Hemin
Hemin is the chloride complex of iron protoporphyrin IX, the same porphyrin ring found at the centre of haemoglobin and myoglobin, isolated as a stable crystalline solid with the formula C34H32ClFeN4O4 and CAS number 16009-13-5.
Structurally it is a tetrapyrrole macrocycle holding a single iron atom in the ferric state, with a chloride ion completing the coordination. That ring is the biological iron carrier of blood and muscle, and it is the reason the compound behaves quite differently in nutrition from an inorganic iron salt: iron bound in a porphyrin is absorbed through the haem transport route rather than through the pathway used by ferrous sulphate, and it does not carry the metallic taste or the pro-oxidant behaviour of free iron.
It is a dark brown to almost black crystalline powder or fine needles with no noticeable odour. It is practically insoluble in water and in most organic solvents at neutral pH, dissolving in dilute alkali and in alkaline aqueous alcohol, which is how it is handled in formulation. Solutions are strongly coloured, from deep red to brown, and are sensitive to light and to prolonged heat, so the material is protected from both and formulated at controlled pH with a chelating agent where oxidation would otherwise degrade the ring.
We source bulk Hemin from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Hubei. 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.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Nutraceutical
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Dark brown to black crystalline powder or needles |
| Identification | Visible absorption maxima conform to reference |
| Assay by spectrophotometry | Not less than 95.0% |
| Iron Content | 7.8% to 8.8% |
| Residual Protein | Not more than 2.0% |
| Related Porphyrins | Not more than 3.0% |
| Loss on Drying | Not more than 5.0% |
| Sulphated Ash | Not more than 12.0% |
| Residual Solvent, as acetone | Not more than 0.5% |
| Lead | Not more than 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 1,000 CFU/g |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Food and supplement grade hemin assaying 95 percent or higher is the main trade specification, controlled on iron content, on porphyrin identity by ultraviolet and visible absorption, and on residual protein carried over from the blood feedstock. Pharmaceutical grade at higher purity, with tighter related porphyrin, endotoxin and heavy metal limits, is produced in much smaller quantity for injectable preparations used in porphyria treatment.
The distinction that matters commercially comes before assay. Bovine and porcine blood are the usual feedstocks and are declared, since religious certification and species restrictions depend on that, and the certificate normally states slaughterhouse origin and traceability. Non-animal hemin, produced by microbial fermentation, is a separate and higher priced stream sold on vegetarian and allergen grounds and increasingly used where a plant based positioning is required. Beyond source, buyers specify particle size and whether the material comes neat or as a standardised dilution on a carrier, since the neat compound is dosed at low levels and is difficult to blend uniformly at plant scale.
Applications
- Plant based meat analogues, where the porphyrin supplies the colour change on cooking and the metallic savoury note of meat
- Iron supplements and fortified foods built on haem iron rather than on inorganic iron salts
- Clinical and medical nutrition for iron deficiency, where tolerance of inorganic iron is poor
- Meat flavour systems, where the ring is a precursor for the aroma compounds generated on heating
- Colouring of vegetarian and hybrid meat products, giving a red to brown transition in the pan
- Sports nutrition and endurance products positioned on oxygen carrying capacity
- Feed and pet food fortification requiring a well absorbed iron source
- Cell culture and microbiological media, where haem is an essential growth factor for some organisms
- Analytical and research reference material in porphyrin and haem enzyme work
China Manufacturers of Hemin
Top Hemin 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, haem preparations used as ingredients require an affirmative status. Soy leghaemoglobin, the fermentation derived haem protein used in plant based meat, went through a colour additive petition as well as GRAS notification, which illustrates the position: where a haem ingredient functions to colour a food, it is a colour additive requiring listing rather than a substance that can rest on GRAS status alone. Blood derived hemin used as a nutritive iron source is handled as a food ingredient whose status depends on the notified use, and material from slaughtered animals must come from a USDA inspected establishment. Pharmaceutical hemin for porphyria is a licensed drug and sits outside the food framework entirely.
In the European Union, the compound is not an authorised food additive and carries no E number. A haem preparation intended as a food ingredient, whether recovered from blood or produced by fermentation, is assessed under the novel food regulation and requires authorisation and entry on the Union list before it can be placed on the market, with the authorisation setting the specification and the permitted conditions of use. Blood derived material is additionally an animal by-product that must be produced from Category 3 material in an approved establishment under the animal by-products and food hygiene rules, with traceability to the slaughterhouse. There is no JECFA specification for hemin, so buyers work to the manufacturer's monograph together with spectrophotometric identity and an iron determination.
Manufacturing Process
The established route recovers it from blood. Whole blood is collected at the slaughterhouse under hygienic conditions and anticoagulated, then separated in a centrifugal separator into plasma and a red cell concentrate, and the red cell concentrate is the feedstock. The red cells are lysed with water or by mechanical shear to release haemoglobin, and the porphyrin is then split from its globin protein by acidified solvent: the lysate is treated with glacial acetic acid or with acidified acetone under warm conditions, which denatures and precipitates the globin while the iron porphyrin passes into solution. Adding sodium chloride and cooling then crystallises the compound out as the chloride.
The crude crystals are recovered by centrifugation or filtration, washed with water, dilute acid and organic solvent to strip residual protein, lipid and salts, and recrystallised, usually from a hot acidified solvent, until the assay and the residual protein figure meet specification. The purified crystals are dried under vacuum at low temperature in the dark, since heat and light degrade the porphyrin, then milled, sieved, assayed spectrophotometrically, blended and packed in opaque containers under nitrogen.
The fermentation route reaches the same molecule without blood. An engineered strain of Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium or a yeast carrying an amplified haem biosynthesis pathway is grown on a glucose medium with a glycine and succinate or 5-aminolevulinic acid supply, and accumulates haem intracellularly or excretes it. Cells are harvested and disrupted, the haem is extracted into acidified solvent and then purified, crystallised and dried by essentially the same downstream train.
