Buying Single-Herb Powders from India: Mesh, Microbial Load & Sterilisation

Buyers often ask us for "ashwagandha powder" and leave it there, as if that one word settles the spec. It doesn't. A single-herb powder is the whole herb cleaned, dried and milled — nothing more — so the things that separate a usable lot from a problem lot are mesh, moisture, microbial load and honest identity. We work across ashwagandha, moringa, tulsi, amla, brahmi, shatavari and neem, and the same handful of questions decides the price and the headache every single time.

Powder is not extract

This is the confusion we untangle most. A single-herb powder is milled root, leaf or fruit with no marker guarantee — there is no withanolide or gallic-acid percentage to commit to, because nothing has been concentrated. A standardised extract is a different product entirely, with a stated marker assayed by HPLC. If your label or formulation needs "2.5% withanolides", you want an extract, not a powder. Ask for the powder when you're after the whole-herb matrix as a filler, a blend base or a culinary-grade ingredient.

Particle size and mesh

Mesh drives flow, blend uniformity and mouthfeel. 80 mesh is the common working grade for capsules and tablets; micro-fine grinds suit beverages and cosmetic bases where grittiness shows. Coarser cuts — TBC (tea-bag cut) or coarse cut — are made for infusions and extraction feedstock, not for filling. Tell us the application and we'll match the grind; a beverage powder milled to capsule mesh will settle and feel sandy.

The specs that actually move

• Particle size / mesh: e.g. 80 mesh, or micro-fine on request
• Microbial load: total plate count, yeast and mould, plus pathogen screen (Salmonella, E. coli)
• Moisture: kept low to hold microbial counts and shelf life
• Foreign matter and identity: confirmed organoleptically and, where needed, by botanical identity testing
• Forms available: powder, TBC, coarse cut

Sterilisation, the ETO-free way

Botanicals carry a natural microbial burden, and leaf material such as tulsi or moringa tends to read higher than roots. Where your market needs tighter counts, we offer steam sterilisation on request — it knocks down total plate and yeast/mould without ethylene oxide, which several markets restrict or ban outright. In practice, agree your microbial ceiling before production so the lot is treated and re-tested to hit it, rather than treated blind.

We don't own a plant. Milling and any sterilisation run at audited GMP partner facilities, with testing at accredited NABL labs and a CoA issued per batch. Standard packing is 25 kg fibre drums with food-grade liners; organic-certified material is available on request.