Pine Pollen Powder/Cell Wall Cracked Pine Pollen Powder

【Plant Source】: Pinus massoniana 
【Specification】: Cell wall cracked ratio>98%,protein>10%,250 mesh
【Appearance】: Light yellow fine powder
【Packing】: 1 kg, 2 kg, 5 kg/bag (packed in an aluminum foil bag outside, double-layer PE inside), 25 kg/fiber drum.
【Shelf Life】: Effective within 2 years after the date of production
【Physical and chemical index】:
Heavy Metal <10 ppm(As <1 ppm, Pb <2 ppm, Hg <0.2 ppm)
Pesticides Residues <1 ppm
Total Plate Count <1000 cfu/g (Yeast & Mould <100 cfu/g, Salmonella: Negative, E.Coli: Negative).
【Brief】: Pine pollen (pollen pini), also known as pine flower and pine yellow, generally refers to the dry pollen produced by the stamens of Pinus massoniana, Pinus tabulaeformis, Pinus koraiensis, Pinus armandii and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica. Pine pollen, as the genetic material of Pinus, contains not only protein, fat, sugar and other general nutrients, but also more than 200 kinds of nutrients and bioactive substances such as vitamins, trace elements, flavonoids, enzymes, fatty acids and coenzymes.
【Distribution】: It is mainly collected and processed in Yunnan province, Zhejiang province, Liaoning province, and Jilin province in China.
【Character】: Dried pine pollen is light yellow fine powder with a light weight and is easy to lift up in the air, and it has a sense of smoothness when rubbed with fingers. Observed under a microscope, the pollen grains are elliptic, 45-55 μm long and 29-40 μm in diameter. The surface is smooth and it has an enlarged air sac on both sides. The wall of the air sac has obvious reticular texture and reticular polygon.

Pine Pollen Powder Background Information

Pine pollen powder are selected from the scientific refined pollen of Pinus massoniana and Pinus tabulaeformis which are endemic species growing in China. Pinus Massoniana Lamb is a unique indigenous species of pine tree in China, which enjoys an exceptional advantage in terms of resource availability. The areas in which it mostly grows range from Huai River and Tsinling Mountains in the north, to southern parts of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in the south, southeast coastline and Taiwan in the east, and central parts of Guizhou and Sichuan provinces in the west, covering 17 provinces. It can be found in more than a half part of China, with the total resource exceeding 20,000,000 hectares. Pinus Massoniana Lamb blooms around mid-April every year. Each male cone produces about 157 , 600 pollen particles. Each panicle produces 0.61g pollen on average,each square meter of tree crown 90.68g , and each hectare of plantation 755.7kg. Therefore, it is estimated that the annual yield of pollen from it alone could exceed 1 , 500,000 tons in China.

Firstly recorded in the Tang Dynasty’s New Materia Medica, pine pollen powder is bright yellow or light yellow fine powder. It tastes sweet with some bitterness and is non-toxic. It has been as the raw material of traditional Chinese food for thousands of years such as pine cake, pine dumplings and pine wine. Its medicinal value in ancient China mainly relates to skin-related diseases due to its curative effect, and it has been included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2000 edition.

As the spermatid of pine stamens, it is the source of life and is responsible for the reproduction of pine trees. There is an air sac on both sides of the olive-shaped cells. During each spring time through the whole April, the air sac inflates automatically and drifts with the wind. Local farmers will pick up manually the pine panicles when they turn from green to yellow. Pine pollen is rich in various nutrients and active substances. Just as pollen falls on the stamens of plants can make a qualitative leap in the life process of plants, pine pollen has a high health value for human body, too. Nature has created the miracle of pine trees with evergreen and immortal life for thousands of years and the source of life is its pollen as the sperm cell of pine trees. Pine pollen has been used as both medicine and food for more than a thousand years in China with many advantages, such as single pollen source, pure quality, stable composition, pesticide residues free, no animal hormones and so on. Meanwhile, it tastes better than any other plant pollen with a light fragrance of pine seed. All abovementioned features make it be crowned as “King of Pollen”.

Rich in dietary fibers(lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, etc), pine pollen powder also contains protein, amino acids (more than 20 kinds of amino acids, including eight essential amino acids for human body), fat, sugar, minerals (such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine), and trace elements such as silicon, strontium, manganese, iron and selenium; it also contains organic acids, nucleic acids, and vitamins, including vitamins. Vitamin C, E, etc. The fatty acids include linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, alpha-linolenic acid and other unsaturated fatty acids. Pine pollen contains a variety of flavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, anti-virus, anti-allergy, anti-atherosclerosis, cholesterol reduction, anti-radiation, anti-tumor, vasodilation and inhibition of lipid peroxidation; it contains polysaccharides, hormones, choline, enzymes and other bioactive enzymes such as CAT, SOD, which have the effects of scavenging free radicals in vivo, restoring fatigue and delaying aging. There are more than 200 kinds of substances with special effects that can work on human physiological functions.

Pine Pollen Powder as an Adaptogenic Herb

Pine pollen powder are mainly harvested in each spring time. In April each year, pine trees produce a magical adaptive powder from the male panicles on each branch.  And this yellow powder is pine pollen, which is very beneficial to human nutritional supplements. Pine pollen powder has been used as a nourishing food and medicine with a long history, especially in Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. And pine pollen is regarded as an adaptogenic herb, referring to those herbs that can cater to exactly what human body needs and correspondingly cure the distress of different parts of the body. As an adaptogenic herb, pine pollen powder can work on the human body and has no toxic side effects for a period of time.

Pine pollen powder is rich in protein, amino acids, phytosterols, vitamins, trace elements, minerals and other nutrients, and has good nutritional value. Nutrients carried include vitamin A, vitamin B (folic acid), B1, B2, B3, B6, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, silicon, sodium, zinc and more than 20 amino acids, including 8 essential amino acids.

As we all know, amino acids are the basis of our body’s production of protein, which is a great demand in the daily functioning of our body. Pine pollen powder is rich in complete nutrition, most importantly, we can take it for a long time without side effects. Pine pollen powder can potentially promote the immunity & endocrine system, decrease sensitivity to pain, lower cholesterol, stimulate organ regeneration as an anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and anti-tumor agent. All above benefits make it an effective supplement to strengthen physical function to prevent degenerative condition of our body.

Pine Pollen Powder as an Androgen Supplement

Pine pollen powder has another important benefit as an androgen, which balances testosterone levels, as we did in our 20s. More importantly, this source of testosterone is natural. Pine pollen powder can increase testosterone levels in the blood and balance the ratio of androgen to estrogen, because it is male sperm that germinates from pine trees, and therefore contains phytosterols, which initially contribute to tree growth. The hormone and adaptive benefits of pine pollen powder contribute to prostate health, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and have the potential to prevent breast cancer and prostate cancer and inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.

Some people may mistakenly think that only men need pine pollen powder, while women don’t need it because it contains androgens. This view is wrong because pine pollen powder contains phenylalanine, which is related to neurotransmitters in the brain. Phenylalanine contributes to the growth of dopamine which is a precursor of levodopa. Levodopa has been studied in a number of experiments, and the results show that it can help women to produce orgasm. In addition, pine pollen powder also contains arginine, which can effectively promote male and female reproduction and hormone release. Women may also be testosterone deficient, which may lead to lack of sexual desire, fatigue, depression, sleep disorders, poor sleep quality and other issues. Therefore, we can see that the balance of female testosterone levels is also crucial.

This is clearly important when women enter menopause. Because during this period, women’s testosterone will decline severely, which will lead to a decline in their sexual desire and frequent emotional changes. These are the symptoms we often mention in the “midlife crisis”. Pine pollen powder is a suitable supplement to help women improve menopausal symptoms and bring them a more comfortable experience. In addition, arginine in pine pollen can help solve different skin problems, so we can also use pine pollen externally to improve different skin conditions, such as wounds, eczema, acne, pustules and diaper rash.

Throughout April, we collect raw pine pollen from two sites each year, one in the Qiandao Lake area of Zhejiang Province and the other in Yunnan Province in southwestern China.

The Qiandao Lake/Thousand Island Lakes area is located in Chun’an County, Zhejiang Province, east of China. More than 90% of these areas are forests and Pinus massoniana is widely distributed. It is a national water resources protection area with excellent environmental conditions, and also a national 5A scenic spot.

Pine Pollen Powder:Thousand Island Lakes

Locals in Chun’an County have long been accustomed to picking and taking pine pollen powder, but it is only a primary raw food additive. According to the research of pine pollen conducted by the Chinese Academy of Forestry, a small number of farmers in Jinfeng and Wangzhai towns began collecting the pine pollen in 1984. Even now, the two towns are still the main collectors of pine pollen powder. In recent years, more villages and towns in Chun’an County have joined the pine flower harvesting team, such as the villages of Songcun, Zuokou, Wutong and Jiangjia, Linqi and so on.

The geographical position of Chun’an County is at the northeast of the subtropical zone,  located at 29 degrees north latitude and 119 east longitude. And the annual average temperature is 17 degrees Celsius, the daily maximum temperature is about 39 degrees Celsius, the daily minimum temperature is about minus 5.4 degrees Celsius, the annual precipitation is about 1430mm, and the annual sunshine is about 1951 hours. The terrain is dominated by low and middle mountains, forming a distinct vertical climate layer. Because of the special microclimate formed by the water body effect of Qiandao Lake/Thousand Island Lakes, compared with other areas in the same latitude, it is warm in winter and cool in summer. Such climate conditions are conducive to the growth, development, flowering and fruiting of Pinus massoniana and are suitable for the production of pine pollen powder.

The area covers a wide amount of mountain red soil developed by gravel rock, which is suitable for the growth of Pinus massoniana. Pinus massoniana can blossom and bear fruit at the age of 2-3, but it takes 5-7 years to enter the normal blooming period. The pine pollen panicles gradually mature in early and mid April each year. This period lasts about 15 days, during which most of the harvest takes place. If it rains a lot during the flowering season, the harvest time may be shorter. On average, a farmer can harvest 2.5 to 5 kilograms of pine pollen powder a day. The forest area of Pinus massoniana in the Qiandao Lake/Thousands Island Lakes area is about 906,666 hectares, and annual output of pine pollen powder can reach to about 1,000 tons.

Pine Pollen Harvest Site in Jinfeng Town, Chun’an County

Yunnan Province in southwestern China covers an area of about 152,000 square miles, and there are many pine trees grow in these mountains and river valleys. This part of Yunnan belongs to the Tibet Autonomous Region and is the most marginal foot of the eastern Himalayas. Yunnan Province is the most abundant plant area in China because of its high forest coverage. Yunnan has become the preferred destination for many naturalists in Europe and the United States because of its beautiful natural scenery and various animal and plant species. At the same time, its geographical isolation and geographical characteristics ensure that the forest where we collect pine pollen powder is not polluted by industry.

Pine Forest in Yunnan Province

Main Features of Our Pine Pollen Powder

• 100% Natural with no Contamination
Pine pollen is from the pollen of Pinus massoniana which is a native tree species growing in mountainous areas of 1100 – 1500 meters above sea level. Meanwhile, pine pollen is harvested manually compared with bee pollen. Therefore these factors make it gain such characteristics as single source, pure quality, stable composition, no pesticide residues and no animal hormones.

• Contains More than 200 Kinds Nutrition Substances
Pine pollen as the spermatid of pine trees, is the reproductive source for the tree growth. The Microelements Research Institute of Beijing 301 Hospital together with the Technical University of Munich, Germany (the most famous trace element research center in Europe) made a most scientific test of all the nutrient components of pine pollen and discovered that pine pollen contains all the nutrients needed by the body for longevity. And these nutrients include a variety of proteins, amino acids, minerals, acids and plum, nucleic acid, flavonoids, monosaccharides, polysaccharides and so on. Their total amount is more than 200 kinds, and the collocation is quite reasonable, which can comprehensively supplement and balance the nutrition needed by the human body. So far, pine pollen is regarded as the most natural, diverse, complete and well-collocated nutrition and health care products in the world.

• Above 99% absorptivity
Pine tree is one of the longest-lived tree species in the world. Its pollen contains genetic information and all nutrients for life, and these nutrients are all active. Through the Low Temperature Airflow Cracking Technology, the cell wall cracking rate of pine pollen can reach up to 99.6%. The active nutrients of pine pollen can be released completely and the pollen particle diameter is only 5 micrometers(μm) which is smaller than human cells’ as 7 micrometers(μm).  This can ensure the pine pollen to be absorbed easily by human cells after enter the digestive system and help to transport the nutrition to other parts of human body in a short time.

Collection Time of Pine Pollen in China

Flowering dates of Pinus massoniana and Pinus tabulaeformis in China are postponed from south to north, Yunnan province in March, Henan province in mid-April, and Northeast districts in June. Flowering period in the same area could be also delayed with the increase of altitude. For example, the flowering period will be 7-10 days later for altitude above 1000 meters than that in altitude at 500 meters above sea level. Moreover, the flowering time of different years in the same place may differ by about 10 days due to the influence of precipitation, temperature and other factors. In a region, the collecting time of pine pollen powder generally lasts only 10-15 days. Therefore, it’s very important to observe the growth of male cone panicles in order to determine the suitable collection time of pine pollen powder. The best picking time is when the small grains on most panicles changes their color from green to yellow.

Farmers Collect the Pine Panicles

Selection of Pine Pollen Panicles

1. The mature panicles are slightly yellow in color; the grains are slightly loose, almost no serosity and can scatter yellow pollen when twisted with fingers. The panicles in this state are most suitable for picking up, and the yield rate could be about 8-9%.2. The color of immature panicles are green in color; the grains are hard, with a lot of serosity when twisted with fingers and seldom pollen powder could be produced after drying. Meanwhile, the panicles is not easy to be dried and mildew easily.3. Overmature panicles are yellow-white in color; the grains are loose and the pollen is easy to scatter when harvested, and and the yield rate of pollen is very low. 4.The withered panicles are dark brown in color and carries hardly no pollens; therefore there is no value for collection.

Preliminary Processing of Raw Pine Pollen

1. Air-drying: As the raw material of heath care products and health food; the threshing site of pine panicles should be clean and dry. Pine panicles are naturally dried in the air and 1 square meter site could air about 15-20 kg of panicles. The harvested panicles are spread evenly on the plastic film. And the suggested thickness for air-drying is 10-20 cm or they could mildew easily. With sufficient light, natural ventilation and dehumidification, pine pollen could be scattered from the panicles in about three days.2. Rough sieving: The scattered pollen will be sieved with 60-80 mesh vibrating screen to get rid of impurities like panicles and pine needles.
3. Pine pollen dehumidification: The pine pollen contains 15-25% moisture which makes it easy to mildew and acidify; so it needs to be dehumidified in time. Spread the crude pine pollen on plastic films in a greenhouse with the thickness about 5 centimeters where it could receive the sunlight and stir at a regular time to get rid of the moisture. 4. Scientific Storage: The raw pine pollen powder will be packed into 25 kilograms with double layers’food-grade non-toxic polyethylene plastic bags, tighten the bag mouth and store it temporarily in a cool and dry warehouse. And the raw pine pollen will be processed to cell cracked pine pollen powder per each order. 

Manufacturing Process

1. Raw pine pollen powder harvest- In April each year, farmers manually pick ripe pine pollen panicles from pine trees.

Raw Pine Pollen Harvest in Qian Dao Lake site

Air-drying the Pine Pollen Panicles

2. Removal of impurities- The workshop uses air separation technology to remove impurities of pine pollen powder such as sand, dust and spore buds. Air separation works on the principle that different weights of goods fall at different distances.
3. Breaking the cell wall by Airflow Cell Wall Cracking Machine or Vibrating Cell Wall Cracking Machine.
Airflow cell wall cracking machine is composed of an air supply unit, a feed unit, a grinding unit, a powder grading unit and a powder collecting unit. When the raw pine pollen is mixed with fresh compressed air from the feeding port, the supersonic flow generated by the ejector causes the pine pollen particles to collide with each other. Pine pollen powder cell walls are destroyed and cracked in this process. After the pine pollen granules have reached the desired fineness, they will be released by the grading unit at the top of the machine and collected by the powder collection unit at the bottom of the machine.

Pine Pollen Powder Cell Wall Cracking

Low Temperature Airflow Cell Wall Cracker

Vibrating Cell Wall Cracking Machine- The raw pine pollen powder is fed into the crushing chamber through a hopper. Under the action of vibration, the grinding rod in the cavity begins to work continuously to achieve the purpose of breaking the cell wall of pine pollen. And the machine operates under completely enclosed conditions to ensure no dust and environmental pollution.
4. Passed through 250 mesh vibrating screen- Workers put the cell cracked pine pollen powder into 250 mesh size vibrating screen to ensure the particle size of final pine pollen is 95% pass 250 mesh sieve.

Pine Pollen Powder Passed Through 250 Mesh Vibrating Screen

5. Sterilization by Microwave sterilizer or High Temperature & High Pressure in short time (5-10 seconds)
Microwave sterilizer can prevent the active ingredients in pine pollen from losing their biological activity at high temperature, because some active ingredients in pine pollen will lose their biological activity above 40 degrees Celsius. Compared with microwave sterilization, high temperature and high pressure for a short time (5-10 seconds) can avoid microwave contact, but may lead to loss of some nutrients.
6. Test on its physical and chemical index
The laboratory tests the heavy metal content and the total plate count to ensure that the final pine pollen powder meets the data specified in the pharmacopoeia and Certificate of Analysis.

7. Packing&Warehousing
The workers pack the finished pine pollen powder into 25 kg/fiber drum (41 cm in diameter and 50 cm in height, the inside is double layers food grade polyethylene bag), and store them in a cool and dry warehouse, away from direct sunlight and high temperatures.

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Why the Pine Pollen Powder Cell Wall Need to be Cracked?

Pine pollen powder has a hard cell wall, like armor, to protect internal nutrients. When we immerse it in caustic sodium or boiling water, the cell wall of pine pollen powder can remain unchanged. A Japanese scholar experimented with pine pollen powder by increasing the radiation dose and found that the cytoplasmic dead volume was 77.4-129 C / KG, while the human body lethal dose was only 0.15 C / KG. Experiments have shown that the pine pollen cell wall has very strong stability and anti-radioactivity, the digestive juice of the human body or any monogastric animal cannot break the pine pollen cell wall. Therefore, it is necessary to break the cell wall in order to better absorb the internal nutrients..

Comparison of the Appearance of Cell Cracked and Cell Un-cracked Pine Pollen Powder

However, European and American scholars believe that pollen with or without cells can be absorbed by the human body. There have been no agreements on this issue for many years. And the subject has attracted the attention of many nutritionists, many researches have been done on this subject.

The appearance and some physical properties of pine pollen powder have undergone many changes in the process of breaking the cell wall. The color turned to light yellow. Under the microscope, they found that the airbag structure was separated from the main structure of the pine pollen grains, and the pine pollen was not as complete as before. This will lead to the loss of fluidity of pine pollen powder. On the contrary, cell cracked pine pollen powder has strong stickiness and is difficult to raise in air.

Fig.1: Cell wall un-cracked pine pollen                            Fig. 2: Cell wall cracked pine pollen powder
Color: Golden yellow                                                                   Color: Light yellow
Particle size: About 80 mesh                                                       Particle size: 300 mesh (cell cracked ratio>98%)
Character:                                                                                     Character:
1). Rough particle with obvious granular sensation                     1). Finer particle
2). Easier to lift in the air with higher flowability                          2). Higher viscosity and lower flowability
3). Weaker bitterness in taste                                                        3). Stronger bitterness in taste
4). Most floating on the surface of water(Fig.3).                           4). Most suspending or dissolving in water(Fig.3)

Composition Change after Cracking the Cell Wall

Compared with raw pine pollen and cell wall cracked pine pollen powder, we found that there is almost no difference in dry substance content, which can be concluded that the moisture change after cell wall cracking is small. As shown in the figure below, we found that the hemicellulose content dropped sharply from 12.8% to 1.5%, the cellulose content dropped sharply from 14.4% to 9.9%, the lignin decreased from 29.6% to 25.9%, and the crude fiber decreased from 35.6% to 27.3%, sugar dropped from 12.3 to 12.3%. % to 18.7%. Referring to the above figure, we can conclude that the pollen grain airbag is mainly composed of hemicellulose, cellulose, xylan and the like..

After cracking the cell wall of the pine pollen powder, the soluble carbohydrate increased from 14.8% to 30.2%, doubling the previous content. The content of ether extract increased sharply from 1.5% to 10.5%, seven times as much as before. The soluble zinc content also increased significantly from 0.16 ug/g to 0.26 ug/g..

Nutrition Change after Cracking the Cell Wall

The following figure shows the nutritional changes of pine pollen powder before and after cell wall cracking. We could find that crude protein content increased from 12.7% to 13.1%, starch and total lipid content increased by about 30%, starch content increased from 5.4% to 7.0%, total lipids from 7.3 % increased to 10.0%, total energy increased by about 5%, and ash increased by 0.4%.

Except for cysteine, arginine and methionine, the content of total amino acids in cell wall cracked pine pollen powder was higher than that in raw pine pollen. In addition to cysteine, glycine and methionine, the content of free amino acids in cell wall cracked pine pollen powder was also higher. The large increase in the solubility of water-soluble and fat-soluble components after cell wall cracking is a strong evidence of the effectiveness of the cell wall cracking process.

The above data can support the statement that the cell wall cracking process can help fully release the pine pollen powder nutrition. The other techniques of cell wall cracking of pine pollen powder include Fermentation Cell Wall Cracking Method, Colloid Grinding and so on. However, the breakdown rate of cell wall can be guaranteed by high-speed airflow crusher, which greatly improves the absorption rate of pine pollen nutrition to human body..

How to Make a Preliminary Judgment on Pine Pollen Powder Quality?

Comparison between Cell Wall Cracked and Un-cracked Pine Pollen Powder

• Visual Judgment: Observe whether the color is normal, high quality pine pollen is usually light yellow. In contrast, yellowish green or light brown represents poor quality, which may be due to mixing unknown or impurities.
• Smell: High quality pine pollen powder should have a strong aroma of pine tree. If there is musty or moldy smell, it indicates that the powder is of poor quality and loses freshness.
• Taste: Pine pollen powder has a bitter taste, and cell cracked pine pollen will produce a strong bitter taste. If there is no bitterness, or if there is a sense of sand in your mouth, it indicates that the pine pollen is not pure enough. Adding sugar or other additives may cause pine pollen powder to lose its bitterness, or to have only a slight bitterness, while tasting like sand grains is because impurities are not filtered out.
• Test: Take a small amount of pine pollen powder and rub it on the back of your hand. In this way, you can test whether pine pollen is fine enough to penetrate into the skin. High quality pine pollen can be absorbed into the skin with a delicate and smooth touch. You can also add a small amount of pine pollen powder to the water to observe its state in the water. Cell wall cracked pine pollen powder is easy to dissolve and suspend, while cell wall uncracked pine pollen mainly floats on the surface.

Recommended Steps for Taking Pine Pollen Powder

• Put about 5 grams (about one teaspoon) of pine pollen powder in a coffee cup or any cup you like.
• Add water below 40 degrees Celsius to pine pollen powder because some components may lose their biological activity in water above 40 degrees Celsius. You can also add some honey or milk to your taste..
• Mix pine pollen well and drink before it cools off.

Forms of Pine Pollen Products and Their Differences

And we have different forms of pine pollen products. For cell cracked pine pollen powder, you can take it with warm water or mix it with a drink or food, or you can fill the powder with a capsule. You can also choose pine pollen tablets which are easy to carry and take. Or you can choose different strength of pine pollen tincture, which is specially designed for men to improve testosterone. Of course, you can also make your own pine pollen tincture at home. As for the choice of pine pollen products, it depends on your own preferences and choices. Whatever type of pine pollen you choose, you can generally achieve better energy and more focused mental integrity.

Pine pollen powder is usually refers to cell wall cracked type, which helps to better absorb nutrients in the cells. Pine pollen tablets are made of cell cracked pine pollen powder, and the most common size is 500 mg per tablet. As for pine pollen capsules, the general specification is 300 mg per capsule, because the density of pine pollen powder is relatively small. Pine pollen tincture is an alcoholic herbal preparation.

Some people may confuse whether there are any differences in several forms of pine pollen supplements. Pine pollen powder and pine tablet contain complete nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, but they may carry less androgens than tinctures. In contrast, pine pollen tincture has a higher androgen content, such as testosterone, and is more easily absorbed. The reason is that pine pollen is absorbed by digestive tract, and pine pollen tincture is absorbed mainly by blood with the help of alcohol.

Recommended Dosage

The dose of pine pollen varies depending on the purpose of use, the forms of product, and individual tolerance and health. And the recommended dosage is:
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pine pollen powder up to 3 times daily for general health preservation purposes.
Take 3 counts for pine pollen tablets, twice daily or as directed.
For 1:4 pine pollen tincture, ½ dropper between 1-3 times daily.

Different people may respond differently to pine pollen supplements. Some people may need higher doses to produce significant effects, while others may need fewer doses. To reduce the risk of side effects and measure your personal tolerance, we suggest you to start using pine pollen at the lower end of its recommended dose range. If there are no side effects after one week, you can slowly increase the dose as needed to achieve the desired results.

Lab Analysis of  Pine Pollen Powder

FAQs of Shell Broken Pine Pollen Powder

Q: Does pine pollen contain any impurities? If yes, how are they been eliminated?
Blooming pine pollen/catkins are completely exposed in the air under wild circumstance, it’s inevitable that dust/sand brought by wind and rain will adhere to pine pollen and will be mixed with pine pollen during collection. In addition, pine bark, pine bud,microsporophyll and partial sporangium may also be mixed in.

Above mentioned impurities are all need to be eliminated; and generally there are two ways as dry method and wet method. Dry method could eliminate the impurities by airflow separation technology due to different relative densities of pine pollen and impurities; while wet method is to separate impurities in clear water in the same theory.

Q: Will wet method to eliminate impurities affect the quality of pine pollen?
Steps of wet method is to put pine pollen into a jar that filled with clear water, and then pine pollen will float on the surface because its light weight and closed cell structure while dust/sand will sink to the bottom. Advantage of wet method is that dust/sand could be eliminated thoroughly. The disadvantages are as:1>Flowability/liquidity will be greatly reduced, 2> Characteristic smell of pine pollen is almost losing, 3> Taste of pine pollen will be lighten, 4>around 20% nutrition may be gone away. Therefore, dry method by airflow separation technology is a better choice to preserve originality of pine pollen.

Q: How to evaluate the quality of pine pollen?
Firstly, we could evaluate the quality from its appearance, whether the color of pine pollen powder is light yellow or maize-yellow. Pine pollen with an earthy yellow or other darker color means that this powder has been metamorphic/deteriorated or it has been stored with long period.  Secondly, smell could be a reference to evaluate quality of pine pollen. Fresh and high quality pine pollen powder is with aroma/fragrance of pine tree, while musty smell or other sourish smell mean inferior quality. Taste could also be an indicator to evaluate the quality. Chewing of certain quantity pine pollen to see whether it carries a taste of bitterness or whether there is any impurities like sand. Without bitter taste but with impurities like sand suggest its poor quality.

Q: How to identify shell broken pine pollen from shell unbroken one?
Shell broken pine pollen powder is light yellow powder with a sense of satiny when entwisted with fingers, easy to lift in the air, and with great flowability. While shell unbroken pine pollen powder is with strong adhesion/stickiness and loses its flowability/fluidity. Shell unbroken pine pollen could float on the surface of water due to its complete closed cell/gasbag structure; however shell broken pine pollen powderwill sink to the bottom or suspend in the water because its closed cell/gasbag structure has been broken.

Q: Why cell wall cracked pine pollen need to be stored in a sealed container?
1> Preventing pine pollen powder from caking after absorbing moisture because it owns strong assembly effect and water-absorbing quality after the cell wall is cracked; 2> Preventing pine pollen from growing insects because rich nutrition is easy to attract some insects to breed in a short time after the cell wall is cracked. 3> Preventing some nutrition losing activity because of oxidation; for example enzymes,unsaturated fattyacid and other components is easy to be oxidizded thus losing activity.

Q: What is suggested dosage for pine pollen?
Dosages of pine pollen powder varies for different using purpose, the forms of pine pollen products, and individual tolerance and health status. And the regular recommended dosage:
• 2 teaspoons pine pollen powder up to 3 times daily for general health-prepurposes;
• ½ dropper full of 1:4 pine pollen tincture between 1-3 times daily;

Different people may react differently to pine pollen supplement; some people may need a higher dose for a noticeable effect , while others may need less. To reduce the risk of side effects and gauge your individual tolerance;  it is suggested to start using the pine pollen at the low end of its recommended dosing range. If there is no side effects have occurred after one week; you could increase the dose slowly as needed to experience a desired effect.

Q: When is the best time to take pine pollen in a day?
Based on long-term observation and statistics of pine pollen users, the best time suggested is before breakfast and sleep in a day which could ensure the best absorption effect. Some people may feel discomfort in stomach when take pine pollen before the breakfast, it’s suggested to take it after breakfast to start with and then before the breakfast gradually.

Q: Are there any precautions to take pine pollen?
1> Since pine pollen is a natural nutrition supplement rather than any synthetic product, it won’t show effect in a short period thus it’s very important to stick with it.
2> Take pine pollen on an empty stomach no matter it’s before the breakfast or sleep, 30 minutes before is suggested.
3> The best temperature of hot water to mix with pine pollen is 40 degree centigrade which won’t harm the vitamins and active enzymes contained in pine pollen.
4> The best storage condition for pine pollen is suggested in a cool dry place; and it’s suggested to stored in refrigerator after opening the package.

Q: Is there any limitation on course of treatment to take pine pollen?
Pine pollen carries more than 200 kinds beneficial nutrition with a balanced proportion which are different from any synthetic products, and most of them are necessary for metabolism but human can’t produce themselves and need to obtain from out source. Meanwhile, pine pollen is safe for different ages. Therefore, it could be a long-term natural nutrition supplement without any limitation.

Q: Whether external use of pine pollen requires break the shell?
It depends, cosmetic application always require cracking the cell wall for a more direct action of nutrition on skin; while it’s not necessary to break the cell of pine pollen is used to stop bleeding on wound or as a talcum powder.

Q: Whether pine pollen could be taken together with honey?
The answer is yes, especially mixing pine pollen in water. Honey will be a great taste blender to weaken the bitterness or characteristic taste of pine pollen for some people. One thing to be noted is that the water temperature is suggested to be less than 40 centigrade, or most nutrition of honey will be destroyed.

Q: Will pine pollen trigger sexual precocity of children?
Since most pollen as the generative cell of plant carries high content of sex hormone, some people worry about pine pollen may lead to sexual precocity if children intake of pine pollen. However there are experiments found that sex hormone contained in pine pollen is similar to quantity in milk and other daily foods which won’t cause sexual precocity of children. Most importantly, pine pollen is different from other bee source pollens since it’s collected by manpower thus contains no animal hormone which makes itself much more secure.

Q: Will pine pollen cause any allergic reaction?
There are not too many types of pollens could cause allergy, and those which cause allergy will exert on human via respiratory tract or eyes; which means intake of pine pollen through esophagus will get small chance for allergic reactions. Up to now, there is no sensitization source being found in pine pollen. However for cautiousness, it’s suggested to start with a small dose for allergy sufferers and then increase the dosage if no negative reaction found.

Q: What are the differences of allergic reaction and healing crisis?
An allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Symptoms include red eyes, itchiness, and runny nose, eczema, hives, or an asthma attack. Allergic reactions occur when a person’s immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. Food allergies and reactions to the venom of stinging insects such as wasps and bees are more often associated with these severe reactions.

A healing crisis (also known as a cleansing reaction, a detox reaction and the Herxheimer reaction) is the body’s attempt to remove disease-causing situations that may later develop into serious health problems. It is often misunderstood as a relapse. This response by the body occurs during detox programs when it tries to eliminate toxins at a faster rate than they can be properly disposed of.

Q: What healing crisis may occur during consumption of pine pollen?
In the first several days or one to two weeks of intake of pine pollen, some people may have different
unpleasant symptoms and they may be panic and doubt the quality of pine pollen; however these symptoms are just healing crisis in stead. It’s no need to be panic when these symptoms occur but should figure out the actual problems. Symptoms of healing crisis could disappear soon when the body gets used to the new status. Below are some possible healing crisis symptoms as a reference:

Allergen-Free Statement

The shell broken pine pollen powder manufactured by TCM Adaptogen Warehouse Limited contains no known allergens:

Pine pollen is collected from Pinus massoniana Lamb., with a light yellow surface, and screened to remove impurities and broken the cell walls by pneumatic cracking method with a particle size of 250 mesh. And our pine pollen has been sterilized by using Microwave drying sterilizer. Your safety is our priority. We make sure that everything we do for you is as pure as possible:

1). Our products are free of ALL common allergens (no wheat, gluten, dairy, casein, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, or eggs).
2). Most of our products are yeast-free as well.
3). We use only all natural ingredients that are non-GMO.
4). We do not add anything artificial to our foods.
5). All of our products are made in a gluten-free and nut-free facility.
6). Our material suppliers are required to complete non-contamination certificates. If contamination in their plant is possible, they are required to follow best practice procedures (i.e. vigorous line cleaning, dust collection) as prevention.
7). For extra assurance, we perform routine tests for gluten, peanuts and casein.
8). All ingredients are stored in separate bins and have their own scoops.
9). Equipment is cleaned thoroughly after product changes.
10). Our Quality Department is dedicated to avoiding the opportunity for cross contamination of allergens. When manufacturing any of these products our Quality team ensures that our specific clean down procedures between product changeovers are implemented. These clean down procedures ensure that lines, equipment and all surfaces that are in contact with product are adequately cleaned down.
11). All our employees understand the severity of food allergies and intolerances, and take all precautions possible to protect our customers.
12). We have implemented a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system to support this claim.