Methylfolate and folic acid are two forms of vitamin B9, and the difference is one conversion step. Folic acid has to be converted in the body before it can be used. Methylfolate is the form that step produces, which is why it's called the active form. For a buyer, the useful question is narrower: which form the label names, and how much you're getting. Hoola's register entry lists levomefolate glucosamine at 89 micrograms per gram, or 890 micrograms per 10 g serve, with an equivalent of 500 micrograms of levomefolic acid.
TL;DR
- Every folate form, in food or in a supplement, has to reach 5-MTHF before the body can use it. Folic acid takes the long route to get there. Methylfolate starts at the end of it.
- "Active" describes chemistry, not a ranking. It means the form arrives already reduced, ready for the reactions folate takes part in.
- Hoola's folate is levomefolate glucosamine, 890 micrograms per 10 g serve. The same register line carries an equivalent of 500 micrograms of levomefolic acid. One ingredient, two numbers that measure different things.
- The register settles the form and the amount. It's free, it's the government's record of what's in a listed product, and a check takes about two minutes.
- Folic acid has the longer history and the wider use in fortified foods and supplements. Both forms are recognised, so the useful question is which one you're buying.
What's the difference between folic acid and methylfolate?
Folic acid needs converting before your body can use it, and methylfolate is what that conversion produces.
Folate is the group name for vitamin B9 and its related compounds. Folic acid is one member of that group, and a specific one: it doesn't occur in nature, and it has no biological function until the body processes it. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which publishes the nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand, describes folic acid as the form used in supplements and in food fortification because it's more stable than the other forms.
The body converts it in two stages. An enzyme called dihydrofolate reductase first reduces folic acid to dihydrofolate, then to tetrahydrofolate. That step is slow, and it varies a lot between people. From there, tetrahydrofolate is converted to 5-MTHF by another enzyme, MTHFR. 5-MTHF, or methylfolate, is the form that circulates in blood and carries out folate's work in the body.
One rule sits under the whole comparison: every form of folate, natural or synthetic, has to reach 5-MTHF before it can do its job. So the practical comparison is about where the folate starts on that chain. Folic acid starts at the top of it, and methylfolate starts at the end.
Food folate takes part in the same chain. It arrives in reduced forms, and the body still converts it into methyl forms before it enters the bloodstream.
Because the form changes what the body has to do, some formulas name their B vitamins individually. We use the active forms: pyridoxal 5-phosphate for B6, levomefolate for folate, mecobalamin for B12 and riboflavin sodium phosphate for B2. The full formula breakdown lists the rest of what's in the pouch.
What does folate support?
Folate supports red blood cell formation, and it helps prevent dietary vitamin and mineral deficiency in healthy people. Both are permitted indications on Hoola's register entry: "Aid/assist healthy red blood cell production" and "Helps prevent dietary (state vitamin/mineral/nutrient) deficiency in healthy individuals".
In the body, folate works as a coenzyme in single-carbon transfers during the metabolism of nucleotides and amino acids. In plain terms, it helps build DNA and process amino acids, which is why cells that divide quickly need a steady supply. The NHMRC states it plainly: without folate, living cells cannot divide.
Folate doesn't work alone. The NHMRC describes folate as the substrate and vitamin B12 as the coenzyme in the conversion of homocysteine to methionine, a reaction that keeps the folate cycle turning. The two travel together in formulas for that reason. Our B12 is mecobalamin, an active form, and if you're reading labels, what "methylated" means for B12 is five useful minutes. The rest of the pair sits in the vitamin B12 range.
Which form of folate is in Hoola?
Levomefolate glucosamine, listed at 89 micrograms per gram on the AUST L 508472 entry. The daily serve is 10 g, so a serve carries 890 micrograms of the form.
Levomefolate glucosamine is the glucosamine salt of the active folate. The register pairs it with an equivalent of levomefolic acid, which is that same active folate in its acid form. Two names on one line, one ingredient.
Folate on its own is in the folate collection. The Hoola Daily Multivitamin page shows how it sits in the 27-active formula.
Why the folate line carries two numbers
Because the form and the folate are separate measurements. Levomefolate glucosamine is what goes into the powder. Levomefolic acid is what that ingredient provides. The register publishes both, one line beneath the other.
The pattern is a general convention on the register. On Hoola's public summary, 18 of the 27 active ingredient lines carry an equivalent. The zinc line reads zinc citrate dihydrate at 3.89 mg per gram with an equivalent of zinc at 1.25 mg per gram, so the 10 g serve carries 38.9 mg of the compound providing 12.5 mg of zinc. The folate line follows the same shape: 89 micrograms per gram of levomefolate glucosamine, equivalent to 50 micrograms per gram of levomefolic acid. Read as a serve, that's 890 micrograms of levomefolate glucosamine providing 500 micrograms of levomefolic acid.
The practical point: if you read the first figure and call it "the folate", you're reading the weight of the salt. The equivalent line is the number for the nutrient itself.
Who cares about the form on the label?
Label readers, and anyone who has met the term "active form" while reading about the MTHFR gene.
The NHMRC says folate requirements can be affected by bioavailability, nutrient interactions and genetic variations. One MTHFR variant is found in an estimated 2 to 16% of white populations, and the NHMRC says people who are homozygous for it may have a higher requirement for folate.
On the supplement side, a 2022 review in Integrative Medicine describes the active form as arriving ready to use: 5-MTHF doesn't need the MTHFR enzyme to be converted, and studies of 5-MTHF supplementation weren't affected by the MTHFR variant.
The mechanism explains why some buyers read labels this way, and it's why we print the form in full.
How do you check the folate line on the Australian register?
Start at the TGA's public register, search the AUST L number from the pack, and open the public summary. Hoola's is AUST L 508472, listed on 8 August 2025.
- Search
508472on the TGA's register of therapeutic goods. The entry names the product, the sponsor and the active ingredients. - Open the public summary and find levomefolate glucosamine in the active ingredients list.
- Read the figure next to it: 89 micrograms per gram.
- Read the line underneath: Equivalent: levomefolic acid, 50 micrograms per gram.
- Multiply both by ten, because the daily serve is 10 g. That gives 890 micrograms of levomefolate glucosamine, and 500 micrograms of levomefolic acid.
- Compare it with the pack. If a label is vague and the register is precise, the register is the copy with the detail.
The register records what the sponsor has certified is in the product. Hoola is a listed medicine, which is why the wording here is "TGA listed" and "listed on the ARTG". What a listing means covers the pathways in plain English, and a closer look at Hoola's own listing walks through ours.
Frequently asked questions
Is methylfolate better than folic acid?
It depends what you're comparing. Reviews describe methylfolate as ready to use without the conversion step, and as unaffected by the MTHFR variant in supplementation studies. Folic acid has been the main form used in supplements for decades, and the NHMRC notes it's the form used in food fortification because it's more stable than the other derivatives. For a purchase decision, the useful comparison is narrower: does the label name the form and the amount, and does the register agree?
Why is folic acid the default in so many products?
Stability, mostly, and history. The NHMRC notes that folic acid is used in supplements and food fortification because it's more stable than the other derivatives, and it has been the standard for long enough that most reference intakes were built around it. Methylfolate is the newer option on a label.
How much folate is in Hoola?
890 micrograms of levomefolate glucosamine per 10 g serve, providing 500 micrograms of levomefolic acid as the register's equivalent. Both figures come from the AUST L 508472 public summary, and the per-gram figures are published too, so the maths is checkable: 89 micrograms per gram times ten, and 50 micrograms per gram times ten.
Is levomefolate the same as methylfolate?
For reading a label, yes, with one distinction worth knowing. Methylfolate, 5-MTHF and L-methylfolate all name the active folate. Levomefolic acid is that folate in its acid form, and levomefolate glucosamine is the acid paired with glucosamine. The register lists the salt as the ingredient and the acid as its equivalent.
What does "dietary folate equivalent" mean?
It's the unit used for recommended intakes, because forms differ in how much the body gets from them. One microgram of dietary folate equivalent equals one microgram of food folate, or 0.5 micrograms of folic acid on an empty stomach. The recommended intake for Australian adults is 400 micrograms of dietary folate equivalents a day. Those equivalents are published for food folate and folic acid, so a levomefolate figure doesn't convert into them. Keep the units separate when you compare.
