This industry runs on jargon from two different worlds, classical Ayurveda and modern pharmaceutical manufacturing, and most glossaries explain one but not the other. These are the terms that actually appear in a quotation, a composition sheet or a product brief.
Manufacturing and commercial terms
**MOQ**, minimum order quantity, the smallest batch we can make economically for a given format. **COA**, certificate of analysis, the document reporting test results for a batch against its specification. **BMR**, batch manufacturing record, the internal document tracing everything that happened during a batch. **Lead time**, working days from confirmed artwork and received advance to dispatch, not from your first enquiry.
**Third-party manufacturing**, we make it, you brand it. **Private label**, third-party manufacturing using a formulation we already make. **Loan licence**, an arrangement where manufacturing happens under a licence held in a particular structure; terminology varies by state. **Job work**, used loosely in this industry, often interchangeably with contract manufacturing.
Quality and testing terms
**Standardisation**, expressing an extract by the percentage of a marker constituent, such as 95% curcuminoids or 20% bacosides. The single most important line on a composition sheet. **Marker constituent**, the measured compound used to standardise an extract. **Assay**, the test that measures it.
**Accelerated stability**, testing at elevated temperature and humidity to model longer-term behaviour; used to establish a provisional shelf life. **Real-time stability**, storing product under normal conditions for the full claimed shelf life; required by some export registrations and impossible to shorten. **Heavy metals panel**, testing for lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium.
Ayurvedic terms
**Rasayana**, a rejuvenative, taken over time rather than for an acute complaint. **Churna**, a powdered herbal preparation. **Kwath / decoction**, herbs boiled in water and reduced. **Bhasma**, a classical calcined mineral preparation; restricted in several export markets. **Guggulu**, a class of classical formulations built on guggul resin.
**Medhya**, relating to the intellect, as in medhya rasayana for cognitive herbs. **Raktashodhak**, blood-purifying, the classical category for skin herbs. **Vajikarana**, the classical category concerning vitality. **Stri-roga**, the classical category concerning women's health. **Nidrajanak**, sleep-promoting. **Shodhana**, purification, an essential processing step for shilajit and bhasma preparations.
Regulatory terms
**FSSAI**, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which licenses food products including most supplements. **AYUSH**, the ministry and state authorities covering Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. **Ayurvedic proprietary medicine**, a non-classical formulation filed under the Ayurvedic route. **Product approval**, product-level permission required under certain routes.
**Structure-function claim**, a statement about a nutrient's role in normal body function, such as zinc supporting immune function. Generally permissible. **Medicinal claim**, a statement that a product treats, cures or prevents a disease. Not permissible on a supplement, and the single most common cause of enforcement action against brands in this industry.