A.Vogel Saw Palmetto

Alfred Vogel discovered the beneficial effects of Saw Palmetto during his exploration of the Americas in the 1950s and learned that the Seminole of Florida, had used the fruit of Saw Palmetto for hundreds of years for many conditions such as the onset of prostate enlargement and bladder infections.

But they had another, very important use for the small palm: they used it as a love medicine to help improve erectile dysfunction!

The Saw Palmetto plant grows mainly in Florida, in the southeast of the USA. Sabal serrulata, the Latin name for American Saw Palm, is found to the north of the Everglades, where the climate is hot and dry.

Our experience has shown that the most effective means of obtaining a good, healthy crop of Saw Palmetto is to carefully select a natural cultivation and devote time and energy in ensuring that the wild palms have room to grow and are not overgrown by the forest or other plants.

To this end, A.Vogel has fenced off about one square kilometre of fields far away from industrial areas and citrus plantations which could be a source of contamination. The berries are harvested only in this organically grown area which is checked by officials (soil samples) several times a year.

At our plantations, each Saw Palm bears between 50 and 100 berries. When the fruit is ripe, berries are hand-picked in searing temperatures ranging from 35 to 42 degrees centigrade.

The harvest is culled, cleaned and stored in dryers within 24 hours. This preserves the freshness of the fatty acids in the berries to provide the highest possible potency. Finally the Saw Palmetto berries are placed in capsules rather than tablets in order to further protect the vital fatty acid content.

Considering the high risk of contamination by pesticides and herbicides used in the omnipresent citrus groves of Florida, choosing an organic Saw Palmetto extract is fundamental.

Importance of using Fresh herbs

Fresh herbs retain more of their phyto-chemical properties and deliver a higher concentration of active ingredients necessary for superior healing results compared to dried plant extracts.

We know that it is the fatty acid compounds in Saw Palmetto berry that hold the active ingredients. This is why Sabalasan Prostate 1 is made from Saw Palmetto berry oil.

One capsule contains 320mg of the extract from organically cultivated Saw Palmetto berries equivalent to 2280 - 3840 mg berries and no less than 85% fatty acids.

Saw Palmetto products made from powders or dried herbal material will not contain as much of the oils and fatty acids as the "oily capsule of Sabalasan Prostate 1.

This is an important difference to look for when considering the effectiveness of the available Saw Palmetto products.

Because the berries are harvested and dried within 24 hours, this unique process keeps the freshness of the berries at its peak and their high content of fatty acid from going rancid.

Note that if the Saw Palmetto berries are not organic, they may contain pepticides used in the orange groves of Florida, where Saw Palmetto thrives.