A good psyllium husk powder spec states the grade, purity, mesh size, swell volume, LEM, moisture, ash, microbiology and safety tests, with a limit and a test method for each. It also covers treatment, packing, labelling and documents.
Each limit should come from your use and your market, not from a supplier's standard sheet. The values below are for illustration only. The general method is in how to write a good specification for an agri product.
Product identity
- Product name: psyllium husk powder, from Plantago ovata.
- Origin: India, with the state if you need it.
- Grade: the purity grade, for example 95% or 98%, with the purity limit that defines it.
- Intended use: food, supplement, pharma or feed, since this decides many limits.
- Pharmacopoeia: state USP or EP compliance only if your product needs it.
Physical and chemical limits
- Mesh size: state the mesh and the share that must pass through, for example a stated percentage through a given sieve. See mesh sizes for psyllium husk powder.
- Swell volume: a minimum in millilitres per gram, by a named method. See what swell volume value to ask for.
- Light extraneous matter: a maximum, by a named method.
- Moisture: a maximum, agreed for your grade.
- Total ash and acid-insoluble ash: maximums.
- Colour, odour and taste: a description, matched to an approved sample.
Microbiology and safety
- Total plate count, yeast and mould: maximums suited to your use.
- Coliforms or Enterobacteriaceae, E. coli, Salmonella: limits and sample sizes, often absent or not detected in a stated quantity.
- Pesticide residues: compliant with the MRLs of your market, by a multi-residue method.
- Ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol: not detected, and "no ETO treatment" stated.
- Heavy metals: lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, against your market's limits.
- Aflatoxin and other mycotoxins, if your customer requires them.
- Gluten and allergens, if you make a claim.
Treatment, pack and documents
- Treatment: untreated, steam sterilised or irradiated. If sterilised, state it and require before and after results.
- Pack: bag type, liner, net weight, pallets and marking with lot and production date.
- Shelf life or retest period, and maximum age at dispatch.
- Documents with each lot: certificate of analysis, lab reports, and any certificates your market needs.
- Sampling: who draws pre-shipment samples, how many and from where.
Make it workable
Share a draft with two or three mills before you finalise it. Ask which lines they can meet routinely and which would raise the price or rule them out. A limit no mill can meet invites false certificates. A limit that is too loose invites low grades and blending.
Agree a reference sample that matches the spec, keep part of it sealed, and use it in disputes. Then test pre-shipment lots against the spec, not against the mill's own sheet.
How we help
We draft psyllium powder specs with you, test them against what audited mills can deliver and agree a reference sample. Each lot is then tested against that spec at an NABL-accredited lab before loading. Ask for a free sourcing review.