Cress seeds (Lepidium sativum; halim, حب الرشاد) ship in three grades: sowing seed at ISTA germination of 85 percent or higher, Sortex-cleaned food grade for halim laddoo and Gulf spice retail, and low-microbial sprouting seed for microgreen growers. Origins are India, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran and Morocco; a 20-foot FCL carries 22 to 24 tons, priced on RFQ.
Lepidium sativum — one seed, three names, three markets
Garden cress (Lepidium sativum) is a fast-growing annual in the Brassicaceae family, the same family as mustard and radish. The seed is small, oval and reddish-brown, 2 to 3 mm long with a thousand-seed weight of 2 to 3 grams, and it swells into a mucilaginous coat within minutes of touching water — the property that makes it easy to spot in a laddoo and easy to sprout on a tray.
The seed carries three commercial identities. In India it is halim, aliv, asaliya or chandrashoor, a household nutrition seed and an Ayurvedic ingredient. Across the Gulf it is حب الرشاد (habb al-rashad), sold by spice and herbal retailers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar and cooked with dates and milk. In Europe and North America it is a sprouting and microgreen seed, grown on trays for a peppery seven-day crop. The same Lepidium sativum lot can serve any of the three, but the cleaning, testing and paperwork differ enough that we treat them as three grades on the cress seeds product page and in every RFQ.
Origins — India, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran and Morocco
| Origin | Growing region | Harvest window | Main export use | Ship-from port |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | Rajasthan (Jodhpur belt), Madhya Pradesh (Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam), Gujarat | February-March | Food (halim), sowing | Mundra / Nhava Sheva |
| Pakistan | Punjab (Multan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad) | March-April | Food, sowing | Karachi |
| Egypt | Beni Suef, Fayoum, Minya | April-May | Gulf food trade | Alexandria / Damietta |
| Iran | Isfahan, Yazd, Kerman | April-May | Regional food, Unani | Bandar Abbas |
| Morocco | Marrakech, Souss | April-May | European sprouting, Maghreb food | Casablanca |
India is the volume origin: cress is a rabi crop sown in October-November on residual moisture, and the Madhya Pradesh mandis set the food-grade price for the year. Pakistan's Punjab crop follows a month later and prices within a narrow band of Indian. Egypt has the longest tradition of supplying the Gulf, and Saudi and Kuwaiti retailers often ask for Egyptian origin by name. Iran supplies its own market and Unani manufacturers, with limited export routing. Morocco is the origin European sprout houses tend to prefer because it clears EU pesticide and microbial screens reliably. We consolidate Indian, Pakistani and Egyptian lots through Jebel Ali for Gulf buyers and ship Moroccan or Indian lots direct to Rotterdam.
Three grades — sowing, food and sprouting
| Grade | HS code | Defining spec | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sowing | 1209.91 | ISTA germination 85% or higher, purity 98%, varietal ID, ISTA Orange certificate | Seed distributors, home-garden packers, commercial growers |
| Food / halim | 1207.99 | Sortex 99% purity, moisture 8% max, admixture 1% max, aflatoxin and pesticide panel | Gulf spice retailers, Indian sweet makers, nutraceutical brands |
| Sprouting / microgreen | 1209.91 | Sowing spec plus Salmonella and STEC absent in 25 g, lot traceability per EU 208/2013 | European and North American sprout houses |
Sowing seed is sold on germination and purity; a lot that germinates at 92 percent commands a premium over one at 85 percent even when both meet the floor, and buyers usually want the ISTA certificate rather than an in-house count. Food grade is sold on cleanliness: Sortex colour-sorting removes immature, discoloured and foreign seed, and the target is 99 percent by weight with stones and dust below 0.5 percent. Sprouting grade sits on top of the sowing spec with a microbiological layer, because the seed will be eaten raw after several days in warm, wet conditions that amplify any contamination. It is the smallest tonnage of the three and the most expensive per kilogram.
Spec sheet and Certificate of Analysis
A clean cress COA carries the following fields; buyers should insist on every line for the grade they are buying:
- Moisture — 8 percent maximum; cress seed is hygroscopic and cakes above that
- Purity — 99 percent (Sortex) for food, 98 percent minimum for sowing
- Admixture and foreign matter — 1 percent maximum total, 0.5 percent maximum inorganic
- Damaged or immature seed — 1 percent maximum
- Germination (sowing and sprouting) — 85 percent minimum, ISTA method, with the test date within six months
- Aflatoxin (food and sprouting) — total below 10 micrograms per kilogram, EU-bound lots below 4
- Pesticide residues — EU MRLs per Regulation 396/2005 for European lots, GSO limits for Gulf lots
- Heavy metals — lead, cadmium, arsenic within EU and GSO food limits
- Microbiology (food) — total plate count, yeast and mould, E. coli, Salmonella absent in 25 g
- Microbiology (sprouting) — the above plus Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli absent in 25 g
Nutritionally, cress seed is around 25 percent protein and 20 to 25 percent oil rich in alpha-linolenic acid, and Indian food-composition data place its iron content well above most edible seeds, which is why halim sits in post-partum and anaemia diets. Nutritional claims on retail packs are the buyer's responsibility; we supply the compositional data, not the claim. Full testing standards are on the quality page.
Who buys cress seed
The buyer base splits by grade and geography:
- Gulf spice and herbal retailers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar buying food grade in 25 kilogram bags for repacking as حب الرشاد, usually preferring Egyptian or Indian origin
- Indian sweet and nutrition manufacturers in India producing halim laddoo, aliv laddoo and halim kheer mixes, buying Sortex food grade by the container from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
- Ayurvedic and nutraceutical brands using the seed for iron and folate positioning in maternal and post-partum products
- European microgreen and sprout growers in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom buying sprouting grade in sealed 25 kilogram paper bags
- Seed distributors and home-garden packers buying sowing grade for sachet lines
- Unani manufacturers in Pakistan and India buying under the name tukhm-e-halim or habb-ur-rashad for traditional formulations
Retail-pack buyers in the Gulf should note that Arabic labelling under GSO 9 and an SFDA-cleared importer of record are prerequisites; we can ship pre-labelled retail packs from Jebel Ali for buyers who want a finished SKU.
Compliance — SFDA and SASO, EU 208/2013, FSSAI
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Food-grade cress enters the Kingdom through SFDA import clearance, with the consignment registered on the SFDA import platform before arrival, GSO-compliant Arabic labelling and a Certificate of Analysis covering pesticides, aflatoxin and heavy metals. SASO conformity certification applies where the product is sold as a packaged consumer good. Kuwait and Qatar apply their own municipality food-control clearances on the same GSO standards.
European Union sprouting lots. Since 2013 the EU has treated seeds intended for sprouting as a high-risk category following the 2011 fenugreek-sprout outbreak. Implementing Regulation (EU) 208/2013 imposes lot-level traceability from field to sprout house; Regulation 209/2013 sets the microbiological criteria; and Regulation 211/2013 requires imported seeds for sprouting to travel with a certificate that the seed was produced under hygiene conditions equivalent to EU rules. EFSA's opinion on seeds and sprouted seeds remains the scientific reference. We only ship sprouting grade from origin lots with a traceability file and a third-party microbial panel.
India. Exporters and domestic sellers of food-grade halim operate under an FSSAI licence, and imports into India clear FSSAI at the port. Sowing and sprouting grades are governed by the Seeds Act and require a phytosanitary certificate from Plant Quarantine.
Logistics and lead times
Cress seed moves in 25 or 50 kilogram PP bags for food grade, 25 kilogram laminated bags for sowing grade, and sealed 25 kilogram kraft-paper bags for sprouting grade. Cargo is dry and stable at ambient temperature; the only handling rule is to keep the bags off the container floor and away from condensation, because a wet bag turns into a block of mucilage.
| Route | Ocean transit | Typical Incoterm |
|---|---|---|
| Mundra to Jebel Ali | 3-5 days | FOB / CFR |
| Karachi to Jebel Ali | 2-4 days | FOB / CFR |
| Jebel Ali to Jeddah | 5-8 days | CFR / CIF |
| Jebel Ali to Shuwaikh (Kuwait) | 3-5 days | CFR / CIF |
| Jebel Ali to Hamad (Doha) | 2-4 days | CIF |
| Jebel Ali to Rotterdam | 21-28 days | CIF / DAP |
| Mundra to Rotterdam direct | 22-28 days | CIF / DAP |
Gulf buyers taking mixed origin — say, Egyptian halim for the Saudi retail line and Indian sowing seed for a garden-centre chain — get one Kehkashan bill of lading out of Jebel Ali rather than two origin shipments. European sprouting buyers usually prefer direct Mundra or Casablanca sailings to keep the traceability chain short. Incoterm options and consolidation rules are on the logistics page.
Container math and MOQ
Cress seed is dense for a small seed. A 20-foot FCL loads 22 to 24 metric tons in 25 kilogram bags, and a 40-foot container is payload-limited at 26 to 27 metric tons rather than volume-limited, so the 20-foot box is the efficient unit for almost every buyer. Retail-packed goods in cartons load lighter, at 14 to 16 metric tons per 20-foot FCL.
MOQ tiers as we run them at Kehkashan:
- 500 kg — trial lot, fits LCL consolidation or air for sprouting samples
- 5,000 kg — break-even on LCL with consolidated shipping
- 22,000 kg+ — full 20-foot FCL of single-grade material
- 26,000 kg+ — full 40-foot for volume halim buyers
Sample lots of 1 to 2 kilograms are couriered to qualified buyers; sprouting buyers receive the microbial certificate with the sample so the lab work can be verified before the container is booked. Blended containers — for example 15 tons of food grade plus 7 tons of sowing grade — are routine for Gulf distributors serving both spice and garden channels.
Pricing drivers — RFQ only
We quote cress seed on request rather than publishing a band, because the three grades price differently and the crop moves every spring. The variables that set the number:
- Grade — sowing and sprouting price above food grade because of germination testing, microbial panels and traceability paperwork
- Origin — Indian and Pakistani food grade set the floor; Egyptian carries a Gulf-preference premium; Moroccan sprouting seed carries an EU-compliance premium
- Sortex purity — moving from 98 to 99 percent removes a further 1 percent of saleable weight and adds a sorting pass
- Crop timing — the February-March Indian harvest resets the year; lots bought at the mandi peak in March-April price below stored lots in October
- Testing — a full EU sprouting panel adds a measurable cost per lot at 5-ton scale
- Packaging — bulk 50 kilogram bags versus 25 kilogram laminated versus retail pre-pack
Send grade, origin preference, purity or germination target, quantity and destination port to [email protected]. The trade desk replies within one working day with FOB Mundra, Karachi or Jebel Ali, CFR, CIF and DAP options.
Buyer FAQ
What is the difference between halim, aliv and حب الرشاد?
They are the same seed, Lepidium sativum, named in Hindi, Marathi and Arabic respectively. Halim and aliv are the Indian food-trade names used for laddoo and post-partum nutrition; حب الرشاد (habb al-rashad) is the Gulf retail name. Specify the Latin name and the grade on the RFQ so that the lot is cleaned and tested for the intended use.
Can I use food-grade cress seed for sprouting or microgreens?
Not for commercial sprouting in the EU or North America. Food grade is cleaned for purity but is not tested for Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli or backed by a field-to-lot traceability file, which EU Regulations 208/2013, 209/2013 and 211/2013 require for seeds intended for sprouting. Buy sprouting grade and receive the certificate with the sample.
What germination should sowing-grade cress seed show?
Specify ISTA germination of 85 percent minimum with a test date within six months of shipment, purity of 98 percent and an ISTA Orange or equivalent certificate. Good Indian and Moroccan lots test at 90 to 95 percent. Cress seed loses vigour in humid storage, so ask for moisture at 8 percent or below and laminated bags.
Which origin do Saudi and Kuwaiti retailers prefer for حب الرشاد?
Egyptian origin has the longest tradition in the Gulf spice trade and is often requested by name, with Indian Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan halim as the volume alternative at a lower price. Both clear SFDA on the same COA panel. Kehkashan consolidates either origin through Jebel Ali, pre-labelled in Arabic under GSO 9 where the buyer wants a finished retail pack.
How much cress seed fits in a container and what are lead times to the Gulf?
A 20-foot FCL carries 22 to 24 metric tons in 25 kilogram bags. From Jebel Ali, transit is 5 to 8 days to Jeddah, 3 to 5 days to Shuwaikh and 2 to 4 days to Hamad; Mundra or Karachi to Jebel Ali adds 2 to 5 days. Rotterdam is 21 to 28 days from Jebel Ali or 22 to 28 days direct from Mundra.
