On a salvia extract, the X is a fold ratio: it states how many grams of dried leaf one gram of product stands for. A 20X is labelled as one gram carrying the salvinorin A of twenty grams of leaf. The US Drug Enforcement Administration lists "extract-enhanced leaves of various strengths (e.g., 5X, 10X, 20X, 30X)" among the salvia products on sale (DEA, December 2025).
A fold ratio says nothing about milligrams by itself. It is a recipe ratio, and its result depends on the leaf it started from.
The physical product
A salvia extract in the X series is dried leaf material with a raised salvinorin A content. It is not a liquid and not the pure compound. Avalon describes its extracts this way too: "concentrated leaf material", and on the 30X page, "not a liquid". Liquid products exist separately as tinctures and sprays, which carry a different kind of ratio; see extract, leaves, tincture or spray.
Two ways to declare a herbal product
Regulated herbal products in the European Union are declared in one of three ways, set out by the European Medicines Agency (EMA guideline on declaration of herbal substances and preparations, 2010). Salvia extracts are not regulated products, but the categories are a useful yardstick:
| Type | What is declared | Salvia equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Standardised | A fixed content of a named compound, within a tolerance | "36 mg salvinorin A per gram" |
| Quantified | A content range of a named compound | "between 30 and 40 mg per gram" |
| Other | Only the ratio of plant to product (the drug extract ratio, written as 10:1) | "10X" |
A plain X label belongs in the third group. It tells you the ratio, and a product declared that way is, in the EMA's words, "essentially defined by [its] production process". A content figure moves a product towards the first group, because it names the compound and an amount.
Why the same X can mean different amounts
Salvia leaf is not uniform. Across published analyses, dried leaf has measured anywhere from 0.89 to 7.8 mg of salvinorin A per gram (Chambers et al., 2022, review of earlier studies). In the same study, a raw leaf product bought online measured 1.54 mg per gram. Three leaf products sold in Japan measured 3.2 to 5.0 mg per gram (Tsujikawa et al., 2008).
Run a tenfold ratio across that range and the arithmetic gives very different products:
| Starting leaf | A true 10X would hold | A true 40X would hold |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5 mg/g | 15 mg/g | 60 mg/g |
| 3.6 mg/g | 36 mg/g | 144 mg/g |
| 5.0 mg/g | 50 mg/g | 200 mg/g |
This is arithmetic, not a measurement: it shows how much room a fold label leaves. The middle row matches the figures Avalon states for its own 10X and 40X.
A second source of difference is that nobody checks X labels. The lab tests page shows what independent analyses found, including a 20X that measured lower than a 10X from the same seller.
How Avalon labels its extracts
Avalon gives a fold ratio and a stated content for each extract. Its figures follow a straight line of 3.6 mg per X:
| Strength | Stated salvinorin A per gram | Pack size | Stated amount per pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5X | 18 mg | 1 g | 18 mg |
| 10X | 36 mg | 1 g | 36 mg |
| 15X | 54 mg | 1 g | 54 mg |
| 20X | 72 mg | 1 g | 72 mg |
| 30X | 108 mg | 0.5 g | 54 mg |
| 40X | 144 mg | 0.5 g | 72 mg |
| 80X | 288 mg | 0.5 g | 144 mg |
The shop describes its extracts as "standardized". The figures are the shop's own; no published study has tested Avalon products. The last column is simple multiplication and is useful when you compare packs: half a gram of 30X carries the same stated amount as one gram of 15X.
5X Salvia Divinorum 5X extract
View at Avalon Magic Plants
10X Salvia Divinorum 10X extract
View at Avalon Magic Plants
20X Salvia Divinorum 20X extract
View at Avalon Magic Plants
80X Salvia Divinorum 80X Extract
View at Avalon Magic Plants
What a buyer can take from a label
- Two numbers beat one. A label with both an X and a milligram figure tells you the intended ratio and the intended content. A label with only an X tells you the ratio.
- Compare within one seller. The X steps of one seller are at least meant to relate to each other. Between sellers, the same X can hide a several-fold difference.
- Per pack, not only per gram. Pack sizes differ between strengths, so the stated amount per pack is the fairer comparison.
- The number is not a quality grade. A higher X is a smaller amount for the same effect, not a better product.
The calm, step-by-step route through these strengths is on the choosing page. For how small the amounts are in practice, the lab tests page has the background.