Active folate · L-5-MTHFExtrafolate-S®
Folate in its active, body-ready form.
Supplied by Gnosis by Lesaffre
Extrafolate-S® is a patented active folate — the calcium salt of L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (L-5-MTHF), the metabolically active form of vitamin B9 — supplied by Gnosis by Lesaffre.
Why the active form
Synthetic folic acid is biologically inactive: the body must convert it to L-5-MTHF through several enzymatic steps before cells can use it. Extrafolate-S® supplies folate already in that active, reduced-and-methylated form, so no conversion is needed. Some people carry MTHFR gene variants that slow this conversion.
Recognised as a folate source
The EFSA Panel on Nutrition (NDA) has assessed calcium-L-methylfolate and (6S)-5-MTHF for conversion into dietary folate equivalents — i.e. it is recognised as a dietary source of folate.
Published research
Folate forms have a substantial peer-reviewed and regulatory literature. Representative sources:
- PubMed ↗
Cochrane et al. (2020)
Pilot randomised-controlled-trial protocol comparing (6S)-5-MTHF with folic acid for raising serum and red-blood-cell folate in pregnancy.
TrialsPubMed/MEDLINE
- PubMed ↗
Samaniego-Vaesken et al. (2024)
Evidence-based narrative review of folic acid versus 5-methyltetrahydrofolate supplementation.
NutrientsPubMed/MEDLINE · Review
- Source ↗
EFSA NDA Panel (2022)
Scientific opinion on the conversion of calcium-L-methylfolate and (6S)-5-MTHF into dietary folate equivalents.
EFSA JournalEFSA scientific opinion
A note on claimsFolate’s health benefits are authorised EU claims and live on the product page; here we describe the molecule and its absorption advantage.