Cold Water Dispersible (CWD) Ingredients

Cold Water Dispersible Nutraceutical Ingredients — India

CWD, CWS and Beadlet: Three Terms Buyers Use Interchangeably, and Why They Should Not

A cold water dispersible ingredient is a formulated grade that distributes through water at ambient temperature without heating or high-shear mixing. The property belongs to the formulation, not to the active — most actives that reach this category are lipophilic and remain water-insoluble compounds in their own right.

This collection covers technically documented CWD and CWS grades where the dispersibility or solubility entry, and the test method behind it, appear on the manufacturer's finished-product specification. Every product page reproduces that entry in the supplier's own wording rather than restating it as a marketing claim.

Functional Property
CWD

Cold Water Dispersible

The formulated ingredient breaks down and distributes through cold water as a uniform or reasonably uniform dispersion. Established by a dispersibility method on the specification — typically a stated sample weight into a stated water volume with slow stirring, accepted when particles disperse without settling.

Zeaxanthin 5% CWS beadlets · carotenoid beadlets · microencapsulated dispersible powders
Supplier Terminology
CWS

Cold Water Soluble

Used by manufacturers for grades that behave comparably to CWD in practice. Terminology varies between suppliers, and some specifications state "soluble in water" where the observed behaviour is dispersion of a formulated particle. The governing document is the test method named against the entry, not the label on it.

CWS-designated beadlets · WS/CG-TG grades · in-house solubility specifications
Physical Form
Bead

Beadlet

A spherical free-flowing particle produced by dispersing an active into a carrier matrix and drying it. A form, not a functional claim. Beadlets are also manufactured for oil-phase and dry-blend use with no dispersibility specification at all, so beadlet and CWD are not interchangeable in either direction.

Lutein + zeaxanthin beadlets · vitamin beadlets · oil-phase beadlets · SR-coated beadlets
How to read a CWD specification: Check the test method named against the dispersibility or solubility entry, and whether it is pharmacopoeial or in-house — that entry, not the product name, establishes the behaviour. Check particle size and mesh, which govern flow and segregation behaviour in a dry blend, and tapped bulk density, which governs hopper, blender and filling-line sizing. Check the assay method and whether it is stated against a pharmacopoeial chapter; a combined-isomer figure is not comparable with a single-isomer figure at the same percentage. Carotenoid grades are oxidation- and light-sensitive, so nitrogen-flushed packing and storage away from heat and light are part of the specification rather than optional handling. Assay alone does not establish how a grade will behave in a given base. See HerbIQ Pillar 02: Isolation & Standardisation → for extraction-to-assay methodology.
Cold Water Dispersible Ingredients CWD Ingredients Supplier CWS Beadlets Water Dispersible Carotenoids Zeaxanthin 5% CWS Lutein Zeaxanthin Beadlets Microencapsulated Ingredients Bulk India Supplier Per-Lot CoA
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Who This Collection Serves

Beverage, Gummy & Premix Formulators Working in Aqueous Systems

Cold water dispersible grades are specified when a lipophilic active has to go into a water-based system without heating or high-shear mixing. Herbuno supplies documented CWD and CWS ingredients direct from India, with the manufacturer's finished-product specification and a per-lot CoA on every order. MOQ 10 kg on current grades.

Beverage & RTM Formulators

Functional drinks, stick packs and ready-to-mix powders where the active must distribute at ambient temperature in a consumer's glass, not in a processing vessel. Neat carotenoid powder floats, clumps and streaks in these systems. Check the dispersibility method and acceptance criterion on the specification, and trial at your actual inclusion rate rather than at a nominal level.

Beverage Base RTM Stick Pack Ambient Dispersion No Shear Required

Gummy & Confectionery Manufacturers

Pectin and gelatin systems where the active is added to an aqueous phase before gelling. Format governs whether colour distributes evenly or streaks through the finished piece. Carotenoid grades carry strong colour at working inclusion rates — plan for it at specification stage rather than discovering it at pilot scale, and confirm behaviour against your own depositing temperature.

Gummy Base Pectin & Gelatin Colour Carry Aqueous Phase

Premix Houses & Contract Manufacturers

Building multi-nutrient premixes where flow, bulk density and particle size decide whether a blend runs. Tapped bulk density governs hopper and blender sizing; mesh cut governs segregation risk in a dry blend. Two grades at the same assay can behave entirely differently on the same line, so both figures are on every product page in this collection.

Premix Bulk Density Mesh Cut Blend Uniformity

Capsule, Tablet & Sachet Producers

Dry-dose formats where dispersibility matters at the point of use rather than during manufacture. Free-flowing beadlets suit direct filling and compression without the handling problems of a neat oil or a sticky extract. Where the finished product is reconstituted by the consumer, the dispersibility specification becomes a consumer-experience parameter, not just a processing one.

Capsule Fill Direct Compression Free Flowing Sachet

Quality & Documentation

What Ships With Every Batch

HPLC
Per-Lot
Active Assay
10 kg
Minimum
Order
3 yr
Shelf Life
Unopened
N₂
Vacuum Sealed
Nitrogen Flushed
  • ✓ Manufacturer finished-product specification — the full standards-and-limits document, including the dispersibility or solubility entry with its named test method, assay basis, particle size, tapped bulk density, heavy metals, residual solvent and microbial limits.
  • ✓ Certificate of Analysis (CoA) — per-lot document with the HPLC assay result for the stated active from your specific lot, not a reference figure carried across batches.
  • ✓ Safety Data Sheet (SDS) — GHS-compliant, issued as standard. Required for import customs declaration and your internal QA file.
  • ◎ Allergen & Nutritional Declaration — available on request, formatted for US, EU and UK label compliance. Request at time of order.
  • ◎ Phytosanitary Certificate & Certificate of Origin — available on request for international shipments. Associated costs apply.
  • ◎ FDA Facility Registration Number — available on request for US importer compliance files. Request at time of order.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What does cold water dispersible mean for a nutraceutical ingredient? +
It means the formulated ingredient distributes through water at ambient temperature without heat or high-shear mixing. It does not mean the active dissolves molecularly. Most actives in this category — carotenoids, fat-soluble vitamins, CoQ10 — are lipophilic compounds that remain water-insoluble. What changes is the format: the active is dispersed into a carrier matrix and dried, so the finished particle disintegrates and distributes where the neat active would float, clump or sit on the surface. The dispersion behaviour belongs to the formulation, not to the molecule.
Is CWD the same as CWS? +
Not strictly. CWD is cold water dispersible and CWS is cold water soluble. In practice manufacturers use both designations for grades that behave comparably, and specification wording varies between suppliers — some state "soluble in water" on a finished-product specification where the observed behaviour is dispersion of a formulated particle rather than molecular dissolution of the active. The test method named against that entry is what establishes the actual behaviour, which is why every product page in this collection reproduces the specification's own wording and its method rather than restating it.
Are all beadlets cold water dispersible? +
No. A beadlet is a physical form — a spherical free-flowing particle made by dispersing an active into a matrix and drying it. It is not a functional claim. Beadlets are also manufactured for oil-phase use, for dry blending, and with sustained-release coatings, none of which carry a dispersibility specification. The reverse also holds: a cold water dispersible ingredient does not have to be a beadlet, since CWD powders, granules and spray-dried grades all exist. The two are frequently conflated in procurement, which is why each product page states the specification entry and its method.
Which specification figures should I check before ordering? +
Four beyond the assay. The test method named against the dispersibility or solubility entry, and whether it is pharmacopoeial or in-house. Particle size and mesh cut, which govern flow and segregation in a dry blend. Tapped bulk density, which governs hopper, blender and filling-line sizing. And the assay basis itself — a combined-isomer figure is not comparable with a single-isomer figure at the same nominal percentage. Two grades quoting the same active content can behave entirely differently on the same line.
What is the minimum order quantity, and do you supply larger volumes? +
Minimum order is 10 kg on the current grades in this collection, supplied made-to-order. Manufacturer packing is 5–25 kg, vacuum-sealed under nitrogen inside a metallised pouch. Larger requirements are quoted on enquiry rather than listed — contact us with your grade, volume and destination market and we will confirm availability and lead time before you commit.
Do you manufacture these ingredients? +
No. Herbuno is an ingredient supplier and exporter. Material in this collection is sourced from qualified manufacturing partners in India and supplied with the manufacturer's own finished-product specification and a per-lot CoA. Where a specification entry is reproduced on a product page, it is quoted in the manufacturer's wording with the test method stated.
Will this collection expand beyond carotenoids? +
The collection is built around the functional format rather than a compound class, so it is not restricted to carotenoids. Other cold water dispersible actives can be quoted on enquiry. Products are added here only where the dispersibility or solubility entry and its test method appear on the manufacturer's finished-product specification.

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