A Buyer's Guide to Makhana Grades: What Sutta Sizes Actually Mean

The first surprise for most new makhana buyers is the price spread. Quotes for what is nominally the same product can differ by a factor of two or more, and the reason is almost always grade. The second surprise is that the grading vocabulary everyone uses is not backed by a single published standard.

This guide explains what the terms mean, what actually drives quality, and what to put in writing before you commit.

The sutta system

Makhana is graded principally by pearl size, using a traditional trade convention counted in sutta. You will see grades quoted as 4 sutta, 5 sutta, 6 sutta, and — at the top — 6+ or "lava" grades, with larger numbers meaning larger pearls.

Sizing is done with sieves, and the bands correspond to millimetre ranges. Here is the essential caveat, and it is the most useful sentence in this article: the exact millimetre range attached to each sutta grade is not standardised across the industry. Two suppliers can both offer "6 sutta" and mean measurably different products. The convention is real and useful; it is simply not a specification on its own.

Which means: never buy against a grade name. Buy against numbers.

What actually determines quality

Size gets the headline, but four other attributes decide whether a lot is premium:

Whiteness. The best makhana is bright and uniformly pale. Discoloration usually points to problems earlier in the chain — seeds stored damp, roasting run too hot, delayed drying.

Pop completeness. A properly popped pearl has fully bloomed, with an even, rounded form. Partially popped seeds are denser, darker, and harder, and they are the most common way a mediocre lot is padded out.

Broken content. Handling, transport, and over-drying all produce fragments. A tolerance for broken material belongs in every contract, stated as a percentage.

Cleanliness. Foreign matter, shell fragments, and dust should be specified to a limit and verified on arrival.

Then two invisible parameters that matter more than any of the above:

Moisture, which governs shelf life and the risk of mould in transit; and aflatoxin and pesticide residue, which govern whether your consignment clears customs in your market at all.

Hand-picked versus machine-picked

Both lines are legitimate; the difference should simply be disclosed.

Machine-picked lots are graded by sieve and density. The result is consistent, efficient, and appropriate for most volume programmes — roasting, seasoning, mixes, milling.

Hand-picked lots are sorted a second time by people, pearl by pearl, to a tighter standard for size uniformity, whiteness, and pop. This is slow, skilled work, and it is the reason the top grades cost what they do.

A supplier who cannot tell you which line a quote refers to is quoting you a price without a product. See our honest comparison of the two lines.

The specification to insist on

Before samples, before price negotiation, ask for a written spec sheet covering:

1. Grade name and the millimetre size band it corresponds to
2. Picking method — hand-picked, machine-picked, or a stated blend
3. Moisture, as a maximum percentage at dispatch
4. Broken and foreign-matter tolerances, as percentages
5. Whiteness/pop standard, ideally with a photographic grade reference
6. Aflatoxin and pesticide-residue testing, run to your destination country's limits, with a certificate of analysis per lot
7. Packaging: bag type, net weight, liner, palletisation, and container loadability
8. MOQ, lead time, and Incoterms

If a supplier resists putting any of this in writing before an order, that is your answer.

How to evaluate the samples

When samples arrive, do this in a fixed order — it takes twenty minutes and saves a great deal:

1. Pour a measured sample onto a white tray. Colour problems that hide in a bag are obvious on white.
2. Sort by hand into three piles: fully popped, partially popped, broken. Weigh each. That ratio is your real grade.
3. Measure thirty pearls across the widest point and note the spread, not just the average. Consistency is what a premium grade is buying you.
4. Bite one. A well-popped pearl is crisp and yields cleanly; a partially popped one is dense and chewy.
5. Compare against the certificate of analysis for the same lot. If the sample and the paperwork disagree, stop there.

Ask for samples drawn from current lots, not a curated tin. Any supplier confident in their grading will send you what they are actually shipping.

Why grade discipline matters more in makhana

Most dry ingredients are graded by machine against published standards. Makhana is still substantially harvested, popped, and sorted by hand, which means quality is decided by people at the source rather than by equipment at the port. Two consequences follow.

The first is that who grades your makhana, and where they stand in the chain, is a real variable. A supplier at the grading table can hold a standard. A trading desk three steps removed can only pass along whatever arrives.

The second is that consistency is the thing to test, not the first shipment. Anyone can send an excellent trial lot. Ask how the eleventh month of an annual programme is planned, and how the supplier handles the seasonal calendar.

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Premium Makhana India grades at the source in export bands, hand-picked and machine-picked lines stated plainly, with lab testing per lot. Request the spec sheet and current-lot samples.