Dendrobium Officinale Extract
Dendrobium officinale extract is a concentrated preparation of the stem of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo, an epiphytic orchid cultivated in southern China and known in trade as tie pi shi hu. The characteristic constituents are water-soluble polysaccharides, principally glucomannans built from mannose and glucose with acetyl substitution, and the assay quoted on a certificate is almost always total polysaccharide measured colourimetrically as glucose equivalent.
Besides the polysaccharide fraction the stem carries bibenzyls and phenanthrenes, including dendrobin and moscatilin, together with alkaloids and amino acids, but these are minor and are rarely used as trading markers. The extract is a light yellow to pale brown fine powder with a faintly sweet, mucilaginous taste and very little aroma, which makes it easier to formulate than most bitter Chinese botanicals.
The polysaccharide fraction dissolves in warm water to a viscous, slightly hazy solution and the viscosity rises sharply with concentration, so beverage formulators have to allow for mouthfeel as well as dose. The material is stable to normal pasteurisation but the glucomannan chains depolymerise under strong acid and prolonged high heat, which lowers viscosity and the measured polysaccharide figure. The powder is hygroscopic and cakes if it takes up moisture.
We source bulk Dendrobium Officinale Extract from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. 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 |
|---|---|
| Botanical Source | Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo, dried stem |
| Appearance | Light yellow to pale brown fine powder |
| Total Polysaccharide as Glucose | ≥ 50.0% |
| Identification | Conforms by TLC and microscopic examination of source material |
| Extraction Solvent | Water |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 6.0% |
| Ash | ≤ 6.0% |
| Residual Solvent (Ethanol) | ≤ 5,000 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The standard trading grades are quoted on total polysaccharide content: 10, 30 and 50 percent are the common levels, with purified fractions at 70 to 90 percent sold in smaller volume for research and premium formulation. Ratio extracts without a marker claim, typically 10:1 or 20:1 hot water extracts, are traded where a whole-stem profile rather than a polysaccharide figure is wanted. Grades standardised on dendrobine or on total alkaloids exist but are uncommon, and buyers should note that dendrobine is characteristic of Dendrobium nobile rather than of this species.
Alongside the extracts, superfine stem powder ground to 200 mesh and above is traded as a separate product, made by milling the dried stem without extraction and used where whole-herb labelling is preferred. Physical variants of the extract include spray dried powder as the volume form, maltodextrin-carried grades for dry blending, granulated grades for sachet filling, and concentrated fluid extract at 50 to 60 percent solids for drink and jelly work. Cultivated origin, wild-simulated cultivation and stem age are all specified in the higher priced trade because they affect polysaccharide level.
Applications
- Capsule and tablet supplements positioned on immune support and yin nourishment in the traditional Chinese framework
- Health drinks, tonics and oral liquids, where the fluid extract gives body as well as active content
- Instant granule and sachet preparations reconstituted in hot water as a tea substitute
- Functional jellies, gummies and konjac desserts, using the polysaccharide for texture as well as claim
- Herbal soups, congee mixes and prepared food products in the Chinese domestic market
- Nutricosmetic beauty drinks aimed at skin hydration, drawing on the water-binding polysaccharide
- Topical creams, masks and serums, where the glucomannan acts as a humectant and film former
- Fermented and enzymatically treated beverage bases, where the polysaccharide is partly hydrolysed for lower viscosity
- Premium gift-market health products, often combined with ginseng and Ganoderma extracts
China Manufacturers of Dendrobium Officinale Extract
Top Dendrobium Officinale 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
Regulatory status differs sharply between the Chinese domestic market, where Dendrobium officinale stem has long-established use in food and in traditional medicine, and Western markets, where its food history is thin. In the United States the material is offered as a dietary ingredient under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, with manufacture under 21 CFR Part 111, but it does not have generally recognised as safe status, and a supplier introducing it as a new ingredient would normally need to address new dietary ingredient notification. It is not the subject of a food additive regulation.
In the European Union Dendrobium officinale has no significant history of consumption before May 1997, so both the stem and its extracts fall within the scope of the novel food Regulation and require authorisation before being placed on the market as a food or food supplement. No health claim for the species appears on the EU register of authorised claims. Neither Codex nor JECFA has established a specification for the material, so buyers rely on supplier monographs and on the Chinese Pharmacopoeia methods for identity and polysaccharide assay rather than on an international standard.
Manufacturing Process
Production starts from cultivated stems, harvested after two or three years of growth, washed, cut and dried. The dried stem is milled to a coarse powder to open the tissue, then extracted with hot water at 80 to 95 degrees Celsius in successive countercurrent stages, since the target glucomannan is water soluble and ethanol would leave it behind. Extraction time and temperature are controlled to release the polysaccharide without depolymerising it.
The pooled liquor is centrifuged and filtered to remove fibre, then concentrated under vacuum. Enrichment is achieved by alcohol precipitation: ethanol is added to the concentrate to 70 or 80 percent, which drops the polysaccharide out of solution while sugars, amino acids, salts and the phenolic fraction stay dissolved, and this step is what sets the declared assay. The precipitate is recovered by centrifugation, redissolved in water and, for higher grades, deproteinised and passed through ultrafiltration membranes to remove low molecular weight material. The purified solution is concentrated, standardised by blending or with a maltodextrin carrier, then spray dried or freeze dried, sieved and packed with a moisture barrier.
