Amentoflavone 20%

What is amentoflavone?

amentoflavone 20%

Amentoflavone is the active ingredient extracted from Chinese plant Selaginella tamariscina, belonging to the family of Selaginellaceae. Both selaginella tamariscina and its compound amentoflavone may be new to most bodybuilders and athletes who want to build muscles and enhance performance. However, amentoflavone has been registered in Chinese Pharmacopeia (CP2005 Edition) and used in China for decades for anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-virus, analgesia, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood glucose and strengthening the role of immune functions.

Nowadays amentoflavone has been used in sports nutrition formulas by supplements manufacturers, like AmentoMax from Analyzed Supplements, CONQU3R “Demigod Edition” (Stim-Free) from Olympus Labs, F5 from NutraClipse Inc, High Volume from PES Science(Physique Enhancing Science), Uncut from Applied Nutriceuticals and many other sports brands.

As a biflavanoid, amentoflavone is famous for its ability to directly enhance strength. Moreover, amentoflavone is proved to help fat loss and improve insulin sensitivity, making it a versatile compound in any pre workouts and fat burners. We will illustrate its benefits and applications in details below. There are plenty of studies and scientific researches on amentoflavone, you may find more information on pubmed.

Natural sources of amentoflavone

There are many plant sources for amentoflavone, according to Wikipedia, the most popular ones include ginkgo biloba, St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), Chamaecyparis obtuse(hinoki), Xerophyta plicata, etc. All these plants are native to China, and may not be able to find somewhere else in other countries. However, amentoflavone has the highest content and most easily available in Selaginella Tamariscina extract, and the specification amentoflavone 20% is the most popular spec, and every company use 20% amentoflavone in their supplement. Of course, amentoflavone 30%, 50% are also available, but the price is relatively high accordingly.

Chemical constituents of Selaginella Tamariscina

Selaginellaceae has only a genus of Selaginella Tamariscina, distributed extensively in China. The chemical components in it are complicated, and biflavones are the most researched ingredients by chemists, amentoflavone as its typical representative. The bioflavones are composed by apigenin or apigenin derivatives(like 6-(5-carboxyl-2-methoxyphenyl)-apigenin or 6-(2-Hydroxy-5-acetylphenyl)-apigenin) combined by C-C or C-O-C link. The popular bioflavones include Hinokiflavone, Robustaflavone, Delicaflavone, and amentoflavone.

Phenylpropanoids is another important chemical items in selaginella tamariscina plant. As early as 1994, Lin-RC had initially isolated five ligans lactones, (-)-lirioresinol A, B, Wikstromol, nortrachel0side, matairesinol, Selaginellin A, globularin B, globularin C, etc. Many more components are yet to be discovered.

Mechanism of action of amentoflavone

How does amentoflavone work? Let’s start with strength. We have to know the relation between strength and calcium. The final trigger in muscle contraction is an increase in calcium in the muscle cell. The calcium binds to key muscle proteins that result in contraction, and it has been shown that the more calcium released into the muscle cell, the stronger the contraction. Amentoflavone possesses the highly unique ability to increase calcium release in vitro. In fact, only one other common compound shares this mechanism: caffeine. Unlike caffeine though, Amentoflavone is 20 times stronger at increasing muscle calcium than caffeine in vitro.

In addition, Amentoflavone is a PDE inhibitor, which is a well-known mechanism of vasodilatation.
Amentoflavone’s ability to inhibit PDE comes in handy not just for those looking for the performance and pump benefits of PDE inhibition, but this mechanism is also associated with improved lipolysis.

Amentoflavone also inhibits Fatty Acid Synthase in vitro therefore acting on the opposite side of the coin by preventing the body from forming new fatty acids.

Finally, when looking at Amentoflavone’s possible impact on mood, it should be noted that it is a negative modulator of the GABA-A receptor, which may improve alertness and wakefulness. Interestingly enough, out of all the constituents of the well-known OTC supplement St. John’s Wort, Amentoflavone was the most powerful.

Benefits of taking amentoflavone supplements

As a supplement, amentoflavone is a versatile ingredient mainly used in sports nutrition. The key benefits of amentoflavone extract are strength enhancement, mood enhancer, muscle pump, fat loss, etc.

Amentoflavone and Muscular strength

amentoflavone muscular strength

As we have illustrated in the above mechanism section, amentoflavone increase the calcium levels in the cell. The more calcium available to the muscle, the greater the potential force of the contraction. It is 20 potent than caffeine in increasing force of muscle contraction. Without increasing the jitters (and putting dose-response curves aside for a second), Amentoflavone increases muscle contraction on par with a whopping 800mg of caffeine!

Amentoflavone & Muscle pump (vasodilation)

amentoflavone muscle pump

As an effective nitric oxide pump enhancer, amentoflavone inhibits phosphodiesterase(PDE) and prevents the metabolism of cAMP and cGMP. PDE5 inhibitors are well known for enhancing blood flow, and Amentoflavone, as a non-selective PDE inhibitor, should enhance blood flow throughout the body, resulting in vasodilation and leading to further enhanced pumps and performance during training. In other words, it relaxes and expands blood vessels, allowing for greater blood flow, and ultimately better pumps.

Amentoflavone & Fat Loss

amentoflavone fat loss

How does amentoflavone help lose fat? As explained above, amentoflavone is a PDE inhibitor, and protects against diet related fat gains. Beta-2 agonism can result during an increase of cAMP which helps to activate lipases and leads to fat breakdown or “lipolysis”. When beta-2 combines with phosphodiesterase isoenzyme found inside the adipose tissue this will aid the body in disposing of fat and aiding fat loss. Moreover, amentoflavone inhibits fatty acid synthase(FASN), meaning that it prevents the body from forming fat in the very beginning.

Amentoflavone as a Mood enhancer

amentoflavone mood enhancer

Amentoflavone is a potent factor in St. John’s worts antidepressant activities: It was suggested to be the main factor. Amentoflavone acts as the GABA receptor, which will aid in mood elevation. By acting on the GABA receptor, an increase in feelings of well-being during your workouts is made. Amentoflavone also has anxiolytic properties, which could prove helpful for those individuals that may fall victim to the counterproductive fidgety and irritable feelings felt when using stimulants.

Amentoflavone side effects

The effects of amentoflavone are still being studied as it’s relatively new to the supplement market. The results for amentoflavone are not 100% conclusive but it is becoming far more popular. By so far, no serious adverse effects are reported.

Amentoflavone dosage

There is no official dosage for amentoflavone. The common serving of 20% amentoflavone supplements is at 400mg, 500mg or 600mg per day. Of course, if the amentoflavone extract with higher concentration like 30% amentoflavone, 40% amentoflavone, or 50% amentoflavone, the dosing will be relatively lower accordingly.

Where to buy bulk amentoflavone?

Amentoflavone ingredient is in the powdered extract of selaginella tamariscina (Herba selaginellae) with popular specifications as amentofalvone 20%, 30%, and 50%. If you have any inquiry for certificate of analysis (COA), MSDS, manufacturing process, pricing, or other technical documents, please contact Herb Nutritionals Co., Ltd via email or phone in the Contact-us page.