According to Daniel Kagan, Ph.D., president of BioActives LLC of Worcester, MA, the increase in the number of suppliers has lead to a wide disparity in the quality of lutein crystals available to manufacturers of supplement products.

Kagan says there are a number of different distributors representing foreign manufacturers currently claiming either low concentrations of lutein at 45% or less or very high-grade lutein at above 90%. Based on random testing and detailed review of some of these company’s patents, BioActives has found that some of these products can be subject to rapid degeneration affecting shelf life or contain high residual-solvent levels — both factors that are undesirable by supplement manufacturers..

Kagan suggests the following guidelines for companies that purchase lutein crystals -; the starting material for stabilized “beadlets”, 20% oil dispersion for softgels and other finished lutein products – for use in their own product manufacture. First, buyers should opt for lutein that is consistently between 60% to 80% pure, for the best results. They should check the suppliers’ patent or manufacturing process to be sure that the process is gentle thereby avoiding excessive solvent residue. They should verify the suppliers’ patent number to be sure the patent applies to making lutein (some don’t and take steps to ensure that the process described in the patent is actually the one being used to produce the lutein. Lastly they should ask for certificates of analysis for each of the aforementioned.

Lutein is purified from marigold oleoresin that contains fatty acid esters of lutein. The purification process creates free lutein and residual impurities that hold moisture. The more impure lutein product has to be dried at higher temperatures for longer periods of time to lower moisture to less than 5%. These harsh processing conditions initiate a slow oxidative degradation of lutein, resulting in a significantly reduced shelf-life in the final product. If the moisture level is not reduced to below 5% the product also degrades more quickly.

Lutein is purified from marigold oleoresin that contains fatty acid esters of lutein. The purification process creates free lutein and residual impurities that hold moisture. The more impure lutein product has to be dried at higher temperatures for longer periods of time to lower moisture to less than 5%. These harsh processing conditions initiate a slow oxidative degradation of lutein, resulting in a significantly reduced shelf-life in the final product. If the moisture level is not reduced to below 5% the product also degrades more quickly.