How to evaluate a pre-shipment sample of rice, pulses or spices

This guide shows you how to check a pre-shipment sample of rice, pulses or spices in your own office, which simple tests catch common problems, when a laboratory is worth the fee, and how to seal counter-samples so any later dispute can be settled on evidence.

Before the sample arrives

A sample is only useful if you know what it should match. Agree a written specification first, covering:

• Product, variety and crop year
• Grade limits: broken, damaged, discoloured, foreign matter, admixture, moisture
• Processing: sortex cleaned, steam or sella, machine-cleaned, sterilised
• Packing and labelling
• Any lab parameters: aflatoxin, pesticide residues, microbiology, colour value

Ask for a sample of at least 500 g to 1 kg per grade, drawn from the actual lot, with a label showing lot number, date and the seller's reference. A sample drawn from a showroom jar tells you little about the container.

What you need

• White tray or sheet of paper, good daylight or a daylight lamp
• Digital scale reading to 0.1 g
• Vernier calliper or grain ruler for rice
• Magnifying glass
• Clear glasses of water
• Tweezers, small sieves
• A hand-held moisture meter, if you buy regularly

Rice

Visual checks

Weigh out a working sample, for example 100 g, spread it on the tray and pick it into groups:

• Whole grains
• Broken grains. In most rice contracts, a broken is a kernel shorter than three-quarters of a whole grain, though your contract may define it differently.
• Chalky grains: opaque white patches.
• Damaged and discoloured grains: yellow, black-tipped, spotted or pecky kernels.
• Paddy grains, red grains, foreign matter: husk, stones, other seeds.

Weigh each group and express it as a percentage of the working sample. Compare with the specification.

Grain length

For basmati, measure the length of at least 20 whole kernels and take the average. The average grain length (AGL) must match the grade you agreed. As a reference, India's basmati characteristics set milled basmati at a minimum AGL of 6.61 mm and breadth under 2.00 mm. Varieties such as 1121 are much longer.

Cooking test

Cook a measured portion as your customers would. Measure ten cooked grains and compare with raw length. Indian basmati characteristics call for an elongation ratio of at least 1.7. Check aroma, stickiness, colour, and whether grains curl or break.

Moisture and smell

Milled rice is generally kept at about 13–14% moisture for storage and shipment. Musty, sour or chemical smells point to old stock, moisture damage or heavy fumigation.

What needs a lab

• Basmati purity: DNA testing for admixture of non-basmati varieties.
• Pesticide residues against your country's MRLs.
• Aflatoxin, heavy metals or microbiology if required.

Pulses

Spread 100 g and sort into:

• Sound whole grains
• Splits and brokens
• Damaged grains: shrivelled, discoloured, sprouted, mouldy
• Weevilled grains: look for small round exit holes
• Other pulses and foreign matter

Also check:

• Live insects. Shake the sample on paper and watch for movement. Any live infestation should be a rejection point.
• Polish and colour. Rub a handful on a white tissue. Oil polish leaves a sheen. Colour on the tissue suggests artificial colour. FSSAI's DART guidance also suggests a water test: adulterated grains release colour into water quickly.
• Size uniformity. For chickpeas and kidney beans, count per 100 g or per ounce if specified.
• Cooking time. Old or hard-to-cook stock takes noticeably longer.

Spices

Spices need more lab work than rice or pulses. Visual checks still filter out weak lots.

Whole spices

• Cumin: check purity by picking 10 g into clean seed, dust, stalks and other seeds. Rub a few seeds in your palm. Colour coming off can point to artificial colouring. Aroma should be strong when crushed.
• Black pepper: FSSAI's DART guidance gives two quick checks. Drop berries in water: papaya seeds float, pepper sinks. Press berries between fingers: light berries break easily. Ask for bulk density in grams per litre, a standard pepper grade parameter.
• Dry red chilli: check for discoloured or white pods, broken pods, loose seeds, stems if stemless was ordered, and mould inside pods. Colour value and pungency need a lab.
• Turmeric fingers: break a finger. It should snap cleanly with an even orange-yellow interior. Whole turmeric that bleeds bright colour in water suggests added colour.
• Coriander: look for split seeds, discoloured seeds and dust. Smell for freshness.

Ground spices

FSSAI's DART guidance includes these water tests:

• Chilli powder: sprinkle on water. Artificial colour leaves coloured streaks as it sinks. Grittiness in the settled residue suggests brick powder or sand.
• Turmeric powder: natural turmeric leaves a light yellow tint as it settles. A strong yellow colour in the water suggests added colour.
• Sawdust or bran: floats on the surface.

These tests flag gross problems only. They do not prove a powder is clean.

What needs a lab

• ASTA colour value and pungency (SHU or capsaicin) for chilli
• Curcumin content for turmeric
• Volatile oil for cumin, coriander and pepper
• Aflatoxin and ochratoxin
• Pesticide residues
• Ethylene oxide (ETO): a major issue for Indian spices in the EU since 2020, and in several Asian markets since 2024
• Illegal dyes such as Sudan dyes
• Salmonella and other microbiology

When to send a sample to a lab

Send it to an accredited laboratory when:

• The parameter cannot be seen or tasted: residues, mycotoxins, dyes, ETO.
• Your market has strict limits and frequent border testing.
• It is a first order with a new supplier.
• The order value justifies the fee and the turnaround time.

Use a lab accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for the specific test method. Ask the exporter which lab produced any report they send, and check the report date and sample description match your lot.

Sealing and labelling counter-samples

Whatever you test, the sample only settles a dispute if both sides agree it represents the shipment.

1. Draw samples from the lot, preferably at loading or by an independent inspector, from several bags.
2. Mix and divide into at least three identical portions: one for the buyer, one retained by the seller, one held by the inspection agency or kept sealed for arbitration.
3. Pack in clean, airtight bags or containers.
4. Seal each portion with a numbered seal or tamper-evident tape, with signatures of both parties or the inspector across the seal.
5. Label with: contract number, product and grade, lot or container number, date and place of sampling, sample weight, seal number, names of those present.
6. Store cool and dry. Agree in the contract how long counter-samples are kept, for example until a set period after arrival.

Write in the contract which sample governs if results differ, and which lab will act as referee.

Before you order

• Agree a written specification with defined limits.
• Request a sample from the actual lot, properly labelled.
• Run the visual and simple tests above, recording weights and percentages.
• Send to an accredited lab for anything you cannot see.
• Arrange sealed counter-samples at loading.

If you want a sample of rice, pulses or spices for evaluation, send us the product, grade, destination country and any lab parameters you need, and we will arrange a labelled sample and a written quote.