Sweet wormwood extract
Arty (Pel1n) - a sweet wormwood extract produced in EU from lovingly grown Artemisia annua plants. We have perfected an innovative extraction method with supercritical CO2 and our product is the first CO2 extract of sweet wormwood in the world. The content of artemisinin in the product is determined in cooperation with the Faculty of Pharmacy, and the microbiological quality is regularly checked by the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food. It does not contain any alcohol or other solvents. Food (Dietary) supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or alleviate the effects of diseases.
Your wishes and needs are very important to our team at Herbify. Therefore, we strive for the highest possible quality of our products and the sweet wormwood extract is not an exception. In its development we have set the following goals:
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Determine a suitable content of beneficial substances from the sweet wormwood plant in the end product.
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Ensure exceptional quality of the end product.
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Select optimal carrier oils.
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Select optimal packaging materials that ensure the stability of the product throughout its lifetime.
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Develop an easy to use sweet wormwood extract.
Sweet wormwood
The journey to an end product of exceptional quality begins with great plant material. Since we did not want to leave anything to chance, we decided to cultivate sweet wormwood plants ourselves. Seeds were germinated and carefully raised to strong seedlings, which were then transplanted onto the fields and grown into strong and healthy adult plants, all in accordance with the World Health Organization's monograph on good agricultural and collecting practices for sweet wormwood and without the use of mineral fertilizers and synthetic chemical agents. You can read more about the production process under the tab “our story”.
Supercritical CO2 extraction process
Sweet wormwood contains a lot of useful substances, the most important being a temperature sensitive compound called artemisinin. Therefore, sweet wormwood tea does not have the same effectiveness as the extract, since artemisinin molecules break down in hot water. Traditionally, this problem was solved in China by pressing juice from sweet wormwood plants, but unfortunately this method gives very low yields. Extraction with ethanol is also widely used (these preparations are known as tinctures), but here the selectivity of extracted substances is problematic, since the extract also contains substances that are not wanted. Other organic solvents used for extraction (ethyl acetate, ether, isopropyl alcohol, hexane, etc.) have similar properties and their use may additionally be hazardous because of their toxicity.
After careful consideration, we decided to use the best modern method for the extraction of sweet wormwood plant material – the supercritical CO2 extraction, which enables us to collect the substances that are useful for the human body and produces a completely pure extract. Although the name of the method sounds extremely complex, its concept is relatively simple. CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas is used as a solvent, which, like oxygen, is an integral part of the air we breathe. Using the extractor we create conditions (temperature, pressure) that exceed the critical point of CO2. From here the name supercritical CO2 is derived, meaning that in these conditions CO2 fills the space in the extractor as if it were a gas with the ability of dissolving different substances present in the plant material, as if it were a liquid. It is very important to emphasize that the temperature does not exceed 40 °C (104 °F) throughout this process. Finally, when the conditions in the last container are equalized to room temperature and pressure, CO2 is converted back into the gas phase and returned into the air, thus leaving behind a clean, high quality extract of sweet wormwood with substances that are useful for our organism without any residual solvents.
Quantified extract
The most important substance in sweet wormwood is called artemisinin and it is held responsible for most of the effects that the plant has on the human body. Because it is a very delicate molecule, which decays even when exposed to the slightest errors in the production process, we find it extremely important that the content of artemisinin in the end product is analyzed. We worked together with top experts from the Faculty of Pharmacy, where we also evaluate our other products. With this data available, we can determine how much artemisinin is ingested when our extract is being used. The term “quantified” means that the amount of certain ingredients in the product (dried sweet wormwood and artemisinin) is known and defined to a small range. Our extract is thus the only of its kind that provides information on what you ingest.
100% sunflower oil with high oleic acid content
The carrier oil is the second most important component of our sweet wormwood extract and it is no coincidence that we have dedicated a huge amount of time to find the best one. After many tests and comparisons, 100% sunflower oil with high oleic acid content turned out to be the best. This is not plain sunflower oil; it is obtained from special seeds with high oleic acid content. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid and belongs to the so-called "good fats" that are highly recommended in a daily diet due to many health benefits. The oil has a neutral smell and taste, allowing the pleasant herbal scent and somewhat bitter taste of sweet wormwood to really
stand out. Also, its composition is very similar to olive oil and has a very high content of monounsaturated fats. Therefore, it is a recipient of the protective food label in the EU that lists foods which are beneficial to human health according to WHO standards. It is also a natural source of vitamin E (contains 45 mg per 100 g, which equals 375% of the recommended daily intake), which plays a role in protecting cells against oxidative stress.
Microbiological quality of the sweet wormwood extract
As any type of food, food supplements also need to be microbiologically safe. This means that no dangerous microorganisms which could potentially harm our health can be present in the extract. Microbiological contamination presents a very high risk for products that are not produced in accordance with good practices (various domestic preparations, which are not tested by competent institutions). The production of our sweet wormwood extract is done only in places that are under constant inspection from the National Health Inspectorate (of the Republic of Slovenia) and the Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Protection Administration (of the Republic of Slovenia). Despite this fact, we decided to regularly check the microbiological quality of our end product with additional tests at the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, and thus provide a microbiologically safe sweet wormwood extract of exceptional quality.
Miron glass bottles
A suitable choice of packaging is also very important for the quality of end products. This especially applies to products that are sensitive to external influences, such as our sweet wormwood extract. Therefore, our primary packaging – bottles, are made of miron glass and their top quality can also be felt to the touch. Miron glass protects the extract from UV light exposure and other external influences, thereby ensuring the unchanged quality of the sweet wormwood extract throughout its lifetime.
The bottles are equipped with a calibrated pipette, which allows very accurate dosing. Each squeeze of a full pipette delivers 0.7 ml of sweet wormwood extract, which is also a single dose, making dosage very easy and accurate every time.
