Expert: Dr.Paul Skett - 6/7/2011

Question
I purchased 6 bottles of Hydroxytryptophan in capsule form--all natural made from "Griffonia simplicifolia)(seed).  What I'm concerned about is that according to UPS tracking, they left Nevada last week, went up to Ontario for some reason, came back down through Texas, and sat all weekend at UPS (I don't know if temp-controlled), and then were on a UPS non-temp-controlled truck all day from 6 a.m. 'til they were delivered to me at 5:30 pm.  The temp got up to 105 degrees today--and they were on that truck all day.  When I opened the box, the bottles were of course quite warm to touch.

Do you think the product is still good?

Answer
Hi, Robin,

5-HTP is not particularly heat labile (i.e it can survive a bit of heat if dry) but storage instructions are store dry and cool and can decompose if heated. With the temperatures you mention, I would suspect there is a good chance of some degradation. Does it say anything on the label?

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Paul