Black Wolfberry Extract
Black wolfberry extract is an anthocyanin concentrate prepared from the fruit of Lycium ruthenicum, a thorny shrub of the Solanaceae family growing on the saline soils of the Qinghai Tibet plateau and the arid northwest of China. It is a different species from the red goji berry, Lycium barbarum, and the two are not interchangeable, since the red fruit is traded for its polysaccharide and carotenoid content while the black fruit is traded almost entirely for its pigment.
The anthocyanin profile is unusual and is what distinguishes the material analytically. It is dominated by acylated petunidin glycosides, principally petunidin 3 O rutinoside derivatives bearing coumaroyl and glucosyl substitutions, with malvidin and delphinidin derivatives in smaller amounts. Acylation makes these pigments noticeably more resistant to heat and pH change than the simple glucosides of most berry anthocyanins, which is the technical argument for using the ingredient where an anthocyanin colour has to survive processing.
The extract is a purple to dark purple powder, freely soluble in water and dilute ethanol, giving a red solution in acid that turns purple and then blue as pH rises. It remains hygroscopic and light sensitive despite the acylation, so it is packed in foil laminate away from light and formulated with metal chelation and without sulphite.
We source bulk Black Wolfberry Extract from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shaanxi. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Purple to dark purple fine powder |
| Botanical Source | Lycium ruthenicum fruit |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic fruity, slightly sweet and astringent |
| Identification | HPLC profile dominated by acylated petunidin glycosides |
| Total Anthocyanins | ≥ 15.0% (UV, as cyanidin 3 glucoside) |
| Colour Value (E1%1cm, 530 nm) | ≥ 120 |
| Particle Size | ≥ 95% through 80 mesh |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 5.0% |
| Total Ash | ≤ 6.0% |
| pH (1% solution) | 2.5 to 4.0 |
| Residual Ethanol | ≤ 0.5% |
| Lead | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Cadmium | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 5,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The trade quotes total anthocyanins by the pH differential method expressed as cyanidin 3 glucoside, or in higher grades as petunidin 3 rutinoside where a species specific standard is used. Common specifications run at 5, 10, 15 and 25 percent, with the higher figures requiring resin purification. Ratio extracts at 10:1 without an anthocyanin claim are also traded and retain more of the fruit's sugars and polysaccharide.
Alongside the extracts, dried whole fruit and freeze dried fruit powder are sold under the same commercial heading and should not be confused with a concentrated extract, as their anthocyanin content is an order of magnitude lower. Extract powders are offered carrier free or on maltodextrin, at 80 mesh, with a water soluble acidified grade and a granulated version for tabletting. Because the fruit is expensive and supply is partly wild collected, adulteration with cheaper anthocyanin sources such as black rice or purple sweet potato is a recognised risk, and buyers verify the acylated petunidin profile chromatographically rather than relying on the total anthocyanin figure.
Applications
- Capsule and tablet supplements, sold on anthocyanin content in eye health and antioxidant formulations
- Herbal infusions, where the dried fruit or a low assay extract turns the water a striking blue purple that shifts with pH
- Acidic beverages and functional waters, using the extract as both colour and labelled active
- Confectionery including gummies and jellies, dosed after the cook so the pigment is not held at temperature
- Powdered drink mixes and effervescent tablets, which develop colour on reconstitution
- Dairy fruit preparations and yoghurt layers, formulated at low pH where the colour holds
- Nutrition bars and chews, where colour and claim are delivered together
- Skin care serums and masks, added to the water phase in acidic formulations
- Traditional preparations in northwest China, where the dried fruit is infused directly
China Manufacturers of Black Wolfberry Extract
Top Black Wolfberry Extract manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States, Lycium ruthenicum fruit and its extracts are marketed as dietary ingredients under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, with finished products manufactured under 21 CFR Part 111. Because the species was not widely present in the American food supply before 1994, suppliers commonly support the ingredient with a new dietary ingredient notification, and its use as a colour is constrained by the colour additive rules, since a black wolfberry pigment does not fall within the fruit juice and vegetable juice colour listings in 21 CFR Part 73.
In the European Union anthocyanins are authorised as a food colour under E 163, whose specification defines the permitted source materials, and a preparation used as that additive must conform to it. Lycium ruthenicum has no established history of significant consumption within the Union before the novel food cut off, so its use as a food or food supplement ingredient falls within the scope of the novel food regulation and requires authorisation. Health claims for the species are unauthorised. Codex covers anthocyanins as a colour in the general standard for food additives, and JECFA has issued specifications for grape skin and related anthocyanin colours rather than one for this species.
Manufacturing Process
Fruit is harvested by hand from cultivated plantations and from managed wild stands, then cleaned, destemmed and either dried in warm air for storage or processed fresh. Dried or fresh fruit is milled and extracted with water acidified with citric acid, or with acidified aqueous ethanol, at a controlled moderate temperature, the low pH holding the anthocyanins in their stable red flavylium form throughout the process.
The liquor is separated from the marc by pressing and decanting, clarified by centrifugation and membrane filtration to remove pectin and fine solids, and loaded onto a macroporous adsorption resin. Sugars, organic acids and salts pass through in the acidified water wash, and the pigment fraction is eluted with acidified ethanol. The eluate is concentrated under vacuum at low temperature with ethanol recovery, standardised to the declared assay, and spray dried at a low inlet temperature, alone or onto maltodextrin. Freeze drying is used for the highest colour retention where the cost is justified. The powder is sieved, blended to a uniform anthocyanin figure, and packed in aluminium foil laminate bags inside fibre drums under nitrogen.
