Le collyre avec les certificats d'analyse
In general, you should not overestimate the importance of certificates of analysis. It remains a question of trust, because even if someone were to show you a certificate of analysis, it would not be certain that the glass delivered to you contained the substance analyzed... :-(
If you want to be absolutely sure, the only option is to have the substance delivered analyzed yourself. It could be worth it if you order a sufficiently large quantity, because then the costs for the analysis (converted to the price per gram) are no longer so important.
The results of chemical analyzes are often not easy to understand for non-experts. The nominal degree of purity is usually given far too much importance because this number is misleading for at least two reasons:
1. Accuracy of the analysis method (+/- 2%)
The industry standard for the analysis of NMN and most other substances we sell is HPLC.This analysis result is for most Probably 'disturbing' to customers, because the reported purity level of the tested NMN was well over 100%.
We have tried to formulate an explanation for this analysis result. on the Internet that an educated layperson without any special knowledge of (bio-)chemistry can understand, but unfortunately we were not able to do that. This is due to the complexity of the analytical method used (HPLC).
The laboratory in the USA that carried out this analysis for us (Intertek) itself wrote about this result:
"Hello Peter,
I am not sure how to help here, They are technically correct. The only way to determine a 'true value' is through statistical analysis of multiple chemical analysis. If we allow for a variance +2% then a variance -2% is equally as likely. The only thing I can offer is that this is an industry accepted practice and that there is no better way to achieve results on a single analysis. We stand by our analysis and, since we are audited by the FDA, we are following all required measures of quality required from an ISO certified, GMP facility.
Stay Healthy and Best Regards
Noah Morgan
Key Account Manager"
What does that mean?
Well: First of all, this means that a single analysis (it costs about $150) only has an accuracy of +/- 2%! If you wanted greater accuracy, you would have to run multiple (numerous) analyzes (at $150 each) and then average them. So if one of our competitors presents a (single) certificate with a purity of 99.9%, the actual purity may be (only) 97.9%!
In our case, however, it means something very special and very pleasing for us: If we assume a measurement uncertainty of +/- 2%, then the degree of purity is 'ours' NMN in the worst case at least 99.8%! (Our supplier's Certificate of Analysis indicates a purity of 99.9%.) This is therefore extremely pure NMN.
2. The degree of purity says practically nothing about the quality
(See also Notes on the required level of purity of NMN)
We are often asked: "If the analyzed purity of NMN or NAD* is 97.5%, what is the remaining 2.5%?"
The answer: Water of crystallization You could further increase the level of purity simply by trying to get rid of the crystal water, but that would only make the product unnecessarily more expensive without any increase in quality.
What is really important is not so much the degree of purity, but rather the result of the microbiological analysis and the analysis of heavy metal contamination.
What do you need to know?
In the current analysis report shown here about the NAD+ we sell, you can see information in the section about the microbiological analysis < 10 and < 100.
These are guideline values that should be adhered to (or warning values that are not ü may be exceeded).
The unit of measurement for these guideline or warning values is CFU/g
When analyzing for heavy metals, particularly strict guidelines apply; ideally it says "n.n." for 'below the detection limit'.