Same number, different meaning
You send a specification for a supercritical CO₂ extract standardised to a marker compound. Two quotes come back at the same percentage, priced very differently. Before assuming one supplier is expensive, check whether both are answering the same question.
Where specifications diverge
The analytical method
A marker measured by HPLC and the same marker measured by UV-Vis can return materially different numbers from one sample. If the method is not named on the specification, the number is not comparable between suppliers.
What the marker includes
"Curcuminoids" can mean curcumin alone or the sum of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin. The second definition reaches a given percentage more easily than the first.
The basis of the number
As-is, dry basis, or corrected for residual carrier — each shifts the figure. A spec that omits the basis leaves room for interpretation that will not favour you.
The carrier
Extracts are often standardised with a carrier to hit a target percentage. Whether the carrier is declared, and what it is, changes both the cost and the formulation.
A specification that cannot be misread
- Botanical name and plant part
- Marker compound, defined explicitly
- Analytical method and the reference standard
- Basis of the assay
- Carrier, if any, declared by name and percentage
- Residual solvent expectation
- Heavy metal and microbial limits for your destination market
The point of an apple-to-apple specification is not paperwork. It is that two people can read the same document and picture the same material.
Why we reconcile before production
We map your specification against the processor's method and marker system before a single kilogram is quoted. Any ambiguity gets resolved while it is still a conversation, rather than after arrival when it has become a claim.
For SC-CO₂ specifically the residual-solvent question is straightforward — supercritical carbon dioxide leaves no hydrocarbon behind. Everything else on the list still needs pinning down.