Classification and application of plant extracts

August 30, 2022

In recent years, with the increasing recognition of "return to nature" and "green consumption", natural food has been respected in the world, and traditional Chinese medicine has also received special attention and recognition. As the main raw material of food, plant extracts have become a star in food raw materials, showing a strong growth momentum in the global market.

Plant extracts use plants as raw materials. According to the needs of the final product extracted, through the process of physical and chemical extraction and separation, one or more active ingredients in plants can be obtained and concentrated in a targeted manner without changing the structure of the active ingredients. product formed.

It can be used as a raw material and is widely used in downstream industries such as food, beverage, medicine, health care products, and cosmetics.

01 How to classify plant extracts?

There are numerous types of plant extracts and they are classified in various ways.

1) According to the content of active ingredients: they can be divided into three categories: effective monomer extracts, standard extracts and ratio extracts.

2) According to the composition: it can be divided into glycosides, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc.

(3) According to the product form: can be divided into plant oil, infusion, powder, crystal, etc.

(4) According to the use: it can be divided into natural pigment products category, herbal extract products, extract products category and concentrated products category.

There are nearly 100 kinds of internationally popular plant extracts, and the common ones are as follows.

1) Antioxidants: grape seed extract, green tea extract, pine bark extract, etc.

2) Immunomodulators: ginseng extract, gynostemma extract, ganoderma lucidum extract, etc.

3) Improvement of cardiovascular system functions: Ginkgo biloba extract, lotus heart extract, rhodiola extract, etc.

4) Sedative class: Valerian extract, Hops extract, etc.

5) natural pigment class: lycopene, purple potato extract, etc.

6) Functional sweeteners: licorice extract, stevia extract, etc.

02 The main components of plant extracts

1) Alkaloids, i.e. phytochemicals, are important active ingredients of herbal medicines, such as common ones as the small cleaved alkaloids in Huanglian and ephedrine in Ephedra.

2) Flavonoids have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and other biological activities, common flavonoids are propolis, soy isoflavones, anthocyanins, tea polyphenols, etc.

(3) Polysaccharides have the effects of lowering serum cholesterol, anti-cancer and cancer prevention, and immune regulation, such as Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides, mushroom polysaccharides, algae polysaccharides, etc.

(4) Glycosides are substances made of sugar combined with phenols and flavonoids. Different types of glycosides have different physiological activities and have various functions.

(5) volatile oils, also known as essential oils, are oily liquids with aroma and volatility, common volatile oils such as peppermint oil, rose oil, garlic oil.

6) Organic acids such as citric acid, lactic acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid, etc. are the most effective alternatives to antibiotics and can play a role in regulating the intestinal flora.

03 Expanding market for botanical ingredients applications

The plant extract industry plays an important role in the health industry chain by taking over the agricultural plantation industry upward and the health industry downward.

China's botanical extract industry originated from the traditional Chinese herbal medicine industry, and its overall development was relatively late. In the 1990s, China's plant extract industry entered the initial stage; in the 21st century, with the adoption of more advanced plant extract technologies such as enzymatic extraction, ultrasonic extraction, supercritical extraction, membrane separation technology, microwave extraction and other technologies, the efficiency of plant extraction was greatly enhanced, and China's plant extract industry entered the golden development period.

China's plant extract industry has relatively small domestic demand and is mainly sold to overseas markets, which is one of the most important forms of Chinese medicine products export.

With the increasing concern for food and drug safety, a large number of plant extracts that are safe for consumption and have certain nutritional and therapeutic functions have been made into nutritional functional foods and health foods as raw materials in various ways into people's lives.

As a traditional Chinese herbal medicine country, China is rich in plant resources, and the share of China's plant extracts in medicine and health food is expanding, and the export volume is also rising year by year. It can be seen that the gradual maturity of China's plant extract industry is undoubtedly an important progress for the global plant extract industry.

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2022-8-30

Shaanxi Huike Botanical Development Co., Ltd.