What is SIRA?
SIRA, the acronym for “Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis”, is a method of
analytical testing that is used to detect contaminants in samples like honey, maple, and juice. SIRA testing
applications quantify and detect unknown compounds in samples by analyzing and measuring samples’ expected
rare isotope ratio. Siratech’s accredited laboratory specializes in SIRA analytical testing and is dedicated
to offering accurate rapid, SIRA analysis to its’ customers.
Using SIRA analysis, Siratech helps
customers identify adulteration's in honey, CBD, maple, and juice samples by detecting C4 sugars like
corn, cane, or sorghum. A product particularly vulnerable to adulteration is honey because there are strong
financial incentives among some bad actors to increase profit margins by stretching honey with cheaper
syrups. An inexpensive carbon SIRA analysis can quickly tell customers if their honey samples have been
grossly adulterated.
How is SIRA Testing Performed?
With SIRA analysis,
additives can be identified in samples by measuring the difference in their rare isotope ratio. The chemical
compounds that are found in C4 plants such as corn, sorghum, and sugarcane have carbons of about -10,
whereas most flowering plants, also known as C3 plants, have a different carbon ratio of about -25. A mass
spectroscopy machine, used to execute a SIRA analysis, measures the ratio of a rare isotope (carbon-13) and
compares the result to a common isotope (carbon-12).
The mass spectroscopy machine then plots the
samples’ ions along with a graph, with spikes indicating the specific components that make up the sample and
their relative abundance. The higher the spike, the more abundant the ion is relative to the
sample.
Located, just south of Austin, Siratech provides customers over twenty years’ experience
performing SIRA testing applications. The preparation and SIRA analytical methods used by Siratech are the
most appropriate for the sample type currently in use by the stable isotope analytical
community.
Ready to start SIRA testing with Siratech? Click here to get started.
