Comment · Thu, April 3, 2025 · ND Owner
Possible to make a non cortisol lowering extract of tongkat ali?
Original post in this thread
Cranberry_Machiatto · 4 points
I’ve tried the tongkat ali extracts in the past. 2% having crazy effects as far as libido and mood enhancement. Not a super sex craving libido effect but more of like a strong but grounded libido effect. 10% had no perceivable effects on me except the mild fatigue.
Only problem with the 2% though is that it lowered cortisol too much and had me feeling a little sluggish in the mornings. Is it the eurycomanone that lowers cortisol or is it some other ingredient? Yes I have experimented with iodine. My iodine intake is adequate. Mostly from eggs, multivitamin, and diary.
I’d be interested if it was possible to make a tongkat ali extract that had the same libido and energizing effects but not the cortisol powering effects.
What they were answering
Cranberry_Machiatto · 3 points
Wow that is revolutionary! I wish I was smart enough to understand the ins and outs of how that process works LOL
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
So the Buchi SFC-50 system is what is called a prep system.
https://www.buchi.com/en/products/instruments/sepiatec-sfc-systems
Think of it like an HPLC, but instead of using columns to separate compounds from each other so you can measure them, you are separating them so you can collect them. Right now we have a Buchi prep HPLC system that we have used for years for this. The SFC-50 is just a bit different in that instead of using liquid solvents to separate compounds from each other, it uses supercritical CO2. The other nice thing about the SFC-50 is that it has a mass spec detector on it. Our prep HPLC system only has a UV detector like an HPLC does. The issue there is that not every compound has a chromophore, so seeing them on a UV detector is either not possible, or not accurate at low concentrations. With the SFC-50, we can see the UV spectrum and the mass of the compound. This will speed up our ability to detect and separate compounds in botanicals and fungi. This is how we create reference standards for things that don't exist. It's how we made the world's first erinacine-A standardized lion's mane, and how we are about to release analytical methods for lion's mane fruiting body that look at 10 different hericenes and hericenones. However, we can also use those standards to do more testing. How does pure erinacine-A affect brain cells, or how does a specific quassinoid affect leydig cell? Once you have those compounds pure, you can do cell culture testing. This is where our new Incucyte SX5 comes in.
This is going to allow us to culture and grow human cells, then expose them to certain things and see how they are affected. The SX5 is the flagship machine for this from Sartorius. The reason we went with the top of the line one is that it is the only one that can do neuronal activity assays. This means that we can culture human neurons, then expose them to things like erinacine-A, and not only see if it increases the growth of the neurons and connection of axons, but also monitor in real time whether neuronal ACTIVITY increases. The lower models can monitor neuronal growth over time, by taking pictures of the neurons at certain points. However, the SX5 has video capabilities. This means we can video the neurons and see them firing electrical signals to each other! It's super cool, and no other supplement brand in the world has this capability.
https://www.sartorius.com/en/applications/life-science-research/live-cell-assays/neuronal-activity
Watch the videos on that page. It's so cool!