Petasin
Petasin is a sesquiterpene ester found in the rhizome and leaf of butterbur, Petasites hybridus. Structurally it is the ester of the eremophilane sesquiterpene alcohol petasol with angelic acid, formula C20H28O3 and molar mass 316.4 g/mol. It occurs together with its isomers isopetasin and neopetasin, and the three are usually quantified and reported as total petasin.
The compound is the marker on which butterbur rhizome extracts are standardised. It is not a food additive and has no technological function in a food system; the material is traded as a standardised botanical extract for supplement and herbal medicine manufacture, where the petasin fraction is regarded as the characteristic active of the plant.
Purified petasin is an oily to waxy pale yellow substance, practically insoluble in water and soluble in ethanol, ethyl acetate and vegetable oil. Commercial supply is far more often the standardised extract, a light brown to brown powder or a soft resinous concentrate. The ester bond is sensitive to alkali and to prolonged heat, and petasin isomerises between its forms on storage, so material is held cool and away from light.
We source bulk Petasin 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.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Light brown to brown fine powder |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic herbal, slightly bitter |
| Total Petasin (HPLC) | ≥ 15.0% |
| Petasin plus Isopetasin | ≥ 14.0% |
| Identification | Conforms by HPLC against petasin reference |
| Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (LC-MS) | ≤ 0.35 µg per daily dose |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 5.0% |
| Total Ash | ≤ 5.0% |
| Particle Size | 100% through 60 mesh |
| Residual Solvent | ≤ 25 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 2.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Negative |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The commercial article is a carbon dioxide or solvent extract of Petasites hybridus rhizome standardised on total petasin, most commonly at 7.5, 15 or 25 percent by HPLC, with the sum of petasin and isopetasin stated. Purified petasin at 90 percent or above is produced only in small quantities as an analytical reference and for research, not as a bulk trade item.
The defining quality attribute across every grade is the pyrrolizidine alkaloid content. Butterbur naturally contains senecionine type alkaloids that are hepatotoxic, and only extracts processed to remove them are marketable. Specifications state a pyrrolizidine alkaloid limit measured by a sensitive LC-MS method, and grades are described in trade as PA free on that basis. Physical forms are soft extract in drums, and spray or vacuum dried powder plated on maltodextrin or microcrystalline cellulose for capsule and tablet manufacture.
Applications
- Dietary supplements in capsule and softgel form standardised on total petasin content
- Herbal preparations for seasonal respiratory comfort, the largest supplement category for butterbur extract
- Traditional herbal medicinal products registered on the historic use of the rhizome
- Combination botanical formulas alongside riboflavin, magnesium and feverfew
- Analytical reference standards, where purified petasin is used to calibrate the extract assay
- Veterinary and research preparations, where the isolated sesquiterpene is used as a study material
Brands Using Petasin
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Petasin on the ingredient label.
- PetadolexPetadolex 75 mg Butterbur Extract ↗The butterbur capsule is standardised to at least 15 percent petasin with pyrrolizidine alkaloids removed.Label verified 2026-08-31
- PetadolexPetadolex 50 mg Butterbur Extract ↗The lower strength butterbur softgel uses the same petasin standardised, PA-free extract.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Petasin
Top Petasin 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 butterbur extract is sold as a dietary ingredient under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, and petasin itself has no food additive regulation and no listing among substances generally recognised as safe. The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned about pyrrolizidine alkaloids in botanical products, and unprocessed butterbur containing those alkaloids is not acceptable for supplement use, so the alkaloid removal step is what the whole category depends on.
In the European Union butterbur extract carries no E number and is not an authorised additive. Preparations from Petasites are subject to national restrictions in several member states, and Regulation 2020/2040 governs the presence of 1,2-unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids, setting maximum levels for those alkaloids in herbal infusions and food supplements based on botanicals. The European Medicines Agency has assessed Petasites hybridus rhizome in its herbal medicines work. Codex has no standard covering the plant or the compound, and JECFA has evaluated pyrrolizidine alkaloids as contaminants rather than evaluating petasin itself.
Manufacturing Process
Butterbur rhizome is harvested from cultivated stands, washed, chopped and dried in warm air, then milled to a coarse powder. Extraction is carried out with supercritical carbon dioxide at high pressure, which selectively takes the lipophilic sesquiterpene esters while leaving behind the highly polar pyrrolizidine alkaloids, or with a lipophilic organic solvent such as ethyl acetate or hexane followed by a dedicated alkaloid removal step. The carbon dioxide route is the one that made a low alkaloid product practical at scale.
The crude extract is separated from the carbon dioxide simply by dropping pressure in a cyclone separator, or, in the solvent route, by evaporating and vacuum stripping the solvent. The extract is then washed with dilute acid or passed over a cation exchange or adsorption resin that captures residual alkaloids, and every batch is assayed by LC-MS against the pyrrolizidine alkaloid limit before release. The purified extract is standardised by blending to a target petasin level, adsorbed onto a carrier and dried under vacuum at low temperature, then milled, assayed by HPLC and packed under nitrogen in light resistant containers.
