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Glossary

The terms that show up on a data sheet or a certificate of analysis, defined in one sentence. They follow the order in which you usually meet them while reading a specification, not alphabetical order.

Dry extract: Powdered material obtained by separating the soluble fraction of a plant with a solvent and then removing that solvent. What remains concentrates the active and leaves out fibre and starch.
Dehydrated ingredient: Fruit, vegetable or plant with its water removed and then milled, with nothing separated. It is used for the flavour, aroma and colour it brings: it is not a lower-grade extract, it does a different job.
Standardisation: Adjusting a lot to a fixed marker content, verified with a declared method. It is what allows the label to promise a figure.
Marker: The compound or group of compounds measured to characterise the extract. It may be the active principle or simply a reliable indicator of the material's identity.
Extraction ratio (DER): The relationship between kilos of dried plant in and kilos of extract out: 10:1 means ten to one. It describes the process, not the active content.
Binomial name: Genus and species in latin — Curcuma longa, Camellia sinensis. It is the only thing that identifies a plant without ambiguity: common names overlap across different species.
Plant part: The organ the extract comes from: rhizome, leaf, fruit, seed, bark. The same species gives different profiles depending on the part, and they are not interchangeable.
Carrier: The excipient the extract is dried onto — maltodextrin, gum arabic, silicon dioxide — to give it flow and stability. It is declared and it counts towards the weight.
HPLC: High performance liquid chromatography. It separates compounds before measuring them, so it quantifies one specific compound. The most specific method and the most expensive.
UV-VIS: Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry. It measures the absorbance of a set of compounds without separating them, so it returns higher values than HPLC on the same material.
Certificate of analysis (CoA): Document with the real analytical results of one specific lot. It differs from the data sheet in that it reports what came out, not what should come out.
Technical data sheet (TDS): The product specification: what is guaranteed, between which limits and with which methods. It is the same document for every lot of that reference.
Safety data sheet (MSDS): Handling and hazard document for the material, required for transport, storage and occupational safety.
Lot: Quantity of product manufactured under the same conditions and released as a single unit. It is the minimum unit of analysis and of guarantee.
Retained sample: A portion of every lot the manufacturer keeps for its shelf life, so an analysis can be repeated if a discrepancy shows up later.
Residual solvent: The remainder of the extraction solvent left in the final product. It is controlled per lot and its limits depend on the solvent class under the ICH Q3C guideline.
Supercritical CO2: Extraction technique using pressurised carbon dioxide as the solvent. It leaves no residue because it evaporates, and it suits lipid fractions particularly well.
Spray drying: Atomising the liquid extract into a stream of hot air, which turns it into fine powder in seconds. The most common step to reach the final product.
Particle size: The particle size distribution, usually declared in mesh. It governs flow, dissolution, dust formation and behaviour under compression.
Loss on drying: The percentage of weight the sample loses when dried under defined conditions. It is moisture and volatiles, and it affects microbiological stability.
Total ash: Mineral residue left after incinerating the sample. A high value can point to soil contamination or an excess of inorganic carrier.
Heavy metals: Lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. They are declared separately and with their numeric value; a global «complies» cannot be compared against another market's limit.
Aflatoxins: Mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus fungi in poorly dried or poorly stored materials. Controlled above all in roots, seeds and dried fruit.
Total microbial count: Number of viable aerobic microorganisms per gram. Together with moulds, yeasts, E. coli and Salmonella it forms the microbiological block of the specification.
Bioavailability: The fraction of the ingested compound that actually reaches circulation. A high percentage on the data sheet does not imply high absorption in the body.
Shelf life: The period during which the material meets the specification in its original sealed packaging and under the declared storage conditions.
Incoterm: The rule that splits costs, risks and customs responsibility between seller and buyer. EXW, FCA, CIF and DDP are the usual ones in this trade.

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