What should you specify before buying freeze-dried longan powder in bulk?
Fix four things before you ask for a price: how much of the powder is actually longan, the moisture and water activity at release, the mesh size, and how the bag keeps air out. Two powders both sold as “longan powder” can differ on all four, and the cheaper quote is usually a different product. FruitBuys supplies 100% freeze-dried longan powder, milled from unsulfured Mekong longan, released at ≤4.0% moisture and aw ≤0.25, at 60–80 mesh as standard, in 5 kg foil bags, with a free-flowing grade for filling lines that need it.
Longan makes these choices sharper than almost any other fruit. About 70% of its dry matter is natural sugar, so the powder pulls moisture from humid air within minutes of opening. A specification written for banana or mango powder can fail with longan.
What is longan powder, and where does it fit?
Freeze-dried longan powder is ripe longan aril, frozen, dried under vacuum and milled to a fine ivory-to-cream powder. It carries the honey-floral sweetness and light caramel note of fresh-peeled longan, with nothing added. Each kilogram holds the fruit of about 8–9.5 kg of whole fresh longan.
Use powder when the fruit should disappear into the product:
| Application | Why powder works | Mesh | Starting inclusion for your pilot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk tea, fruit tea bases, RTD and instant drinks | Disperses fast; no pieces to soften or settle | 80–100 | 3–5% of the drink base |
| Ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt bases | Flavour and natural sweetness without ice crystals around pieces | 80 | 4–8% |
| Mooncake and bakery fillings, creams, frostings | Blends evenly into fat and sugar phases | 60–80 | 5–10% |
| Protein, smoothie and nutrition blends | Natural sweetness and a recognisable fruit name on the label | 80–100 | 3–6% |
| White-chocolate and compound coatings | No free water added to the fat | 60–80, refined with the sugar | 3–6% |
Inclusion rates are starting points; your base, sweetness target and colour decide the final dose. Because longan powder is naturally very sweet, many brands use it to cut part of the added sugar in a recipe while keeping the label fruit-led.
If the shopper has to see the fruit, powder is the wrong format: use whole balls or pieces, covered in what is dried longan, and when does freeze-dried sell better.
100% longan or a carrier powder: how do you compare quotes?
Ask for the full composition in writing before you look at price. This one line decides your label, your HS code and how much fruit you actually receive.
| Type | Contains | Label | HS code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% freeze-dried powder | Longan only | “Longan” as the single ingredient | 1106.30 |
| Free-flowing grade | Longan plus silicon dioxide (E551) ≤1% | Additive declared | Confirm with your broker; may move to 2106.90 |
| Spray-dried with carrier | Longan juice plus maltodextrin or gum | Every ingredient, in descending order | 2106.90 |
Compare quotes on cost per kilogram of fruit solids, not per kilogram of powder:
Cost per kg of fruit solids = price per kg ÷ (fruit share × (1 − moisture))
A 100% powder at 4% moisture delivers 0.96 kg of longan solids per kilogram. A carrier powder that is 50% fruit delivers about 0.48 kg, so you need twice as much of it to put the same longan into your product. A quote that looks 40% cheaper per kilogram is then about 20% more expensive per kilogram of fruit.
Four checks for any “100%” claim, including ours:
- Signed declaration: “100% Dimocarpus longan, carrier-free, no starch or maltodextrin added.”
- Dispersion check (5 minutes): stir a 10% solution in warm water. Pure longan powder gives a cloudy, cream-coloured liquid with fine natural fibre and a strong longan aroma; a carrier blend looks paler, clearer and tastes thinner.
- Total ash: longan solids carry about 3.5–4% ash from their natural minerals; maltodextrin carries almost none. A low ash result is a fast, cheap flag for dilution.
- Sulfite result: traditional dried longan is often fumigated. FruitBuys powder is milled from unsulfured longan, with a sulfite result below 10 mg/kg on the lot COA.
Which numbers belong in the purchase specification?
| Clause | FruitBuys standard | What it protects |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | 100% longan; free-flowing grade with E551 ≤1% on request | Your label and “no added sugar” claim |
| Moisture | ≤5.0% contract; released at ≤4.0% | Flow and value per kilogram |
| Water activity | ≤0.30 contract; released at ≤0.25 | Caking and shelf life |
| Particle size | 60–80 mesh standard (≥95% passing); 80–100 mesh for beverages | Dispersion in drinks, dust in mixing |
| Microbiology | TPC ≤10⁴, yeasts and moulds ≤10², E. coli <10 CFU/g, Salmonella not detected in 25 g | Powder often goes into products that are not cooked |
| Sulfite | <10 mg/kg on the lot COA | An unsulfured, nothing-to-declare label |
| Foreign matter | Metal detection on every carton | Wear debris from milling caught before packing |
| Colour and aroma | Matched to a signed reference sample | Batch-to-batch consistency in your product |
Do not order finer than 100 mesh. With 70% natural sugar in the dry matter, a finer powder has so much surface that it starts to set within minutes of opening. For a first order, start at 80 mesh and ask for the sieve result of the lot, not only the mesh printed on the bag.
How do you stop longan powder from caking?
Caking starts when particles pick up water, soften at the surface and stick, then dry again into lumps that block dosing lines. Control sits at three points.
- Release. Water activity at or below 0.25 at packing, measured on the lot.
- Pack. Bagged in a room held at 20–24 °C and RH ≤35–40%, in 5 kg PET/AL/LLDPE foil bags, gently de-aerated and heat-sealed with food-grade silica gel, four bags to a 20 kg carton. No nitrogen and no iron-based oxygen absorber: powder needs a dry bag, not a gas-filled one, and a hard vacuum would press it into a block.
- Use. Open one 5 kg bag per batch, in a room below 40% RH, and use the whole bag. The other 15 kg in the carton stay sealed until their own batch.
If your filling room is open to plant air, or an auger or stick-pack line runs a full shift, specify the free-flowing grade. Up to 1% silicon dioxide keeps the powder moving through dosing heads, at the cost of one declared additive.
How much powder fits in a container?
Powder fills a container by weight, not by volume. At 20 kg per carton, a 20 ft takes about 550 cartons, around 11 tonnes, two to three times the weight of whole balls in the same box. A 40 ft HC is usually capped by road weight limits at destination rather than by space; plan it to your inland trucking route. Final carton fill and loads are confirmed by trial pack for your mesh and grade. Freight per kilogram of powder is far lower than for whole balls, which matters most in drink programmes where powder is bought in tonnes.
Which documents, tests and codes apply?
- Lot COA with every full container: moisture, water activity, total plate count, yeasts and moulds, E. coli, Salmonella and sulfite, from an independent ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory; particle size checked at release.
- Baseline surveillance: periodic third-party testing for lead, arsenic and aflatoxin; reports in the technical file.
- Trial orders from 1–2 full cartons, with a free release QC log; third-party testing on a trial lot at lab cost, credited in full against your first container.
- Pre-shipment sample: 100–200 g from the packed lot in two sealed foil pouches, couriered within 24–48 hours of packing.
- HS code: 1106.30 for 100% powder, not the 0813.40 used for whole balls. A carrier or anti-caking agent can move it to 2106.90, so decide composition and code together. Vietnamese origin with Form EUR.1 claims the EU and UK preferential rate.
- Standard export dossier with every shipment: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, C/O, phytosanitary certificate and lot COA.
The nutrition panel for your printed label comes from analysis of your own SKU; typical values for longan are in longan calories and sugar, fresh vs dried.
When is longan powder the wrong choice?
- Your shopper needs to see the fruit. Use whole balls on toppings and in tea, or pieces in granola.
- Your process boils the powder for a long time. Heat flattens the fresh aroma that freeze-drying keeps. Add it after cooking, or use traditional dried longan for long-simmered soups.
- Your plant cannot keep powder dry. Without a dry room and a one-bag-per-batch rule, choose the free-flowing grade or smaller 1 kg bags so each opening exposes less powder.
Ask for a powder specification review
Send your application, target mesh, destination market and whether you need 100% or free-flowing. FruitBuys marks the clauses your current specification is missing and replies with a sample plan. Full details are on the freeze-dried longan powder product page; the whole-ball product and its specification are on the freeze-dried longan product page. Buyers taking powder alongside whole balls will find the shared checks in the freeze-dried longan RFQ checklist.
FAQ
Is FruitBuys longan powder 100% fruit?
Yes. No maltodextrin, no added sugar and no anti-caking agent, unless you order the free-flowing grade with silicon dioxide at 1% or less.
What mesh is standard?
60–80 mesh. Choose 80–100 mesh for drinks and milk tea; do not go finer than 100 mesh.
Why does longan powder cake so easily?
About 70% of its dry matter is natural sugar, which pulls moisture from humid air. Release at aw ≤0.25, foil bags with silica gel and a dry handling room prevent it.
What is longan powder used for?
Milk tea and fruit tea bases, ice cream and gelato, mooncake and bakery fillings, protein and smoothie blends, and white-chocolate coatings.
What HS code applies to longan powder?
1106.30 for 100% powder; a carrier or anti-caking agent can move it to 2106.90.
Is the powder sulfured?
No. It is milled from unsulfured longan, with a sulfite result below 10 mg/kg on the lot COA.
Does it need refrigeration?
No. Keep it sealed below 25 °C and 60% RH: 12 months in the original bag, 18–24 months in cool storage at ≤18 °C and RH ≤50%.
