Where dihydromyricetin fits: capsules, beverages and blends

Dihydromyricetin reaches us through three application families, and the split between them follows the grade ladder almost exactly. This article maps the three families to the three grades and notes what changes in handling, dosage and supplier documentation between them. The underlying specification is in our dihydromyricetin specification guide, and the grades and commercial terms are in the sourcing guide.

Capsules and tablets: the 98% grade

The 98% grade is the capsule-and-tablet material. It is a white to off-white fine powder at 80 mesh, which fills cleanly on standard encapsulation equipment, and because the assay is concentrated, the per-capsule botanical load stays small — a few hundred milligrams of powder carries a meaningful amount of actives, leaving room in the capsule for flow aids and other ingredients. Two handling notes from buyers who run it at scale: the material is hygroscopic, so keep opened bags resealed and the room dry during encapsulation runs; and confirm the assay method on the COA is HPLC before you lock your label claim, because a UV-based certificate will overstate the number and your label maths will drift.

Beverage systems: the 20% and 30% grades

The lower grades are brown vine-tea extracts, and that colour is not a defect — it is the rest of the vine coming through, and it is exactly what beverage formulators want. Vine-tea drinks built on teng cha tradition use the 20% or 30% grade as the extract base, where the milder flavonoid concentration keeps the dose workable in a liquid format and the colour reads as tea rather than as an additive. Water dispersibility is good at these ratios; the 98% grade, ironically, is harder to use in a beverage because it doses so low that achieving even distribution in a batch tank needs pre-dilution or a premix step. If your application is a ready-to-drink or instant tea format, start from the 30% grade and adjust down if the flavour reads too strong.

Blends and powder formats

Powder blends and stick packs sit between the two: a 98% grade works when the DHM line is dosed low and the blend is homogeneous enough to carry it, while a 30% grade works when you want the botanical to contribute body and colour as well as actives. The deciding question is your blending equipment's tolerance for a low-dose component. If the blender struggles with components under 1% of the batch, the diluted grade is the safer choice; if you run a ribbon or conical blender with good uniformity data, the 98% grade gives you the cleaner label — a shorter ingredient line with no carrier.

A word on positioning and compliance

DHM reaches formulators mostly through liver-care and hangover-adjacent product concepts, and the supplier side has a role to play in keeping those concepts compliant. We supply DHM as a raw ingredient for manufacturing: what the finished-product label may claim depends on the target market's rules, and that judgement sits with the brand and its regulatory advisor, not with the ingredient sheet. What we can commit to is the documentation that makes your own file defensible — the botanical source, the HPLC method, the lot COA with chromatogram — so that when your regulator or your retailer asks what the material is and how it was standardised, the answer is a document rather than an assurance.

Frequently asked questions

What applications is dihydromyricetin used for?
Three families, mapped to the three grades: capsules and tablets use the 98% white powder; beverage and vine-tea drink systems use the 20% and 30% brown extracts; powder blends and stick packs use either, depending on blending equipment and label preference. The material is the same plant — vine tea — at different concentrations.

Which grade should I choose for a beverage application?
Start from the 30% grade for ready-to-drink and instant tea formats: it doses workably in liquid, disperses well in a batch tank and the colour reads as tea. The 98% grade is harder to distribute evenly in beverages because it doses so low, and needs a premix step. Adjust down to 20% if the flavour reads too strong.

How do I run a formula trial with dihydromyricetin?
Ask for a sample drawn from a production lot so what you test is what you will receive in bulk. Check dispersibility in your actual base at your actual dose, confirm taste at production ratio for beverages, and verify the assay method on the COA is HPLC before locking the label claim. MOQ is 1 kg.

Related reading

• How to source dihydromyricetin without guessing the grade
• How to read a dihydromyricetin specification, line by line

Related: Dihydromyricetin — full specification, grades and documentation.