Testing Service Mythbuster #3 – Activity of Individual Constituents
Doesn’t the effect of individual constituents ‘get confused’ in measuring overall Anti-Oxidant Capacity (AOC)?
Mythbuster #3
As herbalists we are taught to focus on constituents as often being ‘key’ to how certain herbs achieve their actions. The overall activity of most herbal materials is much more complex than this. Often during investigating or testing particular materials Hormesis is observed.
Hormesis?
See this useful resource for examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis
Small quantities of compounds can often have opposite effects to those expected. Dilution may often expose this behaviour. It all means that the presence of certain constituents may have very different actions depending on how the herbal material is prepared, extracted, and the format.
Our Testing Service Detects This!
Fortunately as often observed this effect may emerge in the course of testing. Therefore this again allows you to know the best therapeutic range, method of extraction, format in which your herbal material best delivers the quality/activity you need.
AOC is deeply bound up and inter linked in the overall Quality/Activity of herbal materials, reflecting how fit the herbal material is for purpose, and indicating the viability of the herbal material. If something has happened to interfere with this then it will be reflected in the results you receive.
Our advice is to get a Suitable Test on known good herbal material, you can always compare how a new batch measures up and accept or reject the herbal material on this basis. We can help you achieve this:
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