Magnesium
Compiled from published pharmacological and botanical literature. Not independently verified by Herbuno. Spotted an error or have a correction? Flag it below →
| Compound Class | Essential macromineral (divalent cation, Mg2+); cofactor for over 300 enzymatic reactions |
| Botanical Source | Lantana camara leaf — magnesium is native to the leaf matrix, not added as a salt |
| Plant Part | Leaf |
| Standardisation | 4% elemental magnesium by ICP-MS or flame AAS |
| Comparator Forms | Magnesium oxide, citrate, glycinate (bisglycinate), malate, chloride, L-threonate |
| Solubility / Format | Fine powder; matrix-bound magnesium; suited to tablets, capsules and powder blends |
| Regulatory Note | Established NRV and multiple authorised EU health claims; claims attach to elemental magnesium content |
| Buy from Herbuno | Lantana camara 4% |
| Origin | Processed / Sourced from India |
| MOQ | R&D 100 g / 250 g (subject to stock) · Pilot batch 1–5 kg · Bulk 10 kg, 25 kg and above |
| Lead Time | Dispatch within 72 hrs from stock · fresh-batch production (typically 50 kg+): 10 working days |
| Documentation | CoA & MSDS standard with every lot; phytosanitary on request |
Name origin: Magnesium is named for Magnesia, the district in Thessaly whose mineral deposits also gave their name to manganese and to the magnet. Joseph Black distinguished magnesia from lime in 1755 and Humphry Davy isolated the metal in 1808. Its nutritional essentiality was established far later, and magnesium remains one of the most commonly under-consumed minerals in industrialised diets despite being required by several hundred enzymes.
Traditional use: Lantana camara occupies an unusual position and it is worth being straightforward about it. The plant appears in traditional practice across India, Africa and Latin America — leaf preparations for wounds, respiratory complaints and as an insect repellent — but it is also a notoriously invasive species and its foliage is documented as hepatotoxic to grazing livestock through pentacyclic triterpenoids. Its use here is as a mineral-accumulating biomass, not as a traditional therapeutic, and that distinction is not cosmetic; it drives the specification discussion below.
Research trajectory: Magnesium research moved from establishing essentiality and deficiency syndromes to characterising the intestinal absorption pathways — a saturable transcellular route via TRPM6 and TRPM7 channels operating at low intakes, and passive paracellular diffusion dominating at higher intakes. That dual mechanism explains why fractional absorption falls as dose rises, and why divided dosing outperforms a single large dose. The contemporary commercial argument is almost entirely about salt form.
Commercial source: Supplemental magnesium is supplied overwhelmingly as manufactured salts, from cheap magnesium oxide through to chelated bisglycinate. Botanically sourced magnesium concentrates the mineral within a plant matrix and is a clean-label proposition. Because botanical magnesium is a small-percentage material and magnesium requirements are measured in hundreds of milligrams, this is a positioning ingredient rather than a dose-delivery ingredient, and it should be specified with that clearly understood.
Evidence for Magnesium Applications
Magnesium's biochemical role is exceptionally broad: it is a required cofactor for more than 300 enzymatic reactions, including every reaction involving ATP, which is bound and utilised as a Mg-ATP complex. It is also structurally important in bone and modulates neuromuscular excitability. As with most established minerals, essentiality is settled and the interesting questions are all about delivery. Claim strength: High.
The form comparison is unusually well evidenced and unusually one-sided. Magnesium citrate was shown to be more soluble than magnesium oxide, with approximately 65% of the citrate complexed as soluble magnesium citrate while no such complexation occurred in the oxide system; in normal volunteers the rise in urinary magnesium following a 25 mmol citrate load was significantly greater than following an equivalent oxide load. [Lindberg 1990] A subsequent review of randomised controlled trials in healthy adults reached the same conclusion, finding magnesium citrate and chloride well bioavailable while magnesium oxide was poorly bioavailable, attributing this partly to its poor water solubility. [Review 2025] Claim strength: High.
This produces the most useful commercial insight in the whole magnesium category, and it applies directly to how a botanical material should be positioned: elemental percentage and delivered magnesium are not the same thing. Magnesium oxide carries roughly 60% elemental magnesium, the highest of any common form, and is the worst absorbed. A high number on the label is not a benefit if the compound does not dissolve. Buyers comparing magnesium materials should compare on absorbed dose rather than on elemental content. Claim strength: High.
For a plant-matrix magnesium the honest position is that no head-to-head human absorption trial compares a Lantana camara magnesium concentrate against citrate, glycinate or oxide, and we will not imply one exists. What can be said is that the mineral is presented in a food-like matrix alongside organic acids and peptides rather than as a poorly soluble inorganic salt, which is mechanistically closer to the organic-salt end of the spectrum than to oxide. That is a reasonable inference, not a demonstrated result. Claim strength: Emerging.
The dose-limiting factor for magnesium is osmotic: unabsorbed magnesium reaching the colon draws water into the lumen, which is the mechanism behind magnesium salts used as laxatives and bowel preparations. Above roughly 350 mg of supplemental elemental magnesium daily, loose stool becomes common, which is why the tolerable upper level for supplemental magnesium is set against gastrointestinal effect rather than systemic toxicity in healthy individuals with normal renal function. A low-percentage botanical material delivers proportionally less elemental magnesium per gram and is correspondingly unlikely to reach that threshold at realistic inclusion rates. Claim strength: High.
Sourcing botanical magnesium: A 4% elemental magnesium concentrate from Lantana camara leaf is available from Herbuno, assayed by ICP-MS, with CoA and MSDS on every lot. View Magnesium 4% →
Dosage & Formulator Specification
Production route. Leaf biomass is extracted and concentrated to a 4% elemental magnesium specification. Because the magnesium is native to the plant rather than added, achievable concentration is bounded by the biomass, which is why botanical mineral concentrates sit at single-digit percentages against 60% for magnesium oxide and roughly 16% for citrate. Delivering 100 mg of elemental magnesium requires 2.5 g of this material — a substantial inclusion that constrains the dosage form absolutely and must be designed for from the outset.
Analytical standardisation. Elemental magnesium is determined by ICP-MS or flame AAS after acid digestion, with ICP-MS preferred where the same digest also screens heavy metals. For this source material specifically, we recommend that buyers additionally specify limits on pentacyclic triterpenoids, since Lantana camara foliage contains hepatotoxic lantadenes that are the basis of its documented livestock toxicity. A mineral assay alone does not characterise this material adequately, and we would rather say so than let a buyer assume otherwise.
Regulatory and handling context. Magnesium has an established Nutrient Reference Value in the EU and multiple authorised health claims, covering contribution to normal energy-yielding metabolism, normal functioning of the nervous system, normal muscle function, normal protein synthesis, and maintenance of normal bones and teeth. Claims attach to elemental magnesium content and are source-indifferent. The tolerable upper level for supplemental magnesium is set on gastrointestinal grounds; individuals with impaired renal function are the population where systemic accumulation is a genuine concern and that is a finished-product labelling matter. Store cool and dry.
Formulation behaviour. The inclusion arithmetic dominates every other consideration here. At 4%, this material cannot realistically deliver a full NRV of magnesium in a tablet or capsule, and any product design that assumes otherwise will fail at formulation. The workable applications are powder blends and functional foods where a larger inclusion is acceptable, or hybrid designs pairing a conventional magnesium salt for dose with this material for clean-label positioning — provided the label does not imply the full magnesium content is botanically derived. As a leaf concentrate it carries colour and a vegetal note that will read through in light-coloured or unflavoured systems.
Frequently Asked Questions — Magnesium
No head-to-head human trial compares this material against oxide, citrate or glycinate, so we cannot claim it. What is well established is that magnesium oxide is poorly bioavailable relative to organic forms: citrate is far more soluble, and controlled human work shows significantly greater urinary magnesium rise after a citrate load than an equivalent oxide load. A plant-matrix magnesium is mechanistically closer to the organic end of that spectrum, but that is an inference rather than a demonstrated result.
Because elemental content and absorbed dose are different things. Magnesium oxide has the highest elemental magnesium content of any common form at around 60%, and is also the worst absorbed because it barely dissolves. The useful comparison between magnesium materials is absorbed dose, not the label percentage. This is the single most commonly misused number in the magnesium category.
Not in a tablet or capsule, and we would rather be direct about that. At 4% elemental magnesium, delivering 100 mg requires 2.5 grams of material. Realistic applications are powder blends and functional foods where a large inclusion is acceptable, or hybrid formulations using a conventional salt for dose alongside this material for clean-label positioning. Any design assuming full-NRV delivery from this ingredient alone will not survive formulation.
It requires specification attention that other botanical minerals do not. Lantana camara foliage contains pentacyclic triterpenoids known as lantadenes that are documented as hepatotoxic to grazing livestock. We therefore recommend buyers specify limits on these constituents in addition to the mineral assay, and we can provide that testing. A magnesium assay alone does not adequately characterise this material, and we prefer to raise that rather than leave it unstated.
Magnesium carries several authorised claims including contribution to normal energy-yielding metabolism, normal functioning of the nervous system, normal muscle function, normal protein synthesis and maintenance of normal bones and teeth, and it has an established Nutrient Reference Value. These attach to elemental magnesium content rather than source, so eligibility depends on your finished product delivering a significant amount per serving. Claim wording and conditions of use remain your responsibility in your target market.
Every lot ships with a Certificate of Analysis and MSDS as standard, with phytosanitary certification on request. R&D quantities are available at 100 g and 250 g subject to stock, pilot batches at 1–5 kg, and bulk at 10 kg, 25 kg and above. Stock orders dispatch within 72 hours; fresh-batch production, typically 50 kg and above, runs to about 10 working days. Material is processed and sourced in India.
Related compounds: Zinc · Iron · Vitamin D3
Claim strength scale: High — consistent human data or established biochemistry. Moderate — supportive human data with limitations. Emerging — mechanistic or preliminary evidence only.