Line One: Check the Latin

Botanical source: Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd.

If the certificate says "Saraca indica", the binomial is wrong — that name properly refers to a different species. It is extremely common in trade documentation, usually copied forward rather than checked, and it is worth querying because of what a copied species name suggests about the rest of the document.

Line Two: The Species Confirmation

"Species confirmed vs S. asoca reference; Polyalthia longifolia not detected."

Without this, the document has not established that the material is ashoka rather than false ashoka — the abundant, cheap, unrelated ornamental that shares the common name.

Two components again: a match against the wanted species and an exclusion naming the adulterant. Naming what was excluded is what makes it checkable.

The Marker Line

(−)-Epicatechin and catechin profile by HPLC, reported per batch.

This is the analytical basis of the species confirmation and a batch-consistency measure in its own right. A certificate with a tannin figure and no marker line has measured strength and left identity open.

The Assay Line

Require the method beside the number. "Tannins NLT 5%" is incomplete; tannin figures move substantially between titrimetric, UV and protein-precipitation approaches, so two suppliers' percentages are not comparable without matching methods.

The Source Line

Unusual to see on a certificate, and on this ingredient it belongs there.

Source: cultivated / plantation / wild-collected, declared per batch.

S. asoca is assessed as threatened and the harvested part is bark from a slow-growing tree. A supplier who cannot say where the bark came from is not managing that, and increasingly buyers' own sustainability diligence will ask. See our conservation and sourcing guide.

Part and Composition

LineWhat it should say
Part usedStem bark only — wood and leaf excluded
Identification (TLC)Corresponds to S. asoca reference
Extraction ratio / assay basisDeclared
Total ashNMT 10%
Acid-insoluble ashNMT 2% — catches wood and soil carry-over

Contaminants and Microbiology

Complete Requirement Set

  1. Correct binomial — Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd.;
  2. Species confirmation with P. longifolia named as excluded;
  3. (−)-Epicatechin / catechin profile;
  4. Identity by TLC;
  5. Tannins with method named;
  6. Stem-bark-only declaration;
  7. Source declared — cultivated / plantation / wild;
  8. Loss on drying, pH, bulk density, mesh;
  9. Total and acid-insoluble ash;
  10. Residual solvent by GC;
  11. Heavy metals by ICP-MS, itemised;
  12. Aflatoxins; pesticide residues; non-ETO declaration;
  13. Full USP microbiological panel;
  14. Batch number, manufacturing and retest dates.

Independent Testing

Put species confirmation in the scope, not tannins. An independent tannin figure reproduces precisely the blind spot that lets false ashoka through. Ask for a catechin and epicatechin profile against Saraca asoca reference material, and specify that Polyalthia longifolia should be excluded.

Buyers can nominate Eurofins, SGS or Intertek. Every SV Botanica batch ships with a CoA from a NABL-accredited laboratory carrying the species confirmation and source declaration; methods are on our quality page, and you can request a sample with full documentation.