The appearance field
- Reference
- REF-02
- Revision
- 2026-09-30
- Applies to
- All datasheets
Short answer
The appearance field is a short physical description of the material as packed: its form, such as lyophilized (freeze-dried) powder, crystalline solid or solution, and sometimes its colour.
It is an identity descriptor. It helps confirm that the item in hand is the one on the sheet, and it states no amount, grade or procedure. Fara prints a Form row reading “Lyophilized powder” only when the catalog record says so.
1.What the field records
The appearance field describes what the material looks like in its container at the time it was packed, as written in the catalog record. It is made of words, not numbers, and it is usually short: a form word, sometimes preceded by a colour word, for example “white lyophilized powder”.
The field answers one question: what should be visible in the vial? The amount of compound, the number of vials and the price are given elsewhere on the sheet, in the specification and pricing tables.
2.Form words
- Lyophilized powder
- Freeze-dried material. It was frozen and the ice was then removed under reduced pressure, passing straight from solid to vapour, which leaves a dry, light solid. In a vial it may look like a loose powder, a compact cake or plug at the base, or a thin film on the glass. A cake that has broken into pieces in transit is still the same form.
- Powder
- A dry, finely divided solid, described without any statement about how it was dried.
- Crystalline solid
- A solid made of crystals, often visible as small faces or a slight sparkle.
- Solution or liquid
- The material is supplied as a liquid. A presentation given in mL states a volume per vial rather than an amount of compound.
The word “lyophilized” (also spelled “lyophilised”) comes from lyophilization, the technical name for freeze-drying. A record that uses either spelling is read the same way. A few sheets in MET, Metabolic & mitochondrial compounds give their presentation in mL, for example LC120 10ml; on those sheets no price per mg is calculated, because a volume does not state an amount of compound.
3.Colour and clarity words
- White
- No visible tint.
- Off-white
- White with a faint cream, grey or yellowish cast.
- Faintly yellow, pale yellow
- A light yellow tint, named because it is visible.
- Clear
- Transparent, with no haze or visible particles. It refers to transparency, not to colour.
- Colourless
- Without tint. A liquid can be clear and yellow, or colourless and hazy; the two words answer different questions.
Colour words describe a visual impression under ordinary light, so they are deliberately broad. “Off-white” covers a range of pale shades, and a record that says “white to off-white” names both ends of that range.
4.How a Fara sheet prints the field
The specification table carries a “Form” row reading “Lyophilized powder” only when the record's appearance text says the material is lyophilized. When a record holds other appearance text, the sheet's query table quotes it exactly as recorded. When a record holds none, neither appears.
Nothing is inferred. A form is never guessed from a compound's name, from its section, or from other sheets of the same compound, and a missing field is not filled in with a typical value.
5.What the field does not state
The appearance field is not a measurement and not a grade. It gives no amount, which is the job of the presentation row, and no identifier, which is the job of the sheet ID and, where present, the CAS registry number. It contains no procedure of any kind, and it says nothing about temperature or light, which belong to the storage conditions field.
Freeze-dried material does not always settle into the same shape, so two vials from one box can look slightly different and still match the same description.
6.Using the field to confirm identity
- Check the name and amount on the vial label against the sheet title and the amount per vial.
- Check the sheet ID quoted on the order against the sheet itself.
- Compare what is visible in the vial with the recorded form and colour words.
If the item received differs from the order, for example another compound or another presentation, the report is made under DOC-04 Returns and damaged items within 7 days of delivery. Every sheet in the library can be found by name or sheet ID in the datasheet index or the compound list.