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It is both an opportunity and a risk. Discussion on the access to the application of edible plant extracts

2025-10-11
01.The market for plant extracts remains highly active.
Since the 21st century, the plant extract industry has entered a golden period of development. Although it has experienced several troughs due to the influence of domestic and international situations, it has shown a significant upward trend overall. The development of the plant extract industry in China started relatively late. In the early stage, it was only regarded as a part of drug production. Later, with the continuous intensification of domestic and international trade, China truly entered the development stage of plant extracts, and a number of production source manufacturers of plant extracts emerged. Up to now, China has become an important global producer of plant extracts. Data shows that in 2023, the market size of plant extracts in China reached nearly 45 billion yuan, and it is expected that this market size will exceed 60 billion yuan by 2025. 

Looking at the global market, plant extracts are a very popular industry. It is reported that the global industry size was 5.01 billion US dollars in 2010, and increased to 9.84 billion US dollars in 2017, with an average annual compound growth rate of over 10%. In recent years, although the growth rate has slowed down due to the increasing scale, the overall growth rate still remains above 6%, which is truly remarkable in terms of its growth resilience.
02.Plant consumption is not simple.
Plant extracts, due to the concentration of their active substances, have very significant biological effects. However, it is not easy to use them as food ingredients because the components of plant extracts are complex and variable. Safety verification requires a long period of effective testing. Of course, even plant raw materials cannot be used at will. There are numerous examples of penalties for the improper use of plant raw materials. The most prominent one is Angelica sinensis and Codonopsis pilosula, which have been used as ingredients for thousands of years (and are currently included in the category of food and medicine with the same origin). 

In fact, there are clear indications as to which plants are edible. 

Firstly, plants must possess basic edible properties, have traditional eating habits, and be able to provide proof of their edible history (such as animal/plant records, ancient local chronicles, modern documents, etc.). For example, common vegetables and fruits that we consume. Secondly, they must be approved as food raw materials by authorities such as the National Health Commission through announcements, approvals, or responses, or they must comply with corresponding national standards or local standards. Thirdly, they should be included in the directory of food and medicine with the same origin or as new food raw materials. Finally, there are some plants that have a long history of consumption in the local area but lack corresponding regulatory guidance. In such cases, production and processing must follow the opinions of local relevant departments, and the range of product availability is also subject to significant restrictions. 

Whether the plant itself is edible is already quite strict, while the plant extracts produced by it have even more stringent restrictions. Currently, the vast majority of plant extracts are raw materials for medicines, cosmetics or health foods. Only a few can be used as food ingredients, and there are also strict requirements for the production process.
03.The use of plant extracts for food purposes still requires regulation.
At present, there are very few available reference materials regarding the standards and regulations related to edible plant extracts. The exact definition is clearly explained in the "Review Scheme for the Production License of Edible Plant Extracts in Shaanxi Province": "Edible plant extract" refers to a raw material derived from plants listed in the announcements of the National Health Commission that can be used in food processing, plants on the dual-use list of food and medicine, or plants in the new food raw material directory. It is processed and extracted, concentrated, dried (or freeze-dried), mixed, packaged, etc., according to the standards and regulations specified in the announcements, and used as food raw materials or composite ingredients for ordinary food processing. 

However, from a practical perspective, there is still no definite basis for the use of edible plant extracts. The main application approaches at present are as follows: One is that relevant national departments have clearly defined edible extracts, such as new food raw materials, but they must be used strictly in accordance with the prescribed processing methods and dosages; The other is the water extraction of edible plants or the juice obtained through mechanical methods. Both of these extraction methods are applied in many standards such as "Plant Beverages" and "Fruit and Vegetable Juice Products and Their Beverages". The description of plant extracts in "Plant Beverages" is: The water extract or concentrated liquid, powder of plants (including edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds). In practical applications, no incidents that violated regulations have occurred with the products processed in this way. 

The interpretation of the "Review Scheme for the Production License of Edible Plant Extracts in Shaanxi Province" states: "Food includes items that have been traditionally used both as food and as medicinal herbs. According to the 'Food Safety Law', substances that are both food and medicinal herbs in traditional usage can be added to food. However, most of these traditional dual-purpose food and medicine substances are edible plants, and they are usually difficult to be directly added to food. They often need to undergo necessary production processes such as extraction, concentration, and drying to obtain 'edible plant extract' before being used." From this interpretation, it can be seen that the extraction, concentration, drying and other processes in the technology are basically consistent with the current default processing methods.
04.Application practice example: Codonopsis pilosula
Codonopsis pilosula is a food and medicine dual-source substance approved by the National Health Commission of China in 2023. It is recommended to consume it in moderation following traditional methods. Pregnant women, lactating women, and infants and other special groups are not recommended to consume it. The traditional methods usually involve grinding, slicing, pressing, stir-frying, boiling in water, soaking in alcohol, etc. These methods have limited ability to concentrate active ingredients, thus ensuring safety. Additionally, this substance has a strong odor and the dosage has self-limiting properties. The extract of Codonopsis pilosula (solvent extraction) can only be used in health food, medicine and other products as per regulations.

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