How to source epimedium extract without overpaying for icariin

Epimedium extract comes from the leaf of Epimedium brevicornu Maxim., produced by water or ethanol-water extraction and standardised to icariin by HPLC. The category is busy — men's vitality, bone-health and sports formulas all draw on it — and because the grade ladder is wide, the spread between a well-bought and a badly-bought quotation is larger than in almost any other botanical we ship. This guide walks the decisions in the order they should be made. The line-by-line specification is in our epimedium extract specification guide and the application mapping is in the applications article.

The grade ladder: what 5%, 10%, 20% and 98% actually mean

The four grades are all the same plant, but not the same process. The 5% and 10% grades are straightforward water or ethanol-water extracts: brown-yellow powders, priced modestly, suited to high-dose formats where the botanical contributes as an extract rather than as a purified actives line. The 20% grade is where most men's-health and sports formulas settle — enough concentration to keep capsule counts sensible, at a cost that survives a competitive retail price. The 98% grade is a different product: a purified, near-white powder made with additional separation steps, dosed in milligrams, priced per kilogram at a level that only makes sense when the label claim is icariin itself rather than epimedium as an extract. Tell your supplier the label claim you intend to make and the target market, and the right rung is usually obvious within one email.

Icariin versus total flavones: pick your assay and stick to it

Epimedium quotations can be standardised two ways: to icariin (the single marker compound, by HPLC) or to total flavones (the family sum). The two numbers are not comparable — a "total flavones 60%" material may carry only a few percent of icariin, and quoting the two side by side in a comparison table will mislead you. Most buyers in the vitality category now specify icariin by HPLC because it is the figure their labels and their regulators understand; total flavones remains available on request and suits traditional-formula positioning. Whichever you choose, put it in the purchase order and require the same method on the lot COA — a datasheet that switches methods between lots is the warning sign here.

Source and traceability: cultivated leaf, no wild-harvest risk

The leaf on our specification comes from cultivated, traceable plots — and that line earns its place on the sheet. Wild-harvested epimedium varies lot to lot in icariin content and carries a supply-security problem that worsens every year, which is why serious buyers now treat traceability as a purchasing requirement rather than a marketing line. Ask each supplier where the leaf is grown and whether the plot documentation can be shared under NDA. The answer tells you whether next year's production run will match this year's COA, which is the question that actually matters for a repeat formula.

The questions to ask before your first order

Four questions separate a clean first order from a problem one. First, the assay: icariin by HPLC, and the percentage you actually need. Second, the physicals: 80 mesh as standard, loss on drying limited to 5.0%, brown-yellow fine powder at the lower grades. Third, the lot COA: our typical 20% lot reports icariin 20.3%, loss on drying 4.2%, lead below 1 ppm and total plate count under 1,000 cfu/g — that is the level of detail a certificate should carry. Fourth, the compliance tone: we supply epimedium as a raw ingredient for manufacturing, and what a finished product may claim about it is decided by the target market's rules and the brand's regulatory advisor, not by the ingredient supplier. Suppliers who blur that line in their marketing are telling you how they will blur it in their paperwork.

Frequently asked questions

What is epimedium extract standardised to?
Icariin at 5%, 10%, 20% or 98%, measured by HPLC, from the leaf of Epimedium brevicornu Maxim. extracted with water or ethanol-water. Total flavones assays are available on request. The typical 20% lot reports icariin 20.3% on its COA, with loss on drying at 4.2%.

Which icariin grade should I choose?
Match the grade to the label claim and the format: 5–10% for high-dose extract positioning, 20% for most men's-health and sports capsules where cost and capsule count both matter, and 98% only when the label standardises icariin itself and the dose is in milligrams. Tell your supplier the intended claim and they can usually recommend the grade in one email.

What is the MOQ, sample policy and lead time for epimedium extract?
MOQ is 1 kg. Samples are drawn from production lots; how much we can supply without charge depends on the item's value and the rest is billed at cost plus courier, always quoted in advance. In-stock grades ship in about 2 days, bulk production takes 3 to 5 working days after deposit, and transit is about 6 days by air or 18 to 25 days by sea from Xi'an.

Related reading

• How to read an epimedium extract specification, line by line
• Where epimedium extract fits: vitality, bone-health and sports formulas

Related: Epimedium Extract — full specification, grades and documentation.