On this ingredient a certificate of analysis can be thorough, accurate and completely uninformative — because every line on it is true of four different plants, and the document never says which one arrived.
The Line That Decides Everything
Botanical source: Convolvulus pluricaulis Choisy
If the certificate says "Shankhpushpi", "Shankhpushpi extract" or "Shankhpushpi (whole plant)" without a binomial, it has not identified the material. Four unrelated species from three families are traded under that name.
Everything else on the page — moisture, ash, heavy metals, microbiology — is equally true whichever of the four is in the drum.
Declaration Versus Confirmation
A binomial on the certificate is necessary and not sufficient. It is what the supplier wrote.
| What it says | What it is |
|---|---|
| "Botanical source: C. pluricaulis" | A declaration |
| "Identification (TLC): complies" | Complies with which reference? |
| "Profile corresponds to C. pluricaulis reference; E. alsinoides, C. ternatea, C. decussata not detected" | A test result |
Insist on the third form. Naming the excluded species is what makes the statement checkable — and on an ingredient where the substitution is often innocent, checkable matters more than trustworthy.
The Profile Line
Flavonoid and scopoletin profile by HPLC, reported per batch.
Two jobs: it is the analytical basis of the species confirmation, and it gives batch-to-batch consistency information that an extraction ratio alone cannot.
Note what you should not expect: a single headline marker percentage. No single compound has become the accepted commercial marker for this botanical, and a supplier presenting one as an industry standard is overstating the position.
Part and Process
- Part used: whole plant (herb) — the classical part, and it should be stated;
- Extraction ratio: declared, and understood as a process descriptor rather than a verifiable result;
- Foreign organic matter: NMT 2% — a real control on a herb harvested from mixed ground vegetation;
- Collection status: cultivated or wild-collected.
The Ash Figures That Look Wrong
A frequent query from buyers whose experience is with root or seed extracts:
| Line | Limit | Reflects |
|---|---|---|
| Total ash | NMT 12% | Normal whole-herb mineral content |
| Acid-insoluble ash | NMT 2.5% | Ground-level harvest — higher than our usual 2% |
The 2.5% is deliberate and honest: a small prostrate herb cut at ground level brings soil in a way a fruit or bark does not. Setting 2% and then routinely exceeding it would be worse practice than setting a limit that reflects the material. A figure well above 2.5% indicates inadequate washing.
Contaminants and Microbiology
- Heavy metals by ICP-MS, itemised — lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury. A herb in close soil contact makes this a real control;
- Aflatoxins B1 and total by HPLC-FLD;
- Residual solvent by GC;
- Pesticide residues to EU MRL where required — see our MRL guide;
- Ethylene oxide non-treatment declaration, LC-MS/MS on request;
- Full USP microbiological panel — note that whole-herb material conventionally carries a higher TPC limit than a solvent-purified fraction, and 10,000 cfu/g is normal here rather than lax.
Complete Requirement Set
- Binomial — Convolvulus pluricaulis Choisy;
- Species confirmed by HPLC against named reference;
- Excluded species named;
- Flavonoid and scopoletin profile;
- Identity by TLC;
- Whole-plant declaration; extraction ratio;
- Foreign organic matter NMT 2%;
- Loss on drying, pH, bulk density, mesh;
- Total ash and acid-insoluble ash, read in context;
- Residual solvent by GC;
- Heavy metals by ICP-MS, itemised;
- Aflatoxins; pesticide residues; non-ETO declaration;
- Full USP microbiological panel;
- Collection status; batch number; manufacturing and retest dates.
If You Test Independently
Tell the laboratory the binomial. Handed a sample labelled only "shankhpushpi", they may compare against whichever reference their library holds — potentially a different species — and report a mismatch that reflects their reference rather than your material.
Buyers can nominate Eurofins, SGS or Intertek. Every SV Botanica batch ships with a CoA from a NABL-accredited laboratory carrying the binomial and species confirmation; methods are on our quality page, and you can request a sample with full documentation.
Source Species-Declared Shankhpushpi Extract from India
Convolvulus pluricaulis whole plant extract · binomial declared · species confirmed by HPLC · three look-alike species excluded · CoA-backed · samples for qualified buyers