[peter_oos]

Hello,

I have no background in chemistry, so I apologize if the answer to this question is obvious. Is it possible that n mg of choline bitartrate could contain n mg of choline? It seems to me that the bitartrate part must make up some of the mass of the compound, but this page on a choline bitartrate supplement suggests otherwise: http://www.naturesway.com/?pid=40460. The label (under Specs) says one tablet contains 500 mg of "choline (as choline bitartrate)" (the supplement is generally described as "100% natural Choline bound to tartaric acid for enhanced absorption"). On the other hand, another choline bitartrate supplement, found at http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=15&Product_ID=206, claims to contain 293 mg of "choline (from 650 mg of choline bitartrate)," which suggests to me that n mg of choline bitartrate don't necessarily contain n mg of choline. Perhaps I'm misreading the first label; maybe it really means that one tablet contains 500 mg of choline from an unspecified, larger amount of choline bitartrate.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[sjb]

Hello,

I have no background in chemistry, so I apologize if the answer to this question is obvious. Is it possible that n mg of choline bitartrate could contain n mg of choline? It seems to me that the bitartrate part must make up some of the mass of the compound, but this page on a choline bitartrate supplement suggests otherwise: http://www.naturesway.com/?pid=40460. The label (under Specs) says one tablet contains 500 mg of "choline (as choline bitartrate)" (the supplement is generally described as "100% natural Choline bound to tartaric acid for enhanced absorption"). On the other hand, another choline bitartrate supplement, found at http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=15&Product_ID=206, claims to contain 293 mg of "choline (from 650 mg of choline bitartrate)," which suggests to me that n mg of choline bitartrate don't necessarily contain n mg of choline. Perhaps I'm misreading the first label; maybe it really means that one tablet contains 500 mg of choline from an unspecified, larger amount of choline bitartrate.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

My understanding of the terminology is not that "n mg of choline bitartrate could contain n mg of choline", rather n mg of choline bitartrate could contain m mg of choline, where m and n are determined by ratio, and corresponds to your second thoughts under the "misreading" sentence.