Color Difference in Du Zhong Powder Extracts

[Guest guest]

I typically purchase KPC powder extracts, however recently, out of

convenience, have purchased a few Min Tong and Evergreen powder extracts

because they are now being distributed by Emerson Ecologics and I can avoid

shipping charges by combing orthomolecular nutrients with herb orders...I

digress.

 

Question: I just opened a new bottle of Du Zhong by Min Tong and it's a very

pale beige color. I am used to KPC's very dark (almost black) Du

Zhong....why would there be such a significant color change in the powder

extract from two different companies? Certainly, I've noticed minor

variations in color from batch to batch, but this seems more than that. Is

that typical? Does this represent anything significant from a clinical

perspective?

 

J

________

Joy Keller, LAc, Dipl.OM

Board Certified in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

Ramona Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine Clinic

Phone: (760) 654-1040 Fax: (760) 654-4019

www.RamonaAcupuncture.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

, Joy Keller <JKellerLAc wrote:

 

> Question: I just opened a new bottle of Du Zhong by Min Tong and it's a very

> pale beige color. I am used to KPC's very dark (almost black) Du

> Zhong....why would there be such a significant color change in the powder

> extract from two different companies? Certainly, I've noticed minor

> variations in color from batch to batch, but this seems more than that. Is

> that typical? Does this represent anything significant from a clinical

> perspective?

 

I don't know the exact nature of processing (pao zhi) that is used by those two

companies for du zhong, but my guess is that the color difference is due to the

use of different pao zhi methods. In Taiwan, du zhong is rarely used in its

crude state, it is generally baked or stir-fried until it is somewhat black and

its latex is broken down. Salt-water may be used (yan zhi) in its processing as

well.

 

This dark-processed form is preferred on the Taiwan market, so perhaps the

difference you are seeing reflects the use of the cooked vs. crude bark when

making the extract. Many Taiwanese doctors have a strong preference for the

dark processing method, but its use is somewhat regional. There is no complete

consensus on the preferred processing technique for du zhong across China.

 

Eric Brand

[Guest guest]

Send it back. The problem with extracts is that you don't know what you

are getting. I just got a bottle from Kamwo Herbs marked " Chuan Xin Lian

Alianthi aortex " (sic) when I ordered andrographis. (And Chun pi isn't a

substitute.)

 

I have seen from various manufacturers highly aromatic herbs with no aroma

and totally different colors. And apparently just having a bottle with a

printed label doesn't mean it wasn't just poured out of a jar with a label

typed out, which is a recipe for mistakes.

 

Karen S. Vaughan, L.Ac., MSTOM

Registered Herbalist (AHG)

Creationsgarden1

253 Garfield Place

Brooklyn, NY 11215

 

(718) 622-6755

 

See my Acupuncture and Herbalism website

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(http://ksvaughan2.byregion.net/)

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