Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo comes from the fan-shaped leaves of the ginkgo tree. Nearly every product here uses an extract of those leaves, not the dried leaf itself. The extract is concentrated, so one small tablet carries what would otherwise be several grams of leaf. It is one of the most-bought botanicals in our herbs and plants range.

What the numbers on a ginkgo label mean

Most UK products print 6000mg on the front. That is not the amount inside the tablet. It describes a 50:1 extract: 120 mg of extract made from 6000 mg of leaf. The figure that tells you more is the standardisation. A serious extract states 24% flavone glycosides and 6% terpene lactones, the two groups of plant compounds that all the research is built on. Without those percentages, you cannot know what you are taking.

One more figure matters: ginkgolic acid. This compound occurs naturally in the leaf and can irritate, so pharmacopoeia-grade extracts keep it below 5 parts per million. Loose leaf and home-brewed ginkgo tea have no such control. That is why we do not stock them.

No approved claim, so no promises

Ginkgo has no authorised EU health claim. Claims for plant ingredients were put on hold years ago and were never assessed, so we cannot tell you what ginkgo does, and we will not guess. What we can give you is context. The European Medicines Agency describes standardised ginkgo dry extract in licensed herbal medicines, used for at least eight weeks. Food supplements are a different legal category, but that timescale is a useful reality check: judge ginkgo after two months of daily use, not after a week. Most people buy it with goals around memory and concentration in mind.

How we choose ginkgo at BONO

We stock standardised leaf extract and skip unstandardised leaf powder, because only a standardised extract tells you how much flavone glycoside and terpene lactone you get each day. We prefer products that state their ginkgolic acid limit. On dosage we look for one clear daily amount, not herbal blends where ginkgo is a footnote. A combination only earns a place when the added nutrient carries an approved claim of its own, such as vitamin B5 or iodine. Every product passes our compliance team, and we buy directly from the brands. Read how we select brands and products.

Who it suits, and who should leave it alone

Ginkgo can affect blood clotting, and that shapes who should use it. UK labels are consistent on this:

• Not during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Not alongside anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication, including aspirin, unless your GP agrees.
• Stop at least two weeks before surgery or a dental procedure.
• Not intended for children.

For everyone else it is a simple daily botanical: one tablet with food, kept up for a couple of months. Headache and mild stomach upset are the effects people report most often, usually in the first weeks, which is exactly why time-release tablets exist. If you are comparing traditional botanicals, many shoppers also look at ginseng from the same category before deciding.