo of leaf and root extracts. We also discovered that harvesting time and whether or not you shave off the root hairs plays a big role in the ratios of ginsenosides. Nobody even discusses that, much less quantifies it.

https://nootropicsdepot.com/gotu-kola-extract-coated-tablets/

In our gotu kola we are not just standardizing to total triterpenes like the industry standard is. We are separating and quantifying the madecassoside, asiaticoside B, and asiaticoside. Plus we enteric coated it, since the madecassosides and asiaticosides are subject to acid hydrolysis in the stomach. So you have to prevent it from being exposed to the acid of your stomach to even get those compounds into your body.

We are starting to work on ashwagandha. Withaferin A is very different in effects to withanolide A. However, most just group all 7 withanolides together in a single number. We are going to change that.

The same goes for mushrooms. We are working to actually separate and quantify the actives in the various mushrooms. Beta glucans are a class of compounds. 1,3 branched are very different than 1,6 branched. The same goes for triterpenes in reishi, or erinacines/hericenones in lion's mane. When you start getting into the details of things, it gets a lot more complex. Separating and quantifying them is even more complex. This is why we just got a new Waters UPLC and full CAMAG HP-TLC line with quantification. We are also trying to get a headspace GC in next.

So we have a lot of cool stuff going on with the analytical testing and standardization side of things. We are also bringing in some pretty novel natural extracts for some of the Natrium products, which is forcing us to do the method development ourselves; since not many people in the US are doing some of these extracts. We've also run into a lot of issues with very well-known labs giving us results that are later proved to be incorrect or inaccurate. So bringing as much as we can in-house is crucial for me personally to be satisfied with the accuracy and validity of the results we are getting. Plus, I find all this stuff extremely interesting! So I am having fun learning and expanding my knowledge of analytical chemistry!