| 1 | Appearance | White crystalline powder. | White or almost white, crystalline powder or colourless crystals. |
| 2 | Solubility | Complies | Slightly soluble in water, soluble in boiling water, freely soluble in ethanol (96%) and in fatty oils. |
| 3 | Identification A (By Melting point) | 122°C | 121°C to 124°C |
| 4 | Identification B (Benzoates) | Complies | A dull-yellow precipitate, soluble in ether should form. |
| 5 | Appearance of solution | Complies | Clear and colourless solution |
| 6 | Carbonisable substances | Complies | The solution is not more intensely coloured than reference solution Y5. |
| 7 | Oxidisable substances | Complies | The solution is still coloured pink. |
| 8 | Halogenated compounds and halides | Complies | NMT 300ppm |
| 9 | Sulphated ash | 0.03% | NMT 0.1% |
| 10 | Assay | 99.7% | 99.0% - 100.5% |