# What is shilajit made of? Its composition

Source: https://shilajit.uk/what-is-shilajit/composition/
Author: Sam Rowan · Updated 2026-10-16

**Short answer:** Shilajit is more than 80% humic substances by weight, mainly fulvic and humic acids, with about 20% minerals, chiefly calcium, potassium and magnesium. It also contains small amounts of amino acids, fatty acids, plant compounds such as dibenzo-alpha-pyrones, and trace metals, some of them toxic. The exact make-up varies widely between sources.

Shilajit is not one compound but a crowded mixture: the slow-cooked remains of plants, broken down by microbes and soaked into mineral-rich rock. Chemists have been taking it apart since at least the 1970s (Ghosal et al., 1976), yet a 2025 review concluded that its full composition "is not known with certainty", because no study has ever identified everything in it (Kamgar et al., 2025).

What is clear is the broad shape. Most of shilajit by weight is humic material, chiefly fulvic acid. Most of the rest is minerals. A long tail of smaller molecules, including the dibenzo-alpha-pyrones that researchers think may be among its active ingredients, makes up the remainder. Our [what is shilajit](/what-is-shilajit/) overview gives the basics; this page goes into the detail.

## What are the main components of shilajit?

Across the samples analysed so far, shilajit is more than 80% humic substances and almost 20% calcium, potassium and magnesium, with smaller amounts of everything else (Kamgar et al., 2025):

| Component | Roughly how much | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Humic substances | More than 80% by weight in the 2025 review; 60% to 80% in an earlier review | Large and small organic molecules from decayed plants, including fulvic acid, humic acid and humin |
| Major minerals | About 20% | Mainly calcium, potassium and magnesium |
| Trace elements | Small amounts | Iron, zinc, manganese, chromium, selenium, cobalt and rare earth elements |
| Dibenzo-alpha-pyrones and their protein complexes | Varies; one standardised extract had 0.43% and 20.45% | Small aromatic compounds thought, with fulvic acid, to drive many effects |
| Other organic molecules | Small amounts | Amino acids (mainly glycine), fatty acids, caffeic acid, gallic acid, hippuric acid, urolithin A, terpenoids |
| Toxic metals | Trace, but variable | Lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, nickel, thallium |

The two review figures differ (Kamgar et al., 2025; Carrasco-Gallardo et al., 2012), which itself shows how much samples vary.

## What are humic substances and fulvic acid?

Humic substances are what remains when plant material decomposes over long periods. Researchers split them into separate fractions. When mumie (another name for shilajit) was split up in the lab, it yielded fulvic acid, humic acid, humin, hymatomelanic acid and two low molecular weight fractions (Schepetkin et al., 2003). Fulvic acid is the fraction that stays soluble in water across a range of acidity and has a low molecular weight of around 2 kDa (Carrasco-Gallardo et al., 2012).

Fulvic acid is the component most often credited with shilajit's effects, and the one that standardised extracts are measured by. Content varies enormously. A processed extract used in a rat study was standardised to 56.75% fulvic acids (Surapaneni et al., 2012), while a purified product used in a 2003 human study assayed at just 6.61% crude fulvic acid (Sharma et al., 2003). Our page on [fulvic acid in shilajit](/what-is-shilajit/fulvic-acid/) covers what is known about it.

## Which minerals does shilajit contain?

Calcium is usually the most abundant. In a 2026 analysis of 12 samples from different countries, calcium was the most plentiful element and turned out to be present largely as a calcium lactate complex. Most metals were bound to small molecules under 10 kDa, the size range of humic acid and metal complexes. The pattern of rare earth elements matched natural geology, suggesting the metals came from the surrounding rock rather than later contamination (Kamgar et al., 2026).

You will often see "84 minerals" on product labels. A 2024 review counted around 65 metals reported in the literature, many in trace amounts, and listed toxic ones such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, aluminium and copper among them (Hussain and Saeed, 2024). More minerals is not necessarily better. Our page on [heavy metals in shilajit](/safety/heavy-metals/) explains which ones to watch for.

## What are dibenzo-alpha-pyrones?

They are small ring-shaped organic molecules found in shilajit, often bound to proteins as "DBP-chromoproteins". A 2014 review named dibenzo-alpha-pyrones and fulvic acid as the constituents that "appear to be" responsible for shilajit's effects (Stohs, 2014). Some branded extracts are standardised to them: the processed shilajit in one rat study contained 0.43% dibenzo-alpha-pyrones and 20.45% dibenzo-alpha-pyrone chromoproteins (Surapaneni et al., 2012). How much they contribute in people has not been tested.

## What other compounds have been found?

A long list, depending on the sample and the method. Recent analyses have reported:

- **Amino acids, fatty acids and plant phenolics** such as caffeic and gallic acid (Kamgar et al., 2025).
- **Hippuric acid and urolithin A**, proposed as marker compounds for quality control in a 2026 study co-authored by researchers at an Indian herbal company (Kohli et al., 2026).
- **New diterpenoids**, named mumic acids A to E, isolated from mumiyo (Kiren et al., 2014).

## Why does shilajit vary so much from one source to another?

Because it depends on the local plants and rock. A 2026 DNA study of processed shilajit from the Pamir-Alai mountains detected 50 plant groups, with the daisy and carrot families most common, which supports the idea that local vegetation feeds into it (Ulug et al., 2026). In Tibet, shilajit seeps from cracks in carbon-rich slate on steep, sunny cliffs at 2,000 to 4,000 m (Ding et al., 2020), so the host rock shapes its minerals.

The word "mumijo" can even cover a different material altogether. A product collected in Antarctica and studied as mumijo turned out to come from snow petrels and to consist of glycerol derivatives, quite unlike Himalayan shilajit (Aiello et al., 2011).

## Does processing change what is in shilajit?

Yes. Purification removes sand, soil, plant fibre and microbes, and standardisation adjusts the product to a target fulvic acid content. Processing does not reliably remove metals, though: a 2025 study found more thallium in some finished supplements than in crude shilajit (Kamgar et al., 2025, BMC Chem). That is why a batch [certificate of analysis](/buying-guide/certificate-of-analysis/) matters more than the word "purified". See [raw vs purified shilajit](/buying-guide/raw-vs-purified/) for how the two compare.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the main ingredient in shilajit?

Humic substances, a family of organic compounds formed when plant matter breaks down. They make up more than 80% of shilajit by weight, and fulvic acid is the one most often credited with its effects.

### How many minerals does shilajit contain?

Claims of '84 minerals' are common, and one 2024 review counted around 65 metals reported across studies. But most are present in tiny traces, some are toxic, and the main minerals by weight are calcium, potassium and magnesium.

### Is shilajit the same everywhere it is found?

No. Samples from different mountains, and even different seams, differ in their minerals, organic compounds and contaminants. That is why standardised extracts state a fulvic acid percentage and why batch testing matters.

### Does shilajit contain plant DNA?

A 2026 study of processed shilajit from the Pamir-Alai mountains found DNA from 50 plant groups, supporting the idea that it forms largely from plant remains.

## References

1. [Kamgar E, Kaykhaii M, Zembrzuska J. A Comprehensive Review on Shilajit: What We Know about Its Chemical Composition. Crit Rev Anal Chem. 2025;55(3):461-473.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38133965/)
2. [Kamgar E et al. Characterization of metal composition and molecular weight distribution in Shilajit. J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2026;96:127913.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42364294/)
3. [Hussain A, Saeed A. Hazardous or Advantageous: Uncovering the Roles of Heavy Metals and Humic Substances in Shilajit (Phyto-mineral) with Emphasis on Heavy Metals Toxicity and Their Detoxification Mechanisms. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024;202(12):5794-5814.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38393486/)
4. [Stohs SJ. Safety and efficacy of shilajit (mumie, moomiyo). Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):475-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23733436/)
5. [Carrasco-Gallardo C, Guzmán L, Maccioni RB. Shilajit: a natural phytocomplex with potential procognitive activity. Int J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;2012:674142.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22482077/)
6. [Surapaneni DK et al. Shilajit attenuates behavioral symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome by modulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and mitochondrial bioenergetics in rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;143(1):91-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22771318/)
7. [Sharma P et al. Shilajit: evalution of its effects on blood chemistry of normal human subjects. Anc Sci Life. 2003;23(2):114-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22557121/) Product analysis from Table 1 of the full text.
8. [Schepetkin IA et al. Characterization and biological activities of humic substances from mumie. J Agric Food Chem. 2003;51(18):5245-54.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12926866/)
9. [Kohli HK et al. Shilajit-analytical study to understand the phyto complex present in shilajit raw material, extract and resin by using hyphenated techniques. J Chromatogr A. 2026;1766:466570.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41330163/) Some authors work for Himalaya Wellness Company.
10. [Kiren Y et al. Mumic acids A-E: new diterpenoids from mumiyo. J Nat Med. 2014;68(1):199-205.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23609027/)
11. [Ulug A et al. Shilajit as a Natural Product from Sedimentary Rocks: Biological Origin and Antioxidant Properties. Biochem Genet. 2026 (online ahead of print).](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42496934/)
12. [Ding R et al. Mechanisms of generation and exudation of Tibetan medicine Shilajit (Zhaxun). Chin Med. 2020;15:65.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32612671/)
13. [Aiello A et al. Mumijo traditional medicine: fossil deposits from antarctica (chemical composition and beneficial bioactivity). Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:738131.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18996940/)
14. [Kamgar E et al. Quantifying of thallium in Shilajit and its supplements to unveil the potential risk of consumption of this popular traditional medicine. BMC Chem. 2025;19(1):20.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39827344/)
15. [Ghosal S, Reddy JP, Lal VK. Shilajit I: chemical constituents. J Pharm Sci. 1976;65(5):772-3.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/932958/)