Japanese Akoya pearl powder for brands and formulators, in two named grades, with a spec for each grade and a lot CoA and certificate of origin for the mother-of-pearl grade.
Tell us what you are developing and which documents you need. We reply from Japan within one working day with the product specification, SDS and the CoA of the current lot.
Both grades are non-calcined nacre: no calcination or heat firing is applied, which keeps the aragonite crystal form. The mother-of-pearl grade is shell nacre, sterilised and dried, milled to a fine powder and packed under a lot number; the outer prismatic layer is ground off before processing. The pearl nacre grade follows the producer's seven-step process below.
Step 1 · raw material
Akoya pearls, Japan
Step 2 · nacre only
The pearl nucleus is removed
Step 3 · cleaning
Before drying
Step 4 · drying
Nacre fragments
Step 5 · milling
To a fine powder
Step 6 · 280 mesh
Residue max. 0.5%
Step 7 · packing
Product inspection before release
The grade on this page. Other grades, where available, are specified on request.
Example lot values are published in the developer's guide below. They are an example, not a specification; your lot's CoA governs.
A Japanese trading company selling directly to brand owners and contract manufacturers. No distributor layer between you and the documents.
Every shipment travels with the Certificate of Analysis of its own lot, with the measured values and the full safety panel.
A small first order lets you run a pilot batch before committing to bulk. Larger volumes are quoted by volume and delivery terms.
For registered companies developing a product. Tell us the format you plan and we will say honestly what to expect.
After payment is received. Freight quoted on request. Specification and SDS before you order, CoA with the goods.
If you are comparing ingredients for a new SKU, these questions separate one material from another quickly.
What each component is, what the processing changes, and what published research on the raw material has examined. No health claims; references on request.
We supply Japanese Akoya powder wholesale to supplement and cosmetic brands, formulators and distributors. We name the grade on every spec, CoA and quotation, so your label and your lab file say the same thing.
Choose the pearl nacre grade when the pearl itself is part of your product story. Choose the mother-of-pearl grade when you need a very fine powder and a heavy metals panel measured on the current lot. Not sure? We send specs for both side by side.
For cosmetic formulations: the SDS states cosmetic use for the pearl nacre grade only.
Tell us your application, target market and quantity. We reply with the spec for the right grade and a quotation. 20 g evaluation samples are available on request for registered businesses.
Use the request form or the Contact page.
Nacre, also called mother-of-pearl, is the iridescent layer the Akoya oyster lays down, in thin platelets, on the inside of its shell and around a pearl. Our two grades are both nacre. What differs is where the nacre comes from and how finely it is milled.
The Akoya pearl oyster is a marine bivalve, Pinctada fucata (also listed as Pinctada fucata martensii or Pinctada martensii). It is a saltwater species, not a freshwater mussel. Both grades come from this species.
In INCI nomenclature, Pearl Powder covers ground freshwater or saltwater pearls, and Nacre Powder covers powder from mother of pearl. The INCI name alone does not tell you the species or whether the source is marine.
Calcination changes the crystal form: in one study, 30 minutes at 400 °C partly converted the aragonite in pearl powder to calcite and fully converted it in shell powder. That is why we state the calcination status for each grade.
If you run an identity test, test the Mother-of-pearl grade as shell nacre, not as pearl: published methods tell the two apart by how their aragonite changes on heating.
Pearl and nacre are about 95% calcium carbonate and about 5% organic matter, mainly a protein matrix known as conchiolin (review, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2021). Pearl nacre is laid down by the pearl sac, shell nacre by the mantle; their composition is very close.
Buyers of single-ingredient pearl products increasingly ask for measured values on the lot rather than limits on a specification.
Calcium carbonate 92.1%, conchiolin 4.7%, moisture 1.0%, trace minerals 2.2%.
Particle size decides where a powder fits. A micronised powder is the natural choice where an even, fine texture matters, for example capsule blends; a 280 mesh powder suits masks. Pearl and nacre powders are mineral and do not dissolve in water. In creams they can pill and in oils they can settle, so we recommend a dispersion trial in your own base.
Our particle size data for the Mother-of-pearl grade are volume-based; we specify the Pearl nacre grade by sieve residue. We have not measured a number-based distribution for either grade, so we make no nano or non-nano statement.
Also in our functional food range: Peptide Oyster Extract Powder, Fish Collagen Tripeptide and Elastin Fish Peptide. Browse the full list in our functional food ingredients catalogue.
Start at the minimum order. Free sample. Specification, SDS and lot CoA on request.
Request a sample or quotationWe supply Japanese Akoya powder wholesale to supplement and cosmetic brands, formulators and distributors. We name the grade on every spec, CoA and quotation, so your label and your lab file say the same thing.
Choose the pearl nacre grade when the pearl itself is part of your product story. Choose the mother-of-pearl grade when you need a very fine powder and a heavy metals panel measured on the current lot. Not sure? We send specs for both side by side.
For cosmetic formulations: the SDS states cosmetic use for the pearl nacre grade only.
Tell us your application, target market and quantity. We reply with the spec for the right grade and a quotation. 20 g evaluation samples are available on request for registered businesses.
Use the request form or the Contact page.
Nacre, also called mother-of-pearl, is the iridescent layer the Akoya oyster lays down, in thin platelets, on the inside of its shell and around a pearl. Our two grades are both nacre. What differs is where the nacre comes from and how finely it is milled.
The Akoya pearl oyster is a marine bivalve, Pinctada fucata (also listed as Pinctada fucata martensii or Pinctada martensii). It is a saltwater species, not a freshwater mussel. Both grades come from this species.
In INCI nomenclature, Pearl Powder covers ground freshwater or saltwater pearls, and Nacre Powder covers powder from mother of pearl. The INCI name alone does not tell you the species or whether the source is marine.
Calcination changes the crystal form: in one study, 30 minutes at 400 °C partly converted the aragonite in pearl powder to calcite and fully converted it in shell powder. That is why we state the calcination status for each grade.
If you run an identity test, test the Mother-of-pearl grade as shell nacre, not as pearl: published methods tell the two apart by how their aragonite changes on heating.
Pearl and nacre are about 95% calcium carbonate and about 5% organic matter, mainly a protein matrix known as conchiolin (review, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2021). Pearl nacre is laid down by the pearl sac, shell nacre by the mantle; their composition is very close.
Buyers of single-ingredient pearl products increasingly ask for measured values on the lot rather than limits on a specification.
Calcium carbonate 92.1%, conchiolin 4.7%, moisture 1.0%, trace minerals 2.2%.
Particle size decides where a powder fits. A micronised powder is the natural choice where an even, fine texture matters, for example capsule blends; a 280 mesh powder suits masks. Pearl and nacre powders are mineral and do not dissolve in water. In creams they can pill and in oils they can settle, so we recommend a dispersion trial in your own base.
Our particle size data for the Mother-of-pearl grade are volume-based; we specify the Pearl nacre grade by sieve residue. We have not measured a number-based distribution for either grade, so we make no nano or non-nano statement.
Also in our functional food range: Peptide Oyster Extract Powder, Fish Collagen Tripeptide and Elastin Fish Peptide. Browse the full list in our functional food ingredients catalogue.
The mother-of-pearl grade is the inner nacre layer of the Akoya oyster shell, very fine (around 2 µm median). The pearl nacre grade comes from the pearl itself with the nucleus removed, 280 mesh.
500 g for either grade. The mother-of-pearl grade is packed in 100 g and 5 kg bags.
Both grades come with a specification, a process description and an SDS. The mother-of-pearl grade also comes with a lot certificate of analysis, including a heavy metals panel and a nutrition analysis on the current lot, and a certificate of origin for the raw material.
Yes. We ship from Japan; freight is quoted per order. Import requirements in your market are handled by the buyer.
