The Kratom plant (Mitragyna Speciosa) grows naturally and on cultivated plantations throughout its native land in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and other parts of southeast Asia. In order to make the plant material available for you as the consumer, a long processing chain is required to take the leaf from its raw, natural form to the pure, fine powder form you expect from Kats Botanicals.
Even though our premium Kratom powder may seem like a very simple substance, a lot of hard work goes into ensuring that it’s the cleanest and purest Kratom powder money can buy.
Independent, third-party lab testing is a costly yet highly reliable step that we take to control the quality of every batch of Kratom we import from southeast Asia. Sending small batch samples out for lab testing takes significant time, money, and other resources, but it is an investment into the quality of our Kratom that we believe sets us apart as a Kratom supplier of the highest order.
Every time our Kratom is lab-tested for purity and potency, the lab we work with supplies us with a Certificate of Analysis that includes the lab test results for the Kratom we sent them. In the effort of 100% transparency, we make these results available to our customers by linking them to a QR code clearly indicated on our product packaging.
From Green Vein Kratom to Red Vein Kratom and all the Specialty Blends we offer, all of our Kratom undergoes this important testing step.
In this article, we are going to show you an example of a typical Kratom lab test result, and we are going to walk you through the process of interpreting what the results say. Knowing how to do this will give you yet more peace of mind every time you reach for your favorite Kats Botanicals Kratom strain!
What the Labs Test For
In the botanicals industry, testing laboratories are hired to screen samples for a wide variety of substances that are generally considered to be unsafe for human consumption at specific concentrations. Many of these substances are completely harmless when consumed in miniscule amounts.
In fact, every time you take a breath, you’re consuming negligible quantities of mold spores and bacteria. It’s unavoidable unless you live in a sterilized, controlled clean room. The tiny, microscopic particles and pathogens we live around just aren’t in a high enough concentration to pose any significant threat to our health. And, the small amounts that we do consume are easily dealt with by our immune systems.
Generally speaking, the labs we work with test for material concentration of two principal categories of substances: heavy metals and pathogens. Our labs also test for the inclusion of certain plant alkaloids, which we’ll get into later.
Heavy Metals
All small-batch lab tests conducted on Kats Botanicals Kratom powder look for the presence of at least the following heavy metals:
- Arsenic (As)
- Cadmium (Cd)
- Mercury (Hg)
- Lead (Pb)
The equipment and procedures used to test for these substances are incredibly sophisticated. We won’t go into too much detail about them here aside from saying that they involve the use of an advanced material testing technique called Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry—or ICP-MS.
Remember, it’s impossible to completely eliminate all traces of all harmful substances. The entire point behind lab testing is to gain scientifically based insights into the levels of these substances that are present in the sample being tested and then to provide that insight to you as the Kratom consumer.
Pathogens
Whereas the risk with consuming heavy metals is systemic accumulation over time, the risk with consuming pathogens is disease or bacterial infection. This goes for any harmful pathogen your immune system might encounter, from bacteria to viruses to mold spores.
Simply put, a pathogen is a microbe that can cause damage in a host. And, a microbe is simply a living cell, or microscopic organism.
The pathogens that are screened for in the labs we work with include:
- Coliforms (a family of bacteria commonly found in soil and water)
- E. Coli
- Staphylococcus Aureus
- Salmonella
- Yeast
- Mold
The last two—yeast and mold—are screened for not because they are necessarily dangerous to all people (although they can be in high enough concentrations). Rather, yeast and mold can have adverse reactions for some people with certain allergies. Therefore, our labs ensure that their detectable presences are lower than set limits.
Kratom Leaf Alkaloids
In addition to testing for heavy metals and pathogens, our labs also check for the concentrations of specific plant alkaloids that naturally occur in the Kratom plant. Plant alkaloids are simply molecules that are present in the natural material of a given plant, such as its leaves, roots, stems, or bark. For example, caffeine is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in the coffee plant (Coffea).
[Fun fact: The Kratom plant has more than 20 identifiable alkaloids.]
Not all Kratom alkaloids produce effects, whether desirable or not. The ones that certainly do are twofold: Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine.
When these two alkaloids are included with the broad spectrum of the other 20+ Kratom alkaloids, an entourage effect can occur. This effect can vary widely according to numerous variables like Kratom plant environment, soil type, nutrient absorption, and harvesting/drying methods.
Because of the importance ofMitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine concentrations, our labs use a testing procedure called High Performance Liquid Chromatography to detect the exact concentration of each alkaloid in the sample being tested. Generally speaking, higher densities of these two alkaloids are often associated with increased Kratom powder and capsule potency.
Reading an Example Lab Test Result
Now that we’ve listed the numerous substances that our labs test for, let’s have a look at an example Kratom lab test result.
Below is a common lab test result from one of our 30+ available strains:
Now, let’s go line-by-line and interpret the results.
Pathogens:
- Coliforms. This lab test reveals the presence of 5,500 Colony-Forming Units (CFU) per gram. The stated limit is less than 10,000. This sample passes the Coliform test.
- E. Coli. No Colony-Forming Units of E. Coli were present in this sample. This sample passes the E. Coli test.
- Staphylococcus Aureus. No CFUs of this pathogen were present in this sample. This sample passes the Staphylococcus Aureus test.
- Salmonella. No CFUs of this pathogen were present in this sample. This sample passes the Salmonella test.
- Yeast. 1,500 CFUs/gram were detected in this sample. This is well below the stated limit of <100,000. This sample passes the yeast test.
- Mold. 2,800 CFUs/gram of mold were detected in this sample. This is well below the stated limit of <100,000. This sample passes the mold test.
Heavy Metals:
- Arsenic. .096 Parts Per Million (PPM) of Arsenic was detected in this sample. This is well below the stated limit of <2 PPM. This sample passes the Arsenic test.
- Cadmium. .042 PPM of Cadmium was detected in this sample. This is well below the stated limit of <.85 PPM. This sample passes the Cadmium test.
- Mercury. .030 PPM of Mercury was detected in this sample. This is well below the stated limit of <.41 PPM. This sample passes the Mercury test.
- Lead. .26 PPM of Lead was detected in this sample. This is well below the stated limit of <1.2 PPM. This sample passes the Lead test.
Plant Alkaloids (Mitragynine Package):
- Mitragynine. This sample contains 1.36% pure Mitragynine. This is within the stated range of .25-2%. This sample passes the Mitragynine test.
- 7-Hydroxymitragynine. This sample contains less than .040% 7-Hydroxymitragynine. This is within the stated range of .000-.100. This sample passes the 7-Hydroxymitragynine test.
When we look at the lab test results overall, we find that this sample passes all heavy metals, pathogen, and plant alkaloid tests. After these results have been confirmed by the lab and sent to us here at Kats Botanicals, the small batch from which the sample was pulled is certified and cleared for packaging and shipment right to your door.
Additionally, a copy of the Certificate of Analysis is stored in our database, and a link to it is made available to the consumer through a QR code printed on the packaging.
An Unwavering Commitment to Quality
As you can see, we go to extreme lengths to ensure that the Kratom powder and capsules we supply are the cleanest and purest they can be. And, we have the lab test results to prove it!
As an informed Kratom consumer, it’s important to know how to interpret the lab test results that correlate with the Kratom you enjoy. We hope this article has enhanced your understanding of this amazing plant, and if you have any questions about the information contained here, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
