Perilla Seed
Perilla seed is the small dry fruit of Perilla frutescens, an annual mint family herb grown across East Asia, and is used both as a whole food seed and as the feedstock for perilla oil. The seeds are roughly 1 to 2 mm across, spherical, and range from grey brown to dark brown or black depending on variety.
Composition is dominated by oil, at 35 to 45 percent of the seed, and that oil is one of the richest plant sources of alpha-linolenic acid, which commonly accounts for 55 to 65 percent of its fatty acids. Protein runs at 17 to 23 percent and dietary fibre is high, most of it in the hull. The seed also carries rosmarinic acid, luteolin and apigenin glycosides, and tocopherols concentrated in the gamma form, which give the material an antioxidant profile alongside its fatty acid content.
Whole seed ships dry at 8 percent moisture or below, free flowing, and is stable for around a year in cool dark storage; once the seed is crushed or milled the very high polyunsaturated content makes the material oxidise quickly, so ground seed and meal are handled cool and packed under nitrogen. The seed does not dissolve. It is roasted and used whole, pressed for oil, or milled into a powder that disperses rather than dissolving in water. Roasting is the usual pretreatment because it develops the nutty aroma and inactivates the lipase that would otherwise raise free fatty acids in the oil.
We source bulk Perilla Seed from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Nutraceutical
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Small round seed, grey brown to dark brown, free of stem and leaf |
| Identification | Conforms to Perilla frutescens seed by macroscopic examination |
| Odour and taste | Characteristic nutty aroma, free of rancid notes |
| Moisture | 8.0 percent maximum |
| Oil content | 35.0 percent minimum |
| Alpha-linolenic acid in oil | 55.0 percent minimum of total fatty acids |
| Protein, dry basis | 17.0 percent minimum |
| Total ash | 5.0 percent maximum |
| Acid insoluble ash | 1.0 percent maximum |
| Foreign matter | 0.5 percent maximum |
| Lead | 0.5 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.5 mg/kg maximum |
| Cadmium | 0.2 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 50,000 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 1,000 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The first distinction is botanical. Perilla frutescens var. frutescens, the Korean and Chinese oilseed type, is the source of oil and of whole seed for food use, while var. crispa, the Japanese shiso type, is grown mainly for its leaf and its seed trades in smaller volume for garnish and for traditional preparations. Within the oilseed type, buyers specify seed colour and oil content, with lots selected above 40 percent oil for pressing.
Processed grades run from cleaned raw whole seed, through roasted whole seed, to milled seed powder and to defatted seed meal recovered after pressing. Perilla oil is a separate product line traded as cold pressed or as refined oil, and perilla seed extract standardised on rosmarinic acid is a further, more processed grade sold to the supplement trade. Buyers also specify hulled or dehulled seed, sprouted seed, and organic certified material. Because of the oxidation risk, nitrogen flushed packing is a common specification attribute on any milled or pressed form.
Applications
- Perilla oil pressing, the largest outlet, where the seed is the feedstock for a plant oil sold on its alpha-linolenic acid content
- Korean and Chinese cooking, where roasted whole seed and coarse seed powder are used as a seasoning in soups, stews and vegetable dishes
- Bakery and confectionery toppings, where roasted seed is used whole on breads, biscuits and rice cakes for a nutty aroma and visible seed texture
- Omega-3 supplement manufacture, where the oil is filled into softgels as a vegetarian source of short chain omega-3 fatty acids
- Seasoning powders and sauce bases, where milled roasted seed contributes body and a toasted aroma
- Perilla seed extract production, where the defatted seed is extracted for rosmarinic acid and flavone glycosides
- Plant protein and fibre ingredients, where defatted press cake is milled as a protein and fibre carrier
- Sprouting and microgreen production, where seed is germinated rather than pressed
- Animal feed and pet food formulation, where the meal supplies protein and residual omega-3 fatty acids
China Manufacturers of Perilla Seed
Top Perilla Seed manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States perilla seed and perilla oil are handled as conventional foods and as dietary ingredients on the basis of their history of use as food in East Asia. There is no food additive regulation specific to the seed, so use in conventional food rests either on that history of food use or on an independent GRAS conclusion for the stated conditions of use, while supplement use falls under the dietary ingredient provisions of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act with current good manufacturing practice at 21 CFR Part 111. Perilla is not one of the major food allergens requiring declaration in the United States, although allergic reactions to the plant are documented.
In the European Union the status depends on evidence of consumption before May 1997. Perilla seed and cold pressed perilla seed oil have been assessed in the novel food framework of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, and material without a demonstrated history of significant consumption in the Union requires authorisation and entry on the Union list before it may be placed on the market. Where the oil is marketed, the general contaminant limits for vegetable oils apply, including those for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, and pesticide maximum residue levels apply to the seed as to any crop. Codex Alimentarius has no commodity standard for perilla seed or perilla oil, so the general standard for fats and oils not covered by individual standards, the general standard for contaminants, and the code of hygienic practice for low moisture foods provide the applicable international reference.
Manufacturing Process
Perilla is grown as a summer annual and harvested when the seed heads brown and the seed threshes free, usually by cutting and drying the plants before threshing. Seed is cleaned by aspiration and screening to remove stem, leaf and light matter, then passed over gravity separators and destoners and dried to below 8 percent moisture. Because the seed is small and light, the cleaning train relies on air classification more than on screen sizing.
Seed sold as food is then roasted in rotary or drum roasters at around 150 to 180 degrees Celsius, which develops the nutty aroma, inactivates lipase and reduces the microbial count, and is cooled quickly to stop browning before packing. Seed destined for oil follows a different route: it is cleaned, optionally lightly roasted, and pressed in a screw expeller, with cold pressed grades held below 60 degrees Celsius. Crude oil is settled and filtered, and for refined grades taken through degumming, alkali neutralisation, clay bleaching and low temperature vacuum steam deodorisation, then dosed with tocopherol and filled under nitrogen. The press cake is either sold as meal or solvent extracted to recover residual oil, desolventised, and milled. Milled seed powder is produced on chilled hammer or pin mills to keep the oil from smearing and the temperature from rising, then sieved to the target mesh, passed over magnets and metal detection, and packed under nitrogen in barrier film.
