Natural Vitamin K2 and Synthetic Vitamin K2. What’s the Difference?
Vitamin K2 MK-7 can be divided into two according to the manufacturing process, Natural Vitamin K2 and Synthetic Vitamin K2. Though they might seem similar, there are key differences between natural and synthetic vitamin K2.
Firstly, we should know what natural Vitamin K2 is and what makes natural vitamin K2 different from synthetic vitamin K2.
What is Natural Vitamin K2?
Natural Vitamin K2 is produced by fermentation of Bacillus subtilis natto, the microorganism of natto. Fermentation is when a substance breaks down into a simpler substance. Microorganisms like yeast and bacteria usually play a role in fermentation, creating beer, wine, bread, kimchi, yogurt, and other foods.
Natural Vitamin K2 is often produced with supercritical extraction techniques, while synthetic vitamin K2 uses toxic organic solvents and chemical catalysts for extraction.
Here are reasons we should choose natural vitamin K2 over synthetic vitamin K2.
1. Toxic substances may be present in synthetic Vitamin k2
Synthetic vitamin K2 Mk-7 is not natural as it requires hazardous chemicals and solvents, meaning that toxic substances derived from the chemical process may be present in the finished product.
Also, getting rid of the undesired non-related substances has subsequent effects on efficacy and cannot be eliminated entirely.
Chemical Synthetic Manufacturing Process
in general
Organic
Synthesis
Toxic chemical solvents & chemical catalysts
are used during organic reaction and extraction Extraction
Extraction
Toxic solvents
are used
Crystallization
&
Chromatography
Toxic chemical solvents
are used
Drying
Packaging
Residual solvents & chemicals
could be remained In the finished product
Toxic solvents: t-butyl hydroperoxide, dichloromethane, mesyl chloride, acetic anhydride, tetrahydrofuran etc.
Toxic chemical catalysts: DMAP, dibromomethane, PBr3 etc
2. The bioactive Trans-form are more prevalent in natural vitamin k2
There are two chemical isomers of Vitamin k2 MK-7, which are Trans-type and Cis-type.
The trans-type of menaquinones is the bioactive form in activating efficacy. On the other hand, cis-type, a form of MK-7 that cannot be activated, is managed to be within 2% according to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).
According to studies, the inactive cis-type is more prevalent in synthetic vitamin k2 in the market, not meeting the standard of united states pharmacopeia (USP).
Final Thoughts
It is challenging for some to distinguish between natural Vitamin K2 and synthetic ones. The easiest way to find this is whether a product guarantees inactive Cis-type below 1% ~ 2% and maximizing the bioactive component, Trans-type, to 99%!