AquaLOX®

From Harvest to Finished Ingredient

The starting point for 5-LOXIN – Boswellia serrata – is a plant that produces Indian frankincense. It is also known as Indian olibanum, Salai guggul, and Sallaki in Sanskrit. The plant is native to much of India and the Punjab region that extends into Pakistan. In partnership with Laila, PLT is committed to the safety and fair treatment of the people who harvest 5-LOXIN. We want to support the long-term health and well-being of the tribal culture and the natural environment upon which it relies.

Every batch of the 5-LOXIN harvest is assigned a specific batch number, and each batch of finished product is traced to a specific region and set of trees. 5-LOXIN is tested and must comply with predefined specifications for different parameters at different stages of product manufacturing – from raw materials to finished product. Quality is monitored by a multi-disciplinary organization with dedicated departments for taxonomy (botanical Identification), raw material analysis, chemical analysis, microbiology, and more.

Understanding the Difference Makes the Difference

During the fourth quarter of 2021, PLT Health Solutions announced the commencement of a third-party sustainability audit program on Boswellia serrata trees, which serve as the raw material source for some of our most important ingredients. The audit of this India resource was conducted by renowned botanical research consultancy Botanical Liaisons, LLC, and was undertaken to help the nutraceutical industry and non-governmental agencies around the world understand what we and our ingredient innovation partner Laila Nutraceuticals have known for many years: proper stewardship of natural resources and social responsibility toward the communities that support our work are both the right thing to do and good business.

The audit program was a step in PLT’s campaign to document the sustainability of the tree resource. PLT’s Chairman, Paul Flowerman, made field trips to the key production areas in 2018 and 2019 to observe and document the variety of tree populations, methods of natural and forced propagation and the status of the tribal groups involved in the care of the trees and resin production.

A third audit program was based on a broad range of environmental, cultural and economic parameters. In March 2022 Botanical Liaisons reported to PLT its preliminary conclusions, which included this statement: “It is clear from the information collected from the stakeholders that [sustainability] is supported. Boswellia serrata has several sustainability advantages that prevent over-harvesting of PLT-sourced Boswellia compared to other sources and species of Boswellia.” The report recommended a series of next steps to further evaluate and promote sustainability. 

Subsequently, four important additional developments have added considerable strength to the Boswellia serrata sustainability story:

1. Authoritative tree survey data from Madhya Pradesh quantified the robustness and sufficiency of the tree resource to provide present and future resin requirements.
2. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) determined during its November 2022 meeting (COP 19 in Panama City) that no Boswellia species would get added to the CITES Appendix lists. The health of Boswellia serrata, the only species of commercial importance for PLT, was documented, including information about the replenishment of the resource.
3. AHPA (American Herbal Products Association) convened an expert panel, which has drafted a brochure entitled, “Good Stewardship Harvesting of Boswellia (Boswellia Serrata).” This is a definitive presentation of current best practices.
4. An important study modeling the impact of significant climate change by 2050 on Boswellia serrata resources predicted that almost all of Madhya Pradesh, the source of 90+% of commercial resin, will remain conducive for a healthy tree population.