Magnolol
Magnolol is a biphenyl neolignan, CAS 528-43-8, with the molecular formula C18H18O2 and a molar mass of 266.34 g/mol. It consists of two phenol rings joined directly to one another, each bearing an allyl side chain, with the hydroxyl groups in the 5 and 5 prime positions. It is the principal biphenyl of magnolia bark, occurring together with its isomer honokiol, and is usually present in the bark at two to three times the level of that isomer.
The isolated compound is a white to off-white crystalline powder with a faint characteristic odour and a bitter taste, melting at around 101 to 103 degrees Celsius. It is practically insoluble in water, in the order of a few milligrams per litre, and dissolves readily in ethanol, methanol, acetone, propylene glycol and vegetable oils. That solubility profile sets the commercial formats: softgels, oil suspensions, cyclodextrin complexes and self-emulsifying systems rather than clear aqueous products.
Magnolol and honokiol are close enough in structure that they are frequently reported together as total biphenyls, and separating them cleanly is the step that determines the price of either isolate. Magnolol is the more abundant and consequently the cheaper of the two at equivalent purity. The molecule is stable to heat and to ordinary food processing but oxidises slowly in air and light, so commercial material is packed in opaque containers, often under nitrogen, and stored cool and dry.
We source bulk Magnolol from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Guangdong. 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
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Botanical Source | Magnolia officinalis dried bark |
| Appearance | White to off-white crystalline powder |
| Odour and Taste | Faint characteristic odour, bitter |
| Magnolol by HPLC | ≥ 98.0% |
| Honokiol | ≤ 1.5% |
| Identification | Conforms by HPLC retention time and UV spectrum |
| Melting Range | 100 to 104°C |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 1.0% |
| Residue on Ignition | ≤ 0.5% |
| Residual Solvent (Ethanol) | ≤ 5,000 mg/kg |
| Heavy Metals (as Pb) | ≤ 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Packing and Storage | Opaque container under nitrogen, cool and dry |
Common Markets Grades
Bulk grades are traded at 90, 95, 98 and 99 percent magnolol by HPLC, with residual honokiol quoted separately since it is the expected companion impurity and its level distinguishes an isolate purified by chromatography from one purified only by crystallisation. Reference grade at 99 percent and above with full spectroscopic characterisation is sold in gram quantities for analytical use. Synthetic magnolol exists but the extraction route from magnolia bark supplies almost all commercial material.
Below the isolate sit magnolia bark extracts standardised on total biphenyls at 2, 10, 50 or 90 percent, and these are how magnolol reaches most finished products. A buyer wanting magnolol specifically must request the individual assay rather than accept a combined figure. Solubilised presentations, including cyclodextrin complexes, oil dispersions and dry powders adsorbed onto silica or microcrystalline cellulose at a defined load, are traded as separate items and are what most formulators actually use.
Applications
- Sleep and relaxation supplements, formulated in softgels or oil suspensions
- Stress and mood support formulas, generally alongside honokiol as a combined biphenyl fraction
- Oral care applications including chewing gum, mints, toothpaste and mouthwash, drawing on activity against oral bacteria
- Chewing gum and breath freshening confectionery, a long-established outlet for the magnolia biphenyls
- Weight management and metabolic supplements
- Topical and cosmetic preparations, where the lipophilic molecule dissolves directly into the oil phase
- Preservative and antimicrobial systems in personal care, used for the phenolic activity
- Traditional Chinese herbal preparations reformulated to a defined marker content
- Analytical reference standard for magnolia bark assay and for distinguishing magnolia species
China Manufacturers of Magnolol
Top Magnolol 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 magnolia bark and its extracts are marketed as dietary ingredients under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, with manufacture under 21 CFR Part 111. A magnolia bark extract standardised on magnolol and honokiol has been the subject of a generally recognised as safe conclusion for use in chewing gum and mints at defined levels, which supports the oral care applications for the biphenyls, but that conclusion is limited to the stated uses and the isolated compound at high purity has no broad food additive status. Material sold for research is labelled accordingly.
In the European Union magnolia bark has no significant history of food consumption before May 1997, so both magnolia bark extracts and isolated magnolol fall within the scope of the novel food Regulation and require authorisation before being sold as a food or food supplement ingredient. No health claim for magnolol appears on the EU register of authorised claims. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 governs cosmetic use and requires a safety assessment rather than pre-market authorisation. Neither JECFA nor Codex has evaluated the compound or published a specification, and there is no European Pharmacopoeia monograph, so trade relies on supplier monographs and the analytical data reported with each lot.
Manufacturing Process
Production begins with dried stem or root bark of Magnolia officinalis, inspected, identity tested and milled to a coarse powder. Extraction is by countercurrent percolation or reflux with ethanol at 70 to 95 percent, since the biphenyls are recovered almost entirely by alcohol and barely at all by water. The liquor is filtered and the ethanol recovered under vacuum to give a resinous crude extract carrying magnolol, honokiol, tannins, alkaloids and volatile oil together.
Enrichment is by macroporous adsorption resin. The crude concentrate is loaded onto the resin in dilute alcohol, washed to remove tannins, sugars and the alkaloid fraction, then eluted with high strength ethanol to give a total biphenyl fraction of 50 percent and upward. Separating magnolol from honokiol is the defining step and is carried out by preparative or simulated moving bed chromatography on silica or reversed phase media, or by using the small difference in acidity between the two phenols through selective alkali extraction and fractional crystallisation. Because magnolol is the more abundant isomer, the magnolol-rich fraction is the larger stream and is easier to bring to high purity by crystallisation alone. That fraction is concentrated, recrystallised from an alcohol or a hydrocarbon and alcohol mixture, filtered, vacuum dried at low temperature and milled, then packed in opaque containers under nitrogen.
