Qualifying a haritaki supplier is mostly an exercise in refusing to buy a number. The market trades this extract on a UV tannin figure that the cheapest fraud in the category can manufacture at will, from raw material that is partly wild-collected through village aggregation chains. The gap between the best and worst material is invisible in a sample bag and often invisible in the supplier's own CoA. This is a weighted framework for scoring what actually predicts a repeatable material — and the red flags that should end a conversation before scoring begins.
Before You Score Anyone: Three Disqualifying Red Flags
These are not point deductions. They are reasons to stop.
- A UV tannin number with no HPLC capability behind it. Ask one question: "Can you report chebulinic and chebulagic acid per batch?" A supplier who cannot run or source that profile cannot prove their own material is haritaki — and on this botanical, that is the whole game. See why the profile is decisive.
- No species and part declaration. A specification that says "haritaki extract" without "Terminalia chebula Retz., fruit pericarp, stone excluded" leaves both myrobalan confusion and whole-fruit dilution inside the contract.
- A price materially below the market with no explanation. Genuine pericarp extract has a floor cost set by fruit, yield and testing. A far-below-market quote on a material this easy to spike is not a bargain — it is a disclosure.
On the price point: collect five quotations, discard the highest and lowest, and treat the middle three as the market. On haritaki specifically, ask each quoting supplier whether their figure is for pericarp-only material with an HPLC profile — the cheap quotes usually stop being comparable, or stop being cheap, at exactly that question.
The Scoring Framework
Weighted to 100 points across five dimensions. Score each supplier independently, ideally before you see their price.
1. Documentation and Analytical Rigour — 30 points
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Batch-specific CoA (not a generic specification sheet) with methods named per parameter | 7 |
| Total tannins by UV with reference standard named, stated on dry basis | 6 |
| Chebulinic & chebulagic acid reported per batch by HPLC | 7 |
| TLC identity against chebulinic & gallic acid reference | 4 |
| Part-used declaration: pericarp, stone excluded | 4 |
| Carriers and excipients declared by name and percentage | 2 |
2. Testing and Compliance Readiness — 25 points
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Heavy metals by ICP-MS with numeric per-element limits (not "complies") | 6 |
| Full USP microbiological panel including pathogens | 5 |
| Aflatoxin testing by HPLC-FLD on every batch | 5 |
| EU pesticide MRL screening available with a real report; non-ETO declaration with LC-MS/MS available | 5 |
| Testing at a NABL-accredited (or ISO 17025 equivalent) laboratory | 4 |
Aflatoxins are weighted deliberately here. Haritaki fruit is harvested, heaped and sun-dried in warm, humid conditions, then stored — a textbook mycotoxin exposure profile. A supplier who tests aflatoxin "on request" rather than per batch has not thought about their own raw material.
3. Traceability and Sourcing — 15 points
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Correct-species declaration on every batch, with myrobalan-confusion controls at intake | 4 |
| Cultivated vs wild-collected status declared per lot, with collection region | 4 |
| Batch traceable back to raw-material lot | 4 |
| Organic certification chain intact where organic is claimed; sustainable-collection practices documented for wild material | 3 |
The wild-collection line is haritaki-specific. A meaningful share of the crop is forest produce aggregated through local traders, which is not a defect — but it moves species control and drying practice out of the manufacturer's yard, so the supplier's intake discipline has to compensate. Ask how incoming lots are verified, not just whether.
4. Consistency and Capability — 15 points
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Three consecutive batch CoAs provided showing assay consistency within the band | 6 |
| Multiple grades available (30%, 40%, profiled, full-spectrum, organic) | 4 |
| Custom specification capability confirmed in writing | 3 |
| Retention samples held and available | 2 |
On the three-CoA request: expect the tannin figure to move within the 30–45% band across batches — natural fruit varies. Three CoAs reading an identical 42.0% are a worse sign than three reading 34, 38 and 41: real analysis of real material has scatter.
5. Commercial Terms and Responsiveness — 15 points
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Incoterms quoted properly (EXW/FOB/CIF/CIP) to your named destination | 4 |
| Written payment terms on a proforma invoice, not verbal | 3 |
| Realistic stated lead times, including documentation | 3 |
| Samples supplied with the same CoA standard as bulk | 3 |
| Technical questions answered by someone who understands the chemistry | 2 |
The test question for that last line: "Why is your tannin assay a band rather than a single number?" A supplier whose commercial contact can answer it — fruit variation, UV non-specificity, the HPLC anchor — has genuine technical depth behind the sales desk.
Interpreting the Score
| Score | Reading |
|---|---|
| 85–100 | Qualified for bulk supply. Proceed to sample and pre-shipment verification. |
| 70–84 | Workable with conditions. Identify the gaps and require them closed in writing before first bulk order. |
| 55–69 | Suitable for trial quantities only, with independent testing on every lot. |
| Below 55 | Not a supplier for a regulated market. The documentation burden will fall on you. |
The Sample Stage Is Part of the Assessment
- Does the sample come with a batch-specific CoA and, on request, a chromatogram? A sample with a generic specification sheet is a sample from an unknown lot.
- Is the sample from a production batch? Ask for the batch number, then order bulk against that same specification and verify.
- How long did it take? Seven to fourteen business days including documentation is normal for India-origin material.
- Did they ask you anything? A supplier who does not ask about your format, matrix proteins or target market will not catch a tannin-interaction mismatch before it becomes your problem.
First-Order Protocol
- Nominate an independent laboratory — Eurofins, SGS or Intertek — for pre-shipment sampling and testing, at your cost, with the HPLC profile explicitly in scope.
- Compare the independent report line by line against the supplier CoA. Small variances are normal; a directional pattern is not.
- Retain your own sealed, dated sample of the shipped lot for the shelf life of the material.
- Re-verify independently at batch three and then annually, or on any change of collection region or manufacturing site.
SV Botanica supplies bulk haritaki extract from certified manufacturing facilities in India with batch-specific CoAs from NABL-accredited laboratories, and welcomes buyer-nominated third-party pre-shipment testing. The full parameter list is on the haritaki extract product page; the specification logic behind it is in the buyer's guide, and the failure modes it defends against are in adulteration and authenticity.
Source Standardised Haritaki Extract from India
Total tannins 30–45% by UV · chebulinic acid profile by HPLC · full-spectrum & organic grades · CoA-backed · samples for qualified buyers