Where does MSM come from? Does MSM come from pine trees?
All commercially available MSM is manufactured by reacting dimethyl sulfoxide with hydrogen peroxide. The raw materials used to synthesize MSM have many sources, including plants or other organically-based material. The source of these raw materials has no relationship to the end product of MSM. A synthesis process produces MSM that is chemically identical to that which occurs in nature. There is no commercially viable way to “extract” MSM in quantity from any organic or plant source. Methyl groups may originate from plant sources, such as the processed pulp of Southern Pine, but the sulfur does not. Although MSM is a naturally occurring sulfur compound, the microscopic amounts occurring naturally in food are too small to permit “extraction” sufficient for commercial production of dietary supplements. The most “natural” MSM would be that which is closest to what is found in nature (i.e., the purest MSM). Purity of MSM is achieved by distillation or crystallization. Distillation is univ
