Plant Extracts

Plant extracts are herbs or other plant materials processed into a form that is easy to measure: drops, capsules, or tablets. In this category, there are drops from Cosma Pure Herbs in hemp seed oil, capsules with extracts and powdered plants, and tablets with microalgae. Below, we explain the differences between these forms and how to read the numbers on the label.

Plant Extracts: What You Will Find in the Category

The Cosma Pure Herbs line consists of extracts from a single plant in a 30 ml bottle: mint, white mulberry, nettle, rosemary, yerba mate, and green tea. In capsules, there are three products from LABIFY: Quercetin MONO, L-theanine MONO, and Mind with ETAS and reishi, as well as turmeric with black pepper from Navigator and nettle extract from Progress Labs. Aura Care adds chlorella and spirulina in tablets.

Drops, Capsules, or Tablets

The drops from Cosma Pure Herbs are an extract suspended in green hemp seed oil, in a bottle with a dropper. You hold the dose under your tongue for a moment, and the manufacturer recommends 1 to 6 doses daily. The ingredient list contains no alcohol, sugar, or flavors, making it a choice for someone who does not want a tincture or capsule.

A capsule always provides the same dose and has no taste. L-theanine MONO and nettle extract require one capsule daily, while Quercetin MONO and Mind with ETAS and reishi require two. Navigator’s turmeric and Progress Labs’ nettle have a plant-based coating made of HPMC, which is cellulose.

Chlorella and spirulina from Aura Care are tablets made solely from the microalgae, without fillers. One tablet contains 250 mg of raw material, and the daily dose is eight tablets, totaling 2000 mg. The package contains 56 servings.

Extract, Standardization, Powder

On the label, you will encounter three different notations, and it is important not to confuse them. The extraction ratio, for example, 20:1 for Progress Labs’ nettle, indicates how concentrated the raw material is. However, it does not provide any information about the content of a specific compound.

Standardization or purity indicates what portion of the mass is the substance itself. Quercetin MONO contains 95% quercetin from Japanese knotweed, while L-theanine MONO comes from a green tea extract with 99% purity. The percentage next to the extract is not the same as the content per serving.

The third case is powdered plant material, without extraction. Navigator’s turmeric contains 500 mg of ground root and 10 mg of black pepper in a capsule, so the extraction ratio does not apply here at all. Such raw material should be compared with another powder, not with an extract.

How to Read the Dose in Drops

In the drops from Cosma Pure Herbs, the label provides the composition of one dose, not the entire bottle. The amount of extract varies between variants: 65.5 mg in green tea, 40 mg in white mulberry, 30 mg in nettle, and 8 mg in rosemary. The rest of the dose consists of oil, for example, 120.7 mg in green tea.

The label also lists fatty acids from the oil, such as 24.1 mg of omega-3 in the green tea dose. With a range of 1 to 6 doses daily, the total amount of extract depends on how many drops you measure. More about reading the composition can be found in the text how to read a dietary supplement label.

Single Plant or Formula

Most items in the category are single-ingredient preparations, making it easy to check what and in what quantity you are taking. LABIFY’s Mind capsules with ETAS and reishi combine four ingredients: ETAS from asparagus and reishi extract at 200 mg each, along with ashwagandha and GABA at 100 mg each. GABA is an amino acid, not a plant extract, so this formula goes beyond just herbs.

When combining several herbal preparations, check for interactions and contraindications, especially if you are taking medications. The most common cases are summarized in the text which herbs should not be combined. Other preparations, including multi-ingredient ones, can be found in the category Supplements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an extract and powdered plant?

An extract is a concentrated raw material, usually with a specified extraction ratio, such as 20:1. Powder is ground plant material without concentration, like 500 mg of turmeric root in a Navigator capsule. The ratio of 20:1 indicates how concentrated the raw material is, but says nothing about the content of a specific compound, and with powder, the extraction ratio does not apply at all. These two numbers should not be compared directly.

Do Cosma Pure Herbs drops contain alcohol?

No. The extract in Cosma Pure Herbs drops is suspended in green hemp seed oil, and the ingredient list contains no alcohol, sugar, or flavors. Rosemary is also present as a natural antioxidant protecting the oil. A 30 ml bottle with a dropper is therefore a choice for someone who does not want a tincture.

What does 95% mean for quercetin?

This refers to the purity of the raw material, meaning what portion of its mass is pure quercetin. In LABIFY capsules, it comes from Japanese knotweed. The content per serving is given as a separate number: 250 mg in two capsules daily, so the percentage next to the extract does not indicate how many milligrams you are taking per serving.

How long does a package last?

L-theanine MONO in a package of 90 capsules lasts for 90 days, while Quercetin MONO and Mind with ETAS and reishi last for 30 days. Chlorella and spirulina from Aura Care each have 56 servings. For Cosma Pure Herbs drops, it depends on the number of doses taken daily, with the manufacturer recommending 1 to 6 doses.

Are spirulina and chlorella extracts?

Not in the strict sense. They are microalgae compressed into tablets in their entirety, without fillers, and chlorella has a broken cell wall. In spirulina, the manufacturer declares 60-70% protein. In the daily serving from Aura Care, there are eight tablets of 250 mg of raw material, totaling 2000 mg, so the mass of the microalgae itself is what counts here.