Essential oils are aromatic organic compounds derived through distillation or mechanical pressing of volatile fatty substances found in flowers, fruits, seeds, roots, leaves, barks, peel, resins, and woods of plants. These natural oils maintain the characteristic smell and many of the medicinal and healing properties of the plants from which they are originate.
An essential oil is a complex mixture of of 30 to 100 or more compounds. The specific ratio of the constituents gives the oil its therapeutic qualities. A 'pure' essential oil can be defined as one that has been derived from its genuine botanical source, or plant species that is printed in Latin on the label of the bottle, and does not contain any fillers, extenders, additives, or other impurities - bacteria, mold, and other dangerous or hazardous substances.
Adulteration occurs when a labeled ingredient is substituted or diluted, intentionally or unintentionally, with a different, undeclared, generally lower-cost material, creating an ingredient or product that does not have the features and/or does not provide the benefits claimed by the seller and expected by the buyer. The most adulterated essential oils fall into two categories: high-value oils like sandalwood and rose and the bestselling oils such as lavender, peppermint, citrus oils, wintergreen, oregano, and thyme.
Essential oil quality testing is conducted to verify that the essential oil meets a specific set of standards for purity and quality for maximum efficacy.
Organoleptic Evaluations of Essential Oils involves using the human senses (taste, touch, smell, vision, auditory, and intuition) to closely examine the quality of an essential oil. The color, texture or consistency, clarity, and aroma can be evaluated to be able to identify if there are specific issues within the product.
Physical Evaluations of Essential Oils involves assessing the physical or physicochemical properties of an essential oil, such as its density, optical rotation, refractive index, solubility with ethanol, and freezing point.
Chemical Evaluation includes the use of Gas Chromatography (GC) and Mass Spectrometry) (MS) Test, to identify the chemical constituents, along with their percentages, present in the essential oil sample – much like a chemical 'fingerprint'. Click here for an example of a GC-MS test report.
What Should You Look For in Sourcing an Essential Oil?
Satisfaction guarantee
Customer service policy
Quality testing methods and availability of test results
Reputation
Fair pricing
For example, Rocky Mountain Oils has a
S.A.A.F.E. PROMISE, which is their guarantee to you that their essential oils are 100% pure and natural.
Rocky Mountain Oils conducts GC/MS tests on each of our essential oils twice; once before they buy them from a supplier and again before they send them to you.
Sources:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fb35/bbc1d75533c7fe3d992a55ad97a34c851e6a.pdf
http://cms.herbalgram.org/BAP/EOs/EssentialOilChapterSummary.html https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/detecting-essential-oil-adulteration-jreac.1000132.php?aid=40867
https://www.oshadhi.co.uk/purity-adulteration-testing/
https://www.perfectpotion.com.au/news/sals-essential-oils-monographs/
http://www.aromatherapylibrary.com/qualityofessentialoils.html
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