Non-sortex psyllium seed has been machine cleaned with sieves, aspirators and de-stoners. Sortex psyllium seed has then passed through an optical colour sorter, which rejects seeds and particles that look different from good seed.
Sortex seed is usually cleaner and more even in colour, and it costs more. Whether you need it depends on whether you sell the seed whole or mill it yourself.
What machine cleaning removes
Raw seed from the APMC market contains dust, soil, stones, stalks, chaff and weed seeds. Machine cleaning separates these by size, weight and air flow. It removes most of the gross impurities. It does not reliably remove material of the same size and weight as psyllium seed, such as some weed seeds, discoloured seeds or small clods. The general process is explained in what machine-cleaned versus sortex-cleaned means.
What a sorter adds
- Removes dark, shrivelled or weather-damaged seeds.
- Removes weed seeds that differ in colour from psyllium.
- Removes small stones, soil clods and foreign particles that passed the sieves.
- Gives a more even colour, which matters for whole seed sold as it is.
- Lowers the risk of foreign matter complaints from your customer.
What a sorter does not do
Colour sorting works on appearance. It does not remove pesticide residues, microbes or mycotoxins. It does not fix high moisture or insect damage inside the seed. A sortex label is not a substitute for testing.
Results also depend on the machine settings and how many passes are made. A single fast pass removes less than slower or repeated passes. Ask the mill how it runs the sorter for your grade, and what share of seed it rejects.
Which one to buy
- Whole seed for retail or traditional use: sortex seed is usually worth it, because your customer sees every seed.
- Seed for your own milling into husk: cleaned non-sortex seed may be enough if your plant cleans again, but check foreign matter limits.
- Feed or industrial use: non-sortex is often acceptable, with the safety tests still in place.
How to specify it
Do not rely on the word "sortex" alone. Write the results you need: purity, foreign matter, damaged and discoloured seeds, other seeds, stones and moisture, as typical values agreed for your use. Then approve a sample and test pre-shipment lots against it. Tolerances are covered in what tolerances to include for moisture, purity and foreign matter.
If you later buy husk, note that seed cleaning affects husk quality too. Cleaner seed generally gives cleaner husk with lower ash, as covered in total ash and acid-insoluble ash in psyllium.
How we help
We check during the audit that the sorter exists, works and is used for your lot. We then test pre-shipment samples for purity and foreign matter at an NABL-accredited lab. Ask for a free sourcing review.