A beetroot certificate is usually an honest document that answers a different question from the one you asked. It will tell you how red the powder is, how clean it is and how dry it is. Whether it will do what your formulation needs is generally not addressed anywhere on the page.
Line One: What Is This?
Before any assay, the certificate should state the product form unambiguously: dried milled root powder, spray-dried juice powder, or standardised extract.
These three differ in nitrate, sugars, fibre, cost and application. A certificate headed only "Beetroot Powder" has not yet told you which product it describes, and everything below that line means something different depending on the answer.
Line Two: The Missing One
Dietary nitrate, measured on the batch, with the method stated. This is the line most beetroot certificates do not carry, and it is the one that determines whether the material suits a performance or cardiovascular format. Betalain content will not substitute for it — pigment and nitrate vary independently.
Acceptable methods are ion chromatography (the reference approach for nitrate in food matrices) or HPLC with UV detection. Ask that nitrite be distinguished from nitrate rather than reported as a combined figure — they are different anions with different significance.
Note that nitrate should be declared per batch, not specified as a fixed minimum, unless you are paying for a screened specification. The reasoning is in our standardisation guide.
Line Three: Pigment
- Total betalains by UV — the conventional colour specification;
- Betanin by HPLC — the red fraction specifically, worth having where colour is the application.
For a colour buyer these are the primary lines. For a nitrate buyer they are supporting information, not the specification.
Line Four: Carrier
If the material is a spray-dried juice powder, ask what it was dried onto and at what inclusion. Maltodextrin at 20–30% is common and legitimate; undeclared, it is a fifth to a third of your purchase that is not beetroot.
The certificate should name the carrier and state the level, or carry an explicit carrier-free declaration.
Line Five: Sugars
Total sugars per batch. Beet is a sugar crop and juice powders concentrate it; this figure drives your carbohydrate declaration and constrains inclusion in low-sugar formats. It should not have to be requested separately.
Colour Authenticity
On any deeply pigmented ingredient, screening for synthetic colours is a proportionate control — particularly where material has been sourced through a trading chain rather than direct from a processor. Adding colour to a faded or weak material is a simple, historically attested form of adulteration.
We provide synthetic colour screening by HPLC on request and consider it sensible practice rather than an unusual demand.
Contaminants
- Heavy metals by ICP-MS, itemised — lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury. Root vegetables take up soil metals, so this matters here as much as on any botanical;
- Pesticide residues to EU MRL where the destination requires — beet is a conventionally farmed field crop, so this is a real control rather than a formality. See our MRL compliance guide;
- Ethylene oxide non-treatment declaration, with LC-MS/MS on request.
Microbiology
A full USP panel — TPC, yeast and moulds, E. coli, Salmonella, S. aureus. Note that limits on vegetable-derived juice and root powders are conventionally set a little higher than on solvent extracts, because these are food materials rather than solvent-purified fractions. A TPC limit of 10,000 cfu/g on a root powder is normal and not a sign of poor control.
Complete Requirement Set
- Product form stated explicitly;
- Dietary nitrate, batch figure, method named, nitrite distinguished;
- Betalains by UV; betanin by HPLC;
- Carrier named with inclusion level, or carrier-free declaration;
- Total sugars;
- Identity by TLC; species by binomial;
- Loss on drying, pH, bulk density, mesh;
- Total and acid-insoluble ash;
- Heavy metals by ICP-MS, itemised;
- Pesticide residues; non-ETO declaration;
- Synthetic colour screening where sourced through a trading chain;
- Full USP microbiological panel;
- Cultivation status; batch number; manufacturing and retest dates.
Independent Testing
Put nitrate in the scope. It is the line most likely to distinguish a good material from an ordinary one and the one least often tested, so it is where third-party verification earns its cost on this ingredient. Specify ion chromatography and ask for nitrate and nitrite reported separately.
Buyers can nominate Eurofins, SGS or Intertek. Every SV Botanica batch ships with a CoA from a NABL-accredited laboratory carrying the batch nitrate figure; methods are listed on our quality page, and you can request a sample with full documentation.
Source Nitrate-Declared Beetroot from India
Beetroot juice powder, standardised extract and root powder · dietary nitrate declared per batch · betalains by UV · carrier declared · CoA-backed · samples for qualified buyers