and that 50% brown polygonum ain't gonna pass for 98% resveratrol.
I wouldn't be so sure, it sure looks dirty - but I remember when I received 99% 1,3,5-tribromobenzene from reputable suplier, and it was red/brown, I got upset
and done some tests... guess what, it was pure as stated (sublimed product was totally white). Sometimes very small amount of contaminant can make quite pure product look dirty.
Hello, Goog

Yes, I've experienced similar phenomenon on a few occasions, often related to trace metal contamination which will oxidize the material and form colored complexes. Halogenated compounds such as your example are also notorious for such occurrence, especially Bromide and Iodide compounds stored in hot warehouses too long, or shipped improperly.
However, that is not what I'm referring too. Polygonum 50% extract is a common material that I am quite familiar with. It used to be very popular just a few years ago, but gastro side-effects made it fall into disfavor. It's popularity is resurging though, as prices have lowered recently. I deal with these Indian, Chinese, Canadian, South American, EU and US vendors all the time, it's my profession. This brown material is ~50% trans-resveratrol with other stilbene isomers and has a characteristic odor with distinct physical properties. I will know it in a heartbeat if that's what it is. Real trans-Resveratrol is certainly not any more dark than off-white, and a traceable/validated reference can be found here:
http://www.sigmaaldr...ng=en®ion=USThere is still no USP standard available (or SOP monograph) that I am aware of, but good material is easily identified by FT-IR comparison, and purity can be readily assesses by any UV detector method (UV/Vis, LC, GC, etc).
I worked as a QC pharmaceutical chemist for over 15 years, tested every active and inactive raw material in common pharmaceuticals, and for the last 5 years I've done the same in nutraceuticals. In fact, my main services are formulation and analysis as per customer contract, so if a company wants to use a certain material or pre-qualify a vendor or batch from a manufacturer, I will test a sample of the lot they're interested in and report back my results. It saves them money having to send a huge batch back that's been rejected for failed analysis, once it's been imported already. I've got reference standards and secondary standards for practically everything in popular supplements these days, and if I can't test it I have half a dozen lab contacts that can. I've seen and tested it all, analytical qualification and quantization, and by now I know which suppliers are legit and which are best avoided. As you can imagine, as a Quality Control chemist, I have NO tolerance for blatant scammers, and will expose them with a passion!
This conman "Cerebral" just rubbed me the wrong way for several reasons...
- He has a chat line, but won't chat with you. He is generally off-line, but even when he's on-line he won't respond. Really? That doesn't seem weird to anybody, in a scammer kinda way? lol
- He doesn't have a real phone number where you can speak with him personally, he has a 'voice mail'. Guess he really doesn't wanna talk to customers at all, huh? My secretary left his a polite inquiry and he never returned the call. Completely aloof and unprofessional. Once again, common scammer protocol to never answer the phone to a paying customer.
- His site has a Contact Us option, so I left him a note asking the status of my order. Nothing. Asked again, in case he missed it or it didn't go through. Still crickets chirping... waiting for a kindly and quick response but nothing! Not even a 'hey, i'll ship it soon, got busy this week' or anything like that. He's devoted ZERO time to customer service, and his site says he ships after payment confirmation. Not really. I don't have time for his slow and sloppy business model. I'll order elsewhere with better/faster shipping and customer service if he can't ship promptly after payment.
- I emailed him as well. Three times total. Nothing, same as all the other methods I used to attempt to correspond with him. Then I submit a cancelation and refund request, finally, a whole week later after giving up on him being legit, and instead he ships the next day just ignoring my request for refund! How ignorant and arrogant is that? I don't play that game.
So basically, this guy looks like a cool dude, interested in the same things we are, health minded and fascinated with new medicinal developments, has a great list of raws on his site, etc, etc..but he either lost his integrity in business matters or he's truly a scammer and never had any integrity to begin with. I am studying his background as we speak and must say, my conclusion is certainly leaning toward the later. I will post a complete summary of ALL my findings on this board and several others, once I determined who this guy really is, what his scam is, and what the lab analysis of his materials truly are.
It would be in this company's best interests to resend the package he sent me (if he really was ignorant enough to send if after I requested a refund) and refund my card promptly as per my request. He doesn't want a guy like me on his case any longer than necessary.