Cumin Seeds

Cumin purity is quoted as a percentage and the half-point between 99% and 99.5% is a real commercial difference. It is the extra sortex pass. Europe quality adds tighter residue limits on top of the physical purity, and those are separate requirements that buyers sometimes assume are the same thing.

Unjha is the world’s cumin market and effectively sets the reference price; we buy there and can hold material against a forward contract.

What to fix on the specification

• Purity: 99% or 99.5%, with the counting method stated.
• Moisture: typically 9% maximum.
• Total ash and acid-insoluble ash: the real test for added mineral matter.
• Volatile oil: if you are grinding or extracting.
• Residue panel: against the destination market, not a general standard.

“Singapore quality” and “Europe quality” are commercial descriptions that bundle physical purity with other requirements, and a lot can be 99.5% pure by count and still fail an EU shipment on chemistry. What the half-point actually buys you separates the two.