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Quality and an Ethical Sourcing Approach

Quality control of essential oils is the single most important issue for any reputable company trading in aromatics. Every company likes to make claims about the purity of their oils but these claims would only be meaningful if other companies were claiming to sell inferior oils. Marketing information has led to some confusion about the reliability of certain tests. The uncomfortable fact is that there is no 100% certain way of testing an essential oil for purity and a number of unscrupulous suppliers willing to adulterate oils.

Essential oils, like all other natural products, will vary from one year to another. In some cases like geranium there can be extreme variations in oil extracted from plants growing in different parts of the same field. It is also true that there are differences from one year to another. The plant, the soil, the weather and the micro-climate all affect the odour profile and the constituents in the oil.

So how do we define and measure the quality of an essential oil?

B.P. Oils:

The pharmaceutical industry in the UK laid down some standards for commonly used oils which they called B.P. (British Pharmacopeias). 

These standards were arrived at by heating a sample of oil to a certain temperature for a period of time and measuring the residue. Eucalyptus, peppermint and clove are still sold in the UK as B.P. qualities. Since these tests were devised extraction technology has evolved to the extent that modern pure oils will not pass these tests. There are recipes which are used to make oils pass B.P standards and these involve blending with ‘nature identical’ chemicals. Many B.P qualities are typically only 80% essential oil and contrary to what many pharmacists believe they are very low quality.

Characteristic Odour Profile:

Another way of trying to define quality is to define a characteristic odour profile, against which you can compare the oil.  But how do you determine what that odour profile should be?  For example, bergamot oil from Sicily is a completely different animal than bergamot from the Ivory Coast – so do we have one standard for both or two different standards for bergamot?

Lavender is a Mediterranean species and as such it needs hot sun and well-drained soil. If lavender oil doesn’t get enough sun the camphor content in the oil remains too high and the floral characteristics do not develop. Conversely peppermint likes moisture and grows well in damp conditions. We believe that climate should be taken into account when defining characteristic odour.

At present international standards do not recognize the origin of an essential oil as a factor. Due to the difficulties, described quality parameters for essential oils are very wide. It follows that the wider the parameters are the more scope there will be for adulteration.  We have therefore developed our own strict definition of characteristic odour after many years of experience.

We source oils that meet the following criteria:

1. The plant must be the mother species.
2. The plant must be grown in an area where the species is indigenous.
3. The oil must be extracted from 100% named botanical species.
4. The extraction technology should extract the complete oil rather than a fraction.

Sourcing quality and ethics – an example

Alec Lawless describes his approach:

“At the time of the lavender harvest I will obtain perhaps as many as twenty samples. I will be looking for a strong floral character with herbaceous undertones and very low cineol. I would also expect it to be tenacious on a smelling strip. When I have decided on which I prefer I will get details about the price and the quantity available. The producer will also send me an analysis. When I have the sample analysed I expect the results to be the same as those sent by the producer. If they are different, I buy my oil from someone else. After doing this for over twenty years we know who we can trust.”

Handling and Storage

As oil arrives at our warehouse inspection is made immediately to make sure that the quality is the same as the sample. Each approved batch is then moved into our oil store, which is secure, dark and constantly cool. Certain absolutes are kept in a fridge. The quantity of oil we buy is determined by the shelf life and the amount we sell. Some oils like patchouli and sandalwood improve with age whilst others deteriorate. Lemon for example has a tendency to oxidise so we have regular deliveries of smaller amounts which we bottle immediately so it is not sitting around in a drum half full of oxygen. Records are kept of delivery dates, batches and production schedules to ensure appropriate stock rotation. Once bottled our oils are boxed and stored in a cool warehouse ready for dispatch.