Documentation reference

How to Read a Research Peptide Certificate of Analysis

A certificate tells you what one laboratory measured, on one sample, on one date. Everything else is inference — and most of the inferences commonly made from a COA are not supported.

A researcher loading samples into a microplate with a multichannel pipette.
A certificate is only as good as the laboratory behind it. Nine of the twelve suppliers in this catalogue name the laboratory that tested the product; three do not name one at all.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
A liquid chromatography stack connected to a quadrupole mass spectrometer on a laboratory bench.
The instrument behind a certificate of analysis: a liquid chromatography stack coupled to a mass spectrometer. Chromatography separates and quantifies; the mass spectrometer is what establishes identity. A report showing only the first has not told you what the substance is.Nick Birse, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Eleven checks we run on every report

1 Is the report lot-specific, or generic to the product line?
2 Is that lot identifiable on the product page and on the packaging?
3 Is the testing laboratory named, with contact details?
4 Is there a report number that can be checked with the laboratory?
5 Is the test date recent relative to the lot on sale?
6 Is HPLC purity shown with the chromatogram, not just a number?
7 Is mass-spectrometry identity data present?
8 Is the tested sample quantity stated?
9 Were sterility or endotoxin tests actually performed, or only mentioned?
10 Is the report complete, including method and footer pages?
11 Is the full original document published, rather than a cropped image?
What a COA cannot tell you
Sterility cannot be inferred from an HPLC result.
A correct dose cannot be inferred from a purity percentage.
Net peptide content is not the same as HPLC area percent.
Human safety cannot be inferred from any certificate.
Third-party testing is not FDA approval.
GMP status is not established by marketing language.
A research-use disclaimer is not evidence of compliance, and third-party testing is not FDA approval.