This recognition underscores Verdure Sciences' commitment to ethical and sustainable practices in the sourcing and production of turmeric.
Ajay Patel, founder and CEO of Verdure Sciences, says: “This journey began five years ago and is a testament to a successful partnership between multiple entities with the ultimate goal of benefiting the growers and their families, without whom we wouldn’t be in the position to offer sustainable and consistently high-quality Turmeric, an integral part of our flagship LongVida Optimized Curcumin ingredient.”
Verdure Sciences first established the Sustainable Procurement Program (SPP) in 2017 to ensure the ethical, profitable, sustainable, and certifiable procurement and processing of plants throughout its supply chains.
The Sustainable Turmeric Program (STP)
The Sustainable Turmeric Program (STP) is a case study highlighting turmeric sustainability and traceability at Verdure Sciences.
Initially launched as a pilot program covering seven acres with five farmers in the Southern region of India, the STP now encompasses more than 310 farmers and nearly 640 acres of land, with plans for further expansion in farmers, acreage, and geographical locations.
The programme incorporates various essential elements to ensure sustainable and traceable turmeric production including the qualification of farmers and meticulous seed selection for purity and quality assurance.
Through long-standing partnerships, Verdure Sciences provides seed rhizomes, the horizontal underground plant stem capable of producing the shoot and root systems of a new plant, to maximise yield, quality and purity while offering increased revenues for farmers.
The program also emphasises sustainable and traceable practices throughout the entire growing cycle, which spans approximately nine months.
Farmers receive regular training, soil testing, and on-site agronomist support to implement regenerative agricultural practices.
UEBT/RA
The UEBT/Rainforest Alliance standards are specifically designed to certify the ethical and respectful sourcing of botanical ingredients.
The organisation works toward regenerating nature and securing a better future for both people and biodiversity through the ethical sourcing of ingredients.
LongVida Optimized Curcumin
Verdure’s Longvida SLCP (solid lipid curcumin particles)product is a patented curcumin extract standardised to deliver free curcumin to the brain and target tissues.
Longvida Optimized Curcumin was developed by university neuroscientists to bypass initial hydrolysis and deliver unglucuronidated (free) curcumin.
This allows Longvida’s curcumin to cross the blood-brain barrier and offers efficacious free curcumin at daily doses of 400-2000mg.
The firm funded a study published in 2020 which found daily 400mg dose of Longvida (providing 80 mg of curcumin) for 12 weeks was associated with improvements in working memory, and lower fatigue scores in the Profile of Mood States scale.