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Food & Agriculture

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We support to the traders, exporters, industry, consumers and regulatory authorities for domestic, export and import food testing and certification requirements with respect to quality of produce/ product and food safety.

Products Tested

  • Animal feeds
  • Bakery and confectionery products
  • Beverages (alcoholic/ non alcoholic
  • Canned foods and processed foods
  • Cereals, grains, pulses and their products
  • Coffee, coca and by-products
  • Edible oils and fats
  • Egg and egg products
  • Fish and fishery products
  • Food supplements, additives, colours and preservatives

  • Fruits and fruit products
  • Herbs, spices, condiments and culinary products
  • Herbal extracts, natural essential oils and spice oils
  • Honey and related products
  • Infant foods
  • Jams, juices, squashes and concentrates
  • Meat and meat products
  • Milk and dairy products
  • Nutritional supplements including vitamins and minerals

  • Oil seeds and by products
  • Pet foods
  • Pickles, sauces and chutney
  • Poultry and poultry products
  • Ready to eat snacks and foods
  • Starch and starch products
  • Sugar and sugar products
  • Tea and tea products
  • Tobacco and tobacco products
  • Vegetables and vegetable products
  • R & D samples

Methods Applied

Range of methods like Bureau of Indian standards (IS methods), FSSAI manuals, ISO, USFDA BAM, AOAC, USEPA, APHA, EN methods, ASTM, etc. with various technologies.

Food and agricultural produce quality testing [grading, nutritional labeling and package labeling]

  • Refraction and grading of agricultural produce
  • Organoleptic and sensory tests
  • Proximate Analysis

  • Moisture, Fat, Protein, Ash, Carbohydrates and Energy

  • Characterization

  • Polarity, Refractive index, Density, Viscosity, Degree brix

  • Fatty acid profiling

  • Saturated fatty acid, Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), Trans fatty acid, Free fatty acid (as Oleic acid or acid value)

  • Specific tests for fats, oils and fat emulsions

  • Refractive index, Saponification value, Iodine value, Polenske value, Unsaponifable matter, Acid value, Test for argemone, Turbidity in filtered sample (at 300C for 24 hours), Bellier test, Test for hydrocyanic acid, Hexane content, Erucic acid, Semi-siccative oil test, Teaseed oil test, Olive pomace oil test, Cotton seed oil test, Sesame seed oil test, Rancidity, Suspended and other foreign matter, Separated water, Added colouring and flavouring substances, Mineral oil, Oryzanol content, Melting point, Specific gravity, Flash point, Diacetyl content, Baudin test.

  • Carbohydrate/ Sugar profiling

  • Glucose, Fructose, Maltose, Lactose…. etc, Starch, other polysaccharides, Beta-glucan, Total dietary fiber, Crude fiber, Acid detergent fiber (ADF), Natural detergent fiber (NDF),

  • Amino acid compositional analysis
  • Vitamins and related nutrients

  • Fat Soluble Vitamins: Vitamin A (Retinol), Vitamin D (Calciferol), Vitamin D2 (Cholecaliferol), Vitamin D3 (Ergocalciferol) Vitamin E (Tocopherols), Vitamin K,
  • Water Soluble Vitamins: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), Vitamin B7 (Biotin), Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid), Vitamin B12 (Cyanacobalamine)
  • Related Nutrients: Carotenoids, Inositol etc.

  • Minerals and trace elements

  • Sodium (Na), Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Molybdenum (Mo), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Phosphorus (P), Sulphur (S), Selenium (Se), Chlorine (Cl), Bromine (Br), Iodine (I)

  • Chromatographic (GC / HPLC) assay’s of plants and herbal extracts, natural essential oils, spice oils / oleoresins and other export products
  • Antioxidants

  • Butylated Hydroxy Anisole (BHA), Butylated Hydroxy Toluene (BHT), Tertiary Butyl Hydroxy Quinone (TBHQ), Gallic Acid, Ethyl gallate, Propyl gallate, Octyl gallate, Dodecyl gallate, Ascorbyl palmitate, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Resin guaiace

  • Colours

  • Natural colouring matters: Carotene and cartenoids, Chlorophyll, Riboflavin, Caramel, Annatto, Saffron, Curcumin, Turmeric
  • Synthetic food colours: Poceau 4R, Carmoisine, Erthrosine, Tatrazine, Sunset yellow FCF, Indigo carmine, Brilliant blue FCF, Fast Green FCF, Sudan dyes

  • Preservatives

  • Benzoic Acid, Sodium benzoate, methyl Parahydroxy Benzoate, propyl Parahydroxy Benzoate Nitrites, Nitrates, Sorbic Acid, Propionic acid, Sodium propionate, Calcium Propionate, Sulphurous acid, Sulphur dioxide, Sodium diacetate, Lactic acid and its sodium, potassium and calcium salts, Nisin, Ammonia carbonate, Acid calcium phosphate, Acid sodium pyrophosphate.

  • Acidifying agents and acidity regulators

  • Acetic acid, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Calcim disodium ethylene diamine tetra acetate

  • Sweeteners

  • Saccahrin, Aspartame, Acesulfame potassium, Sucralose, Neotame

  • Emulsifying and stabilizing agents

  • Sucroglycerides, Guar gum, Sodium Steroyl 2 lactylate, Calcium Steroyl 2 lactylate, Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, Polyglycerol esters of of interesterified Ricinoleic acid, Starch phosphate, modified starches, Pectin, Sodium alginate, Calcium alginate, Alginic acid, Propylene glycol alginate, Methyl cellulose, Carboxymethyl cellulose, Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose, Gellan gum

  • Anticaking agents, improvers, treatment agents and leavening agents

  • Sodium aluminium silicate, Calcium carbonate, Magnesium carbonate, Calcium phosphate, Magnesium phosphate, Ferrocyanide, Synthetic Amorphous Silicon Dioxide, Fungal alphamaylase, Ammonium persulphate, Potassium bromated, Potassium iodate, Ammonium chloride, L-cysteine Monohyderochloride, Ammonium phosphate, Benzoyl peroxide, Ammonium carbonate

  • Flavouring agents

  • Diacetyl, Dimethyl polysiloxane, Coumarin and dihydrocumarin, Estragole, Ethyl methyl ketone, Ethyl-3-Phenylglycidate, Eugenyl methyl ether, Saffrole and isosaffrole, Monosodium Glutamate

Food safety [Testing of contaminants, toxins and their residues]

  • Quantification of residues of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides
  • Screening of 600 pesticides by using LC-Q TOF-MS
  • Residues of drugs and antibiotics
  • Residues of plant growth hormones
  • Plant growth regulators (PGR’s) in fruits and vegetables
  • Endocrine disruptors
  • Mycotoxins and other crop contaminants

  • Total Aflatoxin, Aflatoxin B1, Aflatoxin B2, Aflatoxin G1, Aflatoxin G2, Aflatoxin M1, Ochratoxin, Zeraleneone, Deoxynivalenol (DON), T2 toxin, Fumonisins (FB1/FB2), Patulin, Uric Acid

  • Naturally Occurring Toxins (NOTS)

  • Agaric Acid, Hydrocyanic Acid, Hypercine, Saffarole

  • Industrial contaminants

  • Melamine and Cyanuric Acid

  • Contaminants of toxic heavy metals

  • Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Arsenic (As), Tin (Sn), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg), Methyl Mercury, Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni)

  • Food Allergens

  • As per European Union Commission Directive: 2007/68/EC

  • Non-target analysis and confirmation of unknown compounds
  • Volatile, Semi volatile compounds and PAH in water

Microbiological testing

  • Enumeration of quality and spoilage parameters

  • Total Viable Count/Total Plate Count/ Microbial Count/ Mesophillic Count
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Coliforms
  • Enterococci
  • E. coli
  • Staphylococcus aureus (Coagulase positive staphylococci)
  • Bacillus cerues
  • Clostridium perferingens
  • Lactic acid bacteria
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • Yeast and moulds
  • Aciduric flat sour organisms
  • Thermophillic bacterial plate count
  • Proteolytic bacterial count
  • Lipolytic bacterial count
  • Anaerobic spore count and mesophillic aerobic spore former

  • Pathogen screening by using PCR
  • Food poisoning organisms pathogens:

  • Salmonella spp.
  • Listeria monocytogenes
  • Pathogenic E. coli 0157
  • Vibrio parahaemolyticus
  • Vibrio cholerae
  • Bacillus spp
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Clostridium perfringens
  • Shigella spp.

  • Microscopy with image capturing facility:

  • Howard Mold count
  • Yeast and spore count
  • Study of morphology of microorganisms (bacteria, spores and molds)
  • Count of pollen and plant elements

  • Tests specific to canned foods:

  • Accelerated storage Test
  • Incubation test

Testing for Genetically modified organisms (GMO)

  • Screening for detection of genetically modified organism (GMO) by detection of specific events
  • Quantitative determination of GMO by RT PCR
  • Detection for presence of species specific (taxon specific) gene

Seed Testing

  • Gene expression studies
  • Detection of presence of marker protein by using RT PCR and ELISA (Cry 1 ac, Cry 2Ab, Roundup ready flex)

Meat identification testing

  • Detection of undesired meat variety (Halal)
  • Authentication of meat variety

Air quality and surface monitoring for bio-burden

  • Identification and enumeration of microbiological load on various surfaces by using, swab, sponges, contact plate.
  • Monitoring of quality of air in processing are and other environment