| Physical and Chemical Quality |
| Moisture | Loss on drying / moisture content | ≤ 5.0% w/w | AOAC 925.10 or validated gravimetric/oven method | Helps reduce caking, oxidation, and microbial growth during storage. The exact commercial specification should be validated for the product format and packaging. |
| Water activity | aw | ≤ 0.60 | Measured at 25°C using a calibrated water-activity meter | Provides a more direct indication of microbial growth potential than moisture alone. |
| Identity | Botanical identity and plant part | Matches declared barley grass (Hordeum vulgare L.) juice powder | Macroscopic or microscopic examination, authenticated reference material, and/or validated DNA or chromatographic testing | Confirms that the material is barley grass juice powder rather than another cereal grass or a blended ingredient. |
| Foreign matter | Visible foreign materials | Absent or within the buyer’s approved specification | Visual inspection and validated sieving procedure | Supports cleanliness and prevents contamination by soil, stones, insects, or packaging fragments. |
| Solubility / dispersibility | Powder behavior in water | Uniform dispersion with no abnormal sediment or off-odor | Buyer-approved in-house method using a defined powder-to-water ratio | Useful for evaluating consumer performance and batch-to-batch consistency. |
| Microbiological Quality |
| Total aerobic microbial count | TAMC | ≤ 100,000 CFU/g | ISO 4833-1 or equivalent validated method | A practical release benchmark commonly used for powdered botanical and food-supplement materials; destination-country requirements may differ. |
| Yeasts and molds | TYMC | ≤ 1,000 CFU/g | ISO 21527-2 or equivalent validated method | Controls fungal spoilage and helps identify inadequate drying or storage conditions. |
| Escherichia coli | Presence / absence | Absent in 10 g | ISO 16649 series or equivalent validated method | Indicates hygienic control during cultivation, processing, and packing. |
| Salmonella spp. | Presence / absence | Absent in 25 g | ISO 6579-1 or equivalent validated method | A key food-safety criterion for dry plant powders and dietary-ingredient products. |
| Staphylococcus aureus | Coagulase-positive staphylococci | Absent or below the applicable destination-market limit | ISO 6888 series or equivalent validated method | Additional hygiene indicator, especially where the product is handled after drying. |
| Bacillus cereus | Spore-forming foodborne bacteria | ≤ 1,000 CFU/g as a commonly used internal benchmark | ISO 7932 or equivalent validated method | Useful for monitoring contamination from soil and raw agricultural materials. Confirm the buyer’s regulatory specification. |
| Heavy Metals and Elemental Contaminants |
| Lead | Pb | Target ≤ 3.0 mg/kg; comply with the importing market’s legal maximum | ICP-MS or ICP-OES after microwave digestion; AOAC or equivalent validated method | Lead limits are legally defined by product category and jurisdiction. A product-specific regulatory check is required before release. |
| Cadmium | Cd | Target ≤ 1.0 mg/kg; comply with the importing market’s legal maximum | ICP-MS or ICP-OES after microwave digestion | Cadmium can accumulate in plants from soil and irrigation sources; limits vary by market and food category. |
| Arsenic | Total arsenic and, where relevant, inorganic arsenic | Report total arsenic; assess inorganic arsenic when required by the destination market | ICP-MS; speciation by HPLC-ICP-MS where required | Total arsenic alone does not distinguish the more toxic inorganic species. The applicable legal limit depends on product classification. |
| Mercury | Hg | Target ≤ 0.10 mg/kg; comply with the importing market’s legal maximum | ICP-MS, cold-vapor AAS, or equivalent validated method | Although mercury is generally less associated with terrestrial plants than some other contaminants, periodic verification supports raw-material control. |
| Pesticide Residues and MRL Compliance |
| Multi-residue pesticide screen | Active substances relevant to barley cultivation and processing region | Each pesticide ≤ the applicable destination-market MRL | QuEChERS extraction followed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS | MRLs are substance-specific and jurisdiction-specific. A single universal “pesticide-free” value is not scientifically or legally appropriate. |
| EU default MRL approach | Pesticides without a specific EU MRL | Generally 0.01 mg/kg under the EU default MRL rule, unless another provision applies | Method validated at or below the applicable reporting and enforcement level | Check the current EU Pesticides Database and the correct crop or commodity classification before making a compliance decision. |
| Glyphosate and relevant herbicides | Glyphosate, AMPA, and other regionally relevant herbicides | ≤ the applicable MRL for the intended market | LC-MS/MS with matrix-appropriate extraction and validation | Herbicide limits differ among the EU, United States, China, and other markets; the buyer should specify the required regulatory database. |
| Residue reporting | Detected compounds, LOQ, and MRL comparison | Report result, LOQ, MRL, and pass/fail status for every analyte | Laboratory report with analyte list and current regulatory references | Transparent reporting is essential because “not detected” is meaningful only when the laboratory’s LOQ is stated. |
| Traceability and Release Documentation |
| Certificate of Analysis | Batch-specific COA | Required for every production lot | Issued by an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory or qualified quality laboratory | Should include batch number, production date, test dates, methods, results, units, specifications, and authorized approval. |
| Traceability | Farm, harvest, processing, and packaging records | One-step-back and one-step-forward traceability | Document review and mock-recall verification | Supports investigation of contamination, recall readiness, and verification of country-of-origin claims. |
| Storage and packaging | Moisture barrier, temperature, and humidity control | Sealed moisture-barrier packaging; storage conditions defined on the label | Packaging inspection and stability or shelf-life study | Powder quality can deteriorate through moisture pickup, oxidation, light exposure, or repeated opening. |