Warning concerning Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia)
Eurycoma longifolia, is a flowering plant native to Malaysia and Indonesia and known in those countries as Tongkat Ali or Pasak Bumi. Eurycoma is one of very few herbs that are scientifically proven to increase testosterone levels.
Unfortunately, it is also one of the most commonly faked herbal extracts, to the extent that it’s practically impossible to buy genuine Tongkat Ali without direct contacts in countries of its origin and extensive laboratory testing.
Many Eurycoma extracts available on western markets and in Asia are genuine but not in stated concentrations. This is because to get the desired 200:1 extract, 200 times more plant material is needed than if selling just powderised herb. Usually weaker extracts are sold (commonly 10:1) and vast majority of dietary supplement producers do not do their own testing before using the powder. Instead, they just trust the supplier.
To be sure, testing of active ingredients is not required by law in EU/North America. Products are commonly tested only for heavy metals and microbiological contamination. To test every active substance is far beyond the means of both smaller producers and responsible authorities. Only few laboratories are able and willing to test such rare substances as Eurycomanone (the main active substance in Tongkat Ali).
Therefore there are producers selling fake Tongkat Ali products in good faith.
At Applied Biosciences we distinguish between large trusted international suppliers of common substances like Boron and Zinc where mutual trust is reasonable and small, unknown suppliers of herbal extracts where we ALWAYS test everything in every batch whatever the cost. We believe this is the only way to assure quality of our products and long-term customer satisfaction.