Researchers studying saw palmetto for treatment of BPH have used lipophilic extracts of the berries. These extracts, prepared from the dried fruits, use either hexane or carbon dioxide to separate the lipids from the berries. A typical carbon dioxide extraction will yield 85 to 95 percent free fatty acids and 0.2 to 0.4 percent total sterols. B-sitosterol is the most extensively researched because many of the pharmacological effects are attributed to this constituent. |
