Jiaogulan: From Leaves to Extract

Since I'm going to formulate a few products with "jiaogulan" extract , I thought I should probably first share a post about extraction first.

Jiaogulan (Gynostemma Pentaphyllum) is a vine that grows in Asia, more exactly in China, Korea and Japan. It is known as "the herb of immortality", "5 leaves ginseng", "sweet tea vine", "southern ginseng" as well as some other names. It is very often compared to ginseng although it comes from anotehr family, Cucurbitaceae.

Its leaves are infused and drunk like tea but it's rather a medicinal herb than tea. The leaves contain Saponins: Gypenosides, Gynosaponin; Ginsenosides, Proteins and Polysaccharide. Jiaogulan actually contains more saponins than ginseng.

It is an adaptogen plant and is applied as an antispasmodic, anti-hepatic, sedative and tonic plant to reduce blood sugar and cholesterol content, improve metabolism and harmonize and normalize all physiological functions (adaptogen), reduce spasm etc. In cosmetics and skin care it is becoming more and more popular and suppliers of plant extracts and specialty ingredients offer it as a stand-alone ingredient or in combination with other herbal extracts and active ingredients to:

improve complexion, reduce under-eye puffiness, enhance mature skin barrier strength for its anti-oxidant, adaptogenic (harmonizing skin functions and skin physiology) and anti-inflammatory properties.

For this extraction I've used dried leaves and a glycerine:water blend of 60:40. The water-glycerine blend was cooled during extraction to avoid decay of vitamins and sensitive active material.

The most time consuming and difficult part was filtering (it is always by extraction). I filtered the extract at least 4 times through different filters with various porosities.

The foam during extraction is because of the high content of saponins. I've even seen some suppliers offering jiaogulan extract as a natural saponin and foam booster for cleansing products but the foam is certainly not enough for a stand-alone surfactant.

And although There is a high concentration of glycerine in the blend, it is not enough to reduce the water activity to <0.6 and I've preserved the extract with a natural preservative blend. The original pH was about 6.7 and I reduced it with lactic acid to 3.8-4.0.

Thank you for being here and for sending me your comments and photos. I really enjoy your participation in our Facebook discussions.  Feel free to ask your questions. I try to (but not promise) respond to them in 24 hours.

Be Happy and have fun