Herbs and spices
Analysis of herbs and spices
Throughout the entire supply chain, we offer quality assurance measures for raw spices, intermediate products or finished products as well as herb and spice mixtures. Whether growing, exporting, importing, trading or selling herbs and spices - you will always find qualified experts for your specific needs within the Eurofins network of Food & Feed Testing laboratories.
Key services
- Pesticides
- Multiscreening (>700 substances)
- Single parameter (for example, glyphosate)
- Group parameter (for example, dithiocarbamates, phenoxycarboxylic acids)
- Polar parameter (for example, kasugamycin, glufosinate, chlorate, perchlorate)
- Heavy metals and elements (inorganic contaminants)
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids/tropane alkaloids (PA/TA)
- Fumigants (for example, ethylene oxide, methyl bromide, phosphane)
- Mycotoxins (for example, aflatoxins, alternaria toxins)
- Illegal dyes (for example, Sudan dyes, Para Red)
- Mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH), mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH), polyolefin oligomeric saturated hydrocarbons (POSH)
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Solvent residues
- Irradiation
Microbiology and hygiene
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie (DGHM) requirements
- Tea and Herbal Infusions Europe (THIE) requirements
- Indicator germs
- Pathogenic germs
- Spoilage pathogens
- Challenge tests
Authenticity
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) profiling
- Dilution with/addition of foreign substances (for example, starch, preservatives)
- Mislabelling: substitution of species varieties, mixtures
- Use of by-products from the same plant (for example, cinnamon bark in cinnamon powder)
- Plant speciation by next generation sequencing (NGS)
- Microscopy (for example, foreign plants)
- Detection of banned dyes, including Sudan dyes and Para Red, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
Specific parameter
- Natural ingredients, for example, coumarin, piperin, capsaicin, cresol, vanillin, ethyl vanillin
- Flavour components
- Essential oils
- Filth test
- Allergens
- Genitically modified organisms (GMOs)
- Moisture content
- Ash (total, acid-insoluble)
- Extract (ether, water, alcohol)
- Volatile sulphur compounds (garlic)
- Allyl isothiocyanate (mustard)
- Saffron characteristics
- Nicotine, acrylamide, 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD)
- Dixoins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls
Legal bases and guidelines
- Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 (maximum residue levels of pesticides)
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/915 (maximum levels for certain contaminants)
- Regulation (EC) No 401/2006 (methods of sampling and analysis for the control of mycotoxins levels)
Get in touch
Would you like to find out more about our testing solutions, or do you need tailored analytical support? Contact us today to get in touch with our experts.