What a COA is supposed to prove

A certificate of analysis connects a physical batch of material to laboratory results. Two claims matter: identity, is this molecule what the label says, and purity, what proportion of the material is that molecule.

Reading the document

Verify it with the lab first

A genuine certificate carries the testing laboratory's own QR code or link. Scan or click it and the same report should open on the lab's website. If it does, the document is real and everything below it can be trusted. If a certificate offers no way to check it at the source, treat the numbers on it as decoration.

HPLC chromatogram

High-performance liquid chromatography separates the sample by component. You want one dominant peak with a clean baseline. The purity figure is the area of that peak as a percentage of total peak area. Look at the actual trace, not just the number printed underneath it. A shoulder on the main peak or a cluster of small peaks tells you something the summary line does not.

Mass spectrometry

MS confirms identity by measuring molecular weight. The observed mass should match the theoretical mass for the sequence within a small tolerance. If purity is high but the mass is wrong, you have a very pure sample of the wrong compound.

Test date and laboratory

The certificate should name the testing laboratory and the date. An undated certificate, or one from an unnamed lab, is not verifiable.

Warning signs

• No QR code or link back to the laboratory, so the report cannot be checked at the source
• A stated purity with no chromatogram behind it
• The same certificate reused across visibly different products
• Results from the manufacturer with no independent verification
• Purity claims of 100%. Real HPLC does not produce that number

How we handle it

Every Viva Peptides batch is tested by an independent laboratory before release. The full certificate, chromatogram, mass spec and all, is published on the product page and in our Lab Results library, and each one carries the lab's QR code so you can confirm it yourself. If you want to read the data before you order, it is already public.