Reviewed August 2026 by the Corydalis Labs Technical Team. How we research and review.
Why this is the usual starting point
It changes the product without changing anything else. Same primary active, same regulatory obligations, same retailers, same customers — and a finished product that is genuinely different from the mitragynine-only competition rather than differently branded.
The alternative differentiators the category has reached for over the past two years have all been mitragynine derivatives, and they have all ended up in the same place. 13-OH is not part of that chemistry. The fuller version of that argument.
The build
| Component | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mitragynine | Your current level, or reduced | The reduction is where most of the commercial value sits — bench both. |
| 13-OH | 25–40 mg per serving | 30 mg is the standard starting point. Dosing detail. |
| Format | Tablet or liquid shot | Cross-scored tablets, or 15 / 30 / 60 ml fills. |
| Optional | Boosters to taste | Stimulants, mood, comfort, or absorption. The full list. |
What changes in the product
What formulators report consistently:
- Reduced sensory harshness compared with the same formula without it. The most cited reason brands adopt it, and the difference that shows up fastest in a side-by-side.
- A fuller, rounder overall character.
- The target reached at a lower mitragynine inclusion, because 13-OH carries part of the profile.
That third one is the strategically interesting outcome: a shorter ingredient statement and a lighter total alkaloid load, on a product you can stand behind more comfortably. What is established versus observed.
What does not change
Adding 13-OH does not remove your product from kratom regulation
The mitragynine is still present, so every state kratom act obligation that applies to your product today continues to apply exactly as before — age restrictions, labelling, permitting, and prohibition in the states that prohibit sale. 13-OH adds differentiation, not an exemption.
If your goal is to be outside those statutes, that requires a product with no Mitragyna speciosa material at all. That is the kratom-free route.
How to bench it
- Control — your current product, unchanged.
- Additive — same formula plus 30 mg of 13-OH. Isolates the contribution.
- Substitutive — 30 mg of 13-OH with mitragynine reduced. Usually the decisive sample.
Keep the flavour system identical across all three, use a panel rather than one evaluator, and blind them if you can. Our $400 sample kit is built for exactly this and includes finished tablet and shot samples.
Label and marketing
You are declaring an additional ingredient, so label copy and possibly panel layout change. Decide before artwork goes to print how you name it — we use 13-OH Corydalis Yanhusuo because it describes the material accurately — and get your claims reviewed. The marketing guide covers where the lines sit, and claims are where enforcement in this category actually lands.
Common questions
25–40 mg per serving, most commonly 30 mg. Full dosing guidance.
No. Plenty of brands add 13-OH and leave mitragynine unchanged. But the option to reduce it is where much of the value sits, so bench that version before deciding.
No. Mitragynine is present, so the product contains kratom-derived material and state kratom acts apply as before.
25,000 tablets or 15,000 liquid shots for co-packing; one kilogram if you are buying material to run yourself.