How to store research peptides at home: an Ottawa guide

Ottawa researchers working from a home bench get the same storage physics as a university lab, minus the equipment budget. Unreconstituted peptide vials go in the fridge, sealed, out of direct light. Reconstituted vials are refrigerated and on a clock. Almost everything else about home storage follows from that one distinction.

Why the dry form is forgiving

Peptides ship lyophilized, freeze-dried under vacuum until the water is gone, because the dry state is the stable one. The reactions that degrade peptides in solution need water to run.

Take the water out and the material tolerates far more than people expect: a warm delivery day, a cold mailbox, a week in transit. What lyophilized means covers the chemistry.

The two states, side by side

The practical consequence: reconstitute per experiment, not on arrival. A powder in a fridge is patient.

The one mistake worth avoiding

Opening a cold vial in a warm room. Condensation forms on the cold surface, including on the powder, putting water back into material that was dried to remove it.

Let a refrigerated vial reach room temperature sealed, then open it. That single habit prevents most self-inflicted damage.

What we ship

Reconstitution itself is covered in how to reconstitute a lyophilized peptide, and bacteriostatic vs sterile water explains which diluent does what.

Check the vial before you use it

Every vial we ship carries its own QR code. Scanning it opens the third-party lab report for the exact batch that vial was filled from: HPLC purity, mass-spec identity, appearance, the testing lab and the date.

Two vials of the same peptide from different production runs open different reports, because they are different material. Scan a sample code at /track to see one before you order anything.

Four things to confirm when a parcel arrives:

1. The batch number on the label matches the report the code opens.
2. The seal and stopper are intact.
3. The lyophilized cake is dry and whole, not collapsed, shrunken or tacky.
4. The colour matches what the report describes.

A vial that fails any of those is replaced. Contact support within 7 days of delivery.

Ordering in Ottawa

Free shipping to Ottawa, Kanata, Orléans, Gatineau and across Ontario, in plain unbranded packaging, paid by Interac e-Transfer.

Research use only. These are laboratory research materials, not drugs, supplements or foods. They are not approved by Health Canada or the FDA and are not for human or animal consumption. We publish no dosing guidance.