Wheatgrass Powder

Wheatgrass powder is the dried young aerial leaf of common wheat, Triticum aestivum L., cut at the jointing stage before the grain head forms. Leaf is washed, dried under shade, in a cabinet drier or freeze dried depending on grade, then milled to 80 mesh. Nothing is extracted and no carrier or maltodextrin is added, which separates it from the spray-dried juice powder grade sold under the same common name. Thovek releases the whole-leaf material at not less than 20% protein on a dry basis, against published proximate analyses of leaf powder that report roughly 18-25%, and at not less than 0.4% total chlorophyll; one published analysis reports about 525 mg chlorophyll per 100 g, and freeze-dried lots retain measurably more than shade or oven dried ones. The two grades behave very differently in a formulation and should be costed and specified separately. Whole-leaf powder carries 20-30% crude fibre, disperses into a green suspension that settles and leaves a fibre sediment, and suits capsules, tablets and bar inclusions where mouthfeel is not critical. Juice powder, made by expressing and drying the leaf juice, is far lower in fibre, dissolves more cleanly and is the usual choice for effervescent formats and stick-pack drinks. Buyers switching between them will see the protein, fibre and colour figures move, so the grade should be named on the purchase specification rather than assumed. The commercial point that matters most on this product is the allergen declaration. Wheatgrass is derived from wheat, and wheat is a named allergen under Annex II of EU Regulation 1169/2011 and under US FALCPA, so it must be declared on the buyer's label regardless of the gluten result. Gluten itself sits in the grain, not the vegetative leaf: a published study using R5 and G12 ELISA found gluten in wheatgrass leaf tissue below the limit of quantification and below the Codex threshold of 20 mg/kg. That supports a low-gluten position but does not by itself license a gluten-free claim, which needs batch testing plus a segregated, gluten-controlled line. The material is otherwise vegan, vegetarian, non-GMO and free from milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, nuts, peanut and sesame, and is available as conventional or certified organic Indian-origin crop.