Abstract:
Planta Analytica recently has developed a novel technology for preparing an extract of St. John's Wort that is highly enriched into two biantraquinones: hypericin and pseudohypericin. St. John's Wort is best known for the relieve of symptoms of mild depression. While there is no rigorously established relationship between the hypericins and relieve of symptoms of depression, many scientists suggest that hypericins play an important role in the treatment.

Protohypericin

Commercial extracts of St. John's Wort are often standardized to 0.3 % of hypericins, which means that they also contain many other components. The extract made by Planta Analytica contains between 80 and 95% of the hypericins with both proto pigments: protopseudohypericin and protohypericin being the main contaminants and can be used for the pharmacological studies .