Botanical name: Serenoa repens
Saw Palmetto Berries
Saw Palmetto is a slow-growing palm with approximately twenty leaves that jut out from a bare, spiny stalk in a fan-shape producing reddish-black berries. It grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal lands or as undergrowth in the southeastern United States, most commonly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains, but also as far inland as southern Arkansas. Saw Palmetto has been used for hundreds of years as both a food source and as a medicinal plant. Its berries are rich in fatty acids and phytosterols, and study of its extracts has shown that it may have beneficial effects on urinary health, in particular benign prostatic hypertrophy, and other medical conditions.
Processes: Cryogenic milling to produce berry powder, blending of oil with certain absorbent powders to produce extract powders, and propane solvent extraction to produce oil for use in capsules. The oil can be bleached and/or fractionated to change colors from greenish brown to yellowish orange, and the waxes removed to improve clarity and stability.
Products: saw palmetto oil, berry powder, extract powder