Products
Fake Eurycoma longifolia products have been pulled off the shelves in several countries but are still sold over the Internet, mostly shipped from the UK. In a medical journal article, published March 2010, it was noted that "estimates place the proportion of counterfeit medications sold over the Internet from 44% to 90%" with remedies for sexual dysfunction accounting for the greatest share. It is therefore recommended that buyers of Eurycoma longifolia request from Internet vendors conclusive information, and proof, on the facilities where a product has been manufactured.
In Malaysia, the common use of Eurycoma longifolia as a food and drink additive, coupled with a wide distribution of products using cheaper synthetic drugs in lieu of Eurycoma longifolia quassinoids, has led to the invention of an electronic tongue to determine the presence and concentration of genuine Eurycoma longifolia in products claiming to contain it.
On the other hand, consumers who lack the sophisticated electronic tongue equipment invented in Malaysia for testing the presence of Eurycoma longifolia, but want more clarity on whether the product they obtained is indeed Eurycoma longifolia or a fake, can use their own tongue to taste the content of capsules for the bitterness of the material. Quassinoids, the biologically active components of Eurycoma longifolia root, are extremely bitter. They are named after quassin, the long-isolated bitter principle of the quassia tree. Quassin is regarded the bitterest substance in nature, 50 times more bitter than quinine. Anything that isn't bitter, and strongly so, cannot contain quassinoids from Eurycoma longifolia .
In the US, the FDA has banned numerous products such as Libidus, claiming to use Eurycoma longifolia as principal ingredient, but which instead are concoctions designed around illegal prescription drugs, or even worse, analogues of prescription drugs that have not even been tested for safety in humans, such as acetildenafil. In February 2009, the FDA warned against almost 30 illegal sexual enhancement supplements, but the names of these products change quicker than the FDA can investigate them. Libidus, for example, is now sold as Maxidus, still claiming Eurycoma longifolia (tongkat ali) as principal ingredient.
The government of Malaysia has banned numerous fake products which use drugs like sildenafil citrate instead of tongkat ali in their capsules. To avoid being hurt by bad publicity on one product name, those who sell fake tongkat ali from Malaysia have resorted to using many different names for their wares.
The governments of Canada and Singapore have issued warnings against the product XP Tongkat Ali Supreme for containing the prescription drug tadalafil which can be life-threatening in some individuals.
Products claiming various Eurycoma longifolia extract ratios of 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, and 1:200 are sold. Traditionally Eurycoma longifolia is extracted with water and not ethanol. However, the use of selling Eurycoma longifolia extract based on extraction ratio may be confusing and is not easily verifiable.
In expectation of a competitive edge, some manufacturers are claiming standardization of their extract based on specific ingredients. Alleged standards / markers are the glycosaponin content (35–45%) and eurycomanone (>2%). While eurycomanone is one of many quassinoids in Eurycoma longifolia, saponins, known in ethnobotany primarily as fish poison played no role in the academic research on the plant.
A large number of Malaysian Eurycoma longifolia products (36 out of 100) have been shown to be contaminated with mercury beyond legally permitted limits.
Read more about this topic: Eurycoma Longifolia
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