TCMzone, a US Pioneer of Granule Herbs for Healthcare Practitioners
By Sherri Taylor, L.Ac.
TCMzone, LLC is a leading national herbal product company located in Tempe, Arizona that has raised the standard of Chinese Medicine. TCMzone utilizes high quality contract manufacturers in Japan and China. TCMzone’s specialty is modernizing Chinese Medicine by offering the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine and providing a modern day use of Chinese Herbals for practitioners to give to their patients. One of the ways TCMzone does this is by providing herbal granule products to providers to take place of decocting raw herbs. Herbal granules are easy and convenient to use. You don’t need to spend time decocting herbs, you just need to add hot water to the granules which makes them convenient for “on the go” use. Another important feature using herbal granules is that they are tested and standardized. Each herbal product has a certificate of analysis that confirms a regulated product has reached its specifications in terms of amount of the herb and meets the standards for purity and safety. The certificate of analysis ensures the quality of the herbal product and is the result of a series of tests done by the manufacturers.
The process of granulation includes sourcing the raw herb, cutting, weighing and mixing, extraction and separation, spray drying and powder mixture of herbal extract, granulation and packaging. The finished granulation product has a 5:1 concentration ratio. This means that one gram of granules is equal to 5 grams of raw herbs. There a few exceptions to this rule, but most granules are in this dosage form. Granulation is a size enlargement process that converts small particles into physically stronger and larger particles. There are two types of granulation, wet and dry. Dry granulation consists of the mixture of powder being compressed with very little binders and fillers (excipients). Dry granulation is primarily used in mainland China. Wet granulation is the traditional pharmaceutical method of granulation and involves wet massing a powder mixture with a granulating liquid and includes more steps until the finished product. Wet granulation tends to use more binders and fillers to help formation of granules. Granulation originated in Japan in the 1970’s and Taiwan in the 1980’s where wet granulation is used, the most traditional method.
TCMzone is committed to providing high quality herbs to providers so they can feel confident about the safety and efficacy of the product they are giving to their patients. TCMzone manufacturers ensure sourcing authentic medicinal herbs as shown in the Chinese and Japanese Pharmacopoeia. All TCMzone manufacturers provide rigorous testing of the herbal products for a certificate of analysis of the product and comply with pharmaceutical good manufacturing practices (GMP). High quality tests are performed to ensure the quality, safety, and authentication of herbs. These tests include: High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC), Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectometry, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and Microscopy.
TCMzone offers both forms of granules. Wet granulation herbs are mainly classical formulas from the Shang Han Lun that are the Honso brand. Dry granulation herbs are from mainland China. TCMzone single herbs are offered in daily-dose packets and 100 gram bottles for your single herbal dispensary. Formulas are available in unit-dose packets, vegi-capsules and 100 gram bottles.
TCMzone is proud to be a US pioneer of granule herbs to provide the very best in herbal products to the Integrative Healthcare community. Be a trusted source of herbal medicine for your patients. Call us today with your questions and speak to our on-site herbal consultant.
*The information provided here is for healthcare professional practitioners only. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.