PLT Health Solutions obtains non-GMO verification for Rhodiolife’s Rhodiola rosea

30 Aug 2023 --- PLT Health Solutions received non-GMO verification from the Non-GMO Project for Rhodiolife, an ingredient based on the adaptogen Rhodiola rosea. The ingredient is manufactured by PLT’s innovation partner Nektium and has cognitive, mood and immune support applications.

The verification covers raw materials, manufacturing processes and logistics. 

“Rhodiolife has been a leading, premium form of Rhodiola rosea for decades, with a reputation for sustainability and consistently high quality. Nektium has made moves in the last two years to up the bar on the value this ingredient offers product developers and consumers,” says Devin Stagg, COO at PLT Health Solutions. 

“We can point to significant sustainability achievements, regulatory compliance, traceability, enhanced delivery via water solubility and lab-verified quality as some of these efforts. Our non-GMO verification helps to underscore the clean label nature of this ingredient.” 

The Non-GMO Project evaluates products for compliance with its Non-GMO Standard, which incorporates stringent testing, traceability and segregation provisions. 

Quality control 
Stagg underscores that ingredient identity, traceability, transparency and consistency are crucial for ingredients in the nutraceuticals market. 

“The Nektium ID Assessment program includes multiple identity tests on every batch of Rhodiolife, including macroscopic and sensory analysis, development of chromatographic profiles and independent DNA barcode analysis to ensure authenticity of the raw material.” 

Rhodiolife has cognitive, mood and immune support applications.“The material is then standardized to provide precise levels of key bioactive compounds, rosavins and salidroside. The resulting HPLC ‘fingerprint’ of the Rhodiolife extract is consistent from batch to batch and matches that of the native root.” 

“Authentication is essential when adulteration is suspected,” he continues. “Recently, the American Botanical Council’s Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program suggested that high demand for Rhodiola rosea has led to it being mixed or interchanged with other Rhodiola species before being exported from Asia.” 

Last year, PLT Health Solutions received approval from the Non-GMO Project to sell menatto, a source of vitamin K2 made from whole fermented soybeans with the bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis var. natto. 

Sustainable sourcing 
Earlier this year, all Rhodiola species were added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to ensure sustainable harvest and trade. Growing demand and uncontrolled harvesting had led to declines in available wild populations of the species. 

Nektium sources the raw materials for Rhodiolife from the Altai Mountains in Siberia. Recently, the company obtained trade permits for its Rhodiola rosea extracts from Spanish authorities, certifying that Nektium’s entire stock complies with CITES. 

In addition, Nektium relies on its large-scale cultivation program to source the species, to counteract the risk of overharvesting and to ensure a stable supply for Rhodiola rosea. The company grows cultivated materials via vegetative propagation with root rhizomes to confirm the molecular composition of cultivated Rhodiola rosea is identical to the wild-grown version.

Edited by Jolanda van Hal