A salvia extract, often sold as "extract-enhanced leaf", is dried leaf to which concentrated salvinorin A from more leaf has been added. The "x" on the label is meant to say how much stronger it is than plain leaf: a 10x should be about ten times as strong (Trimbos Institute, DRUGSinfo). Nobody checks those labels, and laboratory tests show the numbers are unreliable.
On sale. Dried leaf, "extract-enhanced" leaf from 5x upwards, liquid extracts, seeds and cuttings (DEA, 2025).
What laboratories found
Several research groups have bought salvia products and measured how much salvinorin A they contain. The results, in milligrams of salvinorin A per gram of product:
| Study | Products | Measured salvinorin A |
|---|---|---|
| Chambers et al., 2022 (USA) | Raw leaf | 1.54 mg/g on average |
| Chambers et al., 2022 | Enhanced leaf extracts | 13.0 to 53.2 mg/g |
| Tsujikawa et al., 2008 (Japan) | 3 dried leaf products | 3.2 to 5.0 mg/g |
| Tsujikawa et al., 2008 | 9 "concentrated extracts" | 4.1 to 38.9 mg/g |
| Hernández-Bello et al., 2015 (Mexico) | Extracts of several brands and strengths | 8.32 to 56.52 mg/g |
Two other findings stand out. In Mexico, one brand's products did not match their declared strengths at all (Hernández-Bello et al., 2015). In the United States, five products bought online and in head shops all contained much less salvinorin A than their labels claimed, and three contained additives: vitamin E in two, caffeine in one (Wolowich et al., 2006).
Unit. mg/g = milligrams of salvinorin A per gram of product. 10 mg/g is 1% by weight.
Do the numbers add up?
Take leaf at 1.5 to 5 mg/g. A true 20x would then contain 30 to 100 mg/g. The strongest extract in any of these studies measured about 57 mg/g. So a high "x" on a label tells you a product is meant to be stronger than the lower numbers from the same maker. It does not tell you how much salvinorin A is in it, and it cannot be compared between brands.
Why small amounts matter
Smoked salvinorin A is active from about 200 to 500 micrograms (Siebert, 1994). A pinch of 50 milligrams of an extract that measures 30 mg/g contains 1.5 mg: three to seven times that range. A second pinch on top of the first, or a jump from 10x to 40x, changes the experience far more than the label suggests.
The Trimbos Institute advises a low dose for exactly this reason: the effects are often unpleasant or overwhelming, and the risks rise with the dose (DRUGSinfo).
Reading a label
- Start with leaf or the lowest strength you can find, and stay with one product from one maker so you learn how that product behaves.
- Weigh, do not estimate. A scale that reads to 0.001 gram is the only way to make two doses comparable.
- Consider a new brand unknown. The studies above found large differences between brands with similar labels.
- Do not combine strengths in one go, and do not take a second portion during the effect.
- Higher numbers are not better. Extracts of 30x, 40x and 80x exist. They make it easy to take far more than intended in one breath.
The products
These are leaf and the lower extract strengths sold by Avalon Magic Plants, the shop behind this site. Their labels carry the same uncertainty as any other label described above: we have no laboratory values for these products. Salvia is legal to sell in the Netherlands, but ordering or importing it is an offence in a number of countries. Check the legal status for where you live first.
Salvia Divinorum Leaves
Avalon Magic Plants€4.90
Salvia Divinorum 5X extract
Avalon Magic Plants€9.50
Salvia Divinorum 10X extract
Avalon Magic Plants€14.50
Salvia Divinorum 20X extract
Avalon Magic Plants€21.50
Where to read on
- Effects and duration: what happens at different strengths and routes.
- Safety and the sitter: how to set up a session.
- Salvinorin A: why such small amounts are active.