Female ginseng-Dong Quai - Capsules
One of the key activities of Benseng International BV is filling hard-gel capsules with various kinds of Ginseng and pseudo ginseng species. Fillers, additives or other medicinal herbs or food supplements may be added to the capsules too.
A hard-gel capsule is usually filled with powders or granulates. Two halves of the capsule are clicked together to close it.
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Dong Quai hard-gel capsules can be filled with ground powder or with extract powder. |
Contents
Capsules can contain ground Dong Quai dried herb powder as well as Extract powder, with or without additives. Mainly extract powders are used for capsules.Extract powder:
The most common Dong Quai extract powder contains 1% ligustilides. For the product to work optimally 2-4 capsules a day should be sufficient. The advantage of extract powder is that it is absorbed by the body very efficient, promoting quick effects.
Additives:
In order to reduce the costs of a capsule, filler can be added to the Dong Quai extract powder. The most inexpensive filler is rice flour. For technical reasons or because of taste, other additives are sometimes added, for example: dicalcium phosphate, malto dextrin, magnesium stearate, silicon dioxide or glucose powder. Of course there are other conceivable options.
Another benefit of adding filler to the extract powder is that it will drastically decrease the hygroscopic nature of the product.
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Powders or mixtures that are difficult to process and small batches can be handled. In that case a small hand-driven machine is better suitable than a semi-automatic or full-automatic one. |
Types of capsules
Most common are hard-gel capsules made of animal origin. Increasingly popular however are the ones of vegetable origin: vegetarian capsules.Standard hard gelatin capsule:
made of collagen: a fibrous protein composed of 18 different amino-acids found in the tissue and bones of animals. The natural collagen from animals is macerated and purified after which it is processed into capsules.
Vegetable hard gelatin capsule:
made of cellulose-like raw material named HPMC (Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose). These VEGI-caps or Vcaps meet the strict dietary needs of people with a vegetarian lifestyle. In addition these capsules do not contain starch, gluten or preservatives.
Size of capsules
For Dong Quai capsules the most commonly used size is a so-called size "0" capsule. Occasionally a larger "00" or a smaller "1" is used. |
All sizes of hard-gel capsules are also available in the so-called "EL=Extra Long" variety (approximately 10% longer and more capacity). For most of these special capsules a certain minimal purchase quantity is applicable.
Color
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Hard gelatine capsules are available in many possible colors and sizes. |
Most often transparent capsules are chosen for Dong Quai. White and ivory are additional popular choices. The hard gel capsules are available in almost any possible color or color combination.
Filling weight capsules
On average the smallest possible capsule is preferred by consumers: it is easier to swallow. Suppliers usually prefer a large capsule because it is relatively cheaper.The powder capacity for a certain capsule depends on the volume weight of the powder and in lesser extent how it is filled (automatically or by hand).
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Packaging
Normally ginseng capsules are offered in bulk packaging, but delivery in any desired packaging is possible: separated in a bottle/jar of blistered in a box.Double weight- and amount controls guarantee that you receive what you ask for.
Dosage
In-vitro-tests have shown that the absorption of ligustilides from extracts is double the absorption of dried roots or root powders. Counted in milligrams, this means that in order to get the same results a double dose of ground root powders is needed in comparison to Angelica Sinensis extract powders.For Dong Quai extract powders containing 1% ligustilides, an advised optimal therapeutic dose is 500-1000 mg extract powder 3 x per day, so in total 1,5-3,0 grams per day. For capsules containing 400 mg of this extract powder each, that would mean 3-6 capsules per day.
Practical experiences have demonstrated that activity and effects of Dong Quai do not decline proportionally as a daily dose is lowered.
There is no dangerous (damaging) maximum daily dose, but 1 capsule containing 400 mg concentrated Dong Quai extract powder should be considered as a minimal dose. If you take less than 1 capsule a day it will most likely not contribute anything.
When mixed with other medicinal herbs, a lower dose of Dong Quai might be sufficient.
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