Oil Quality

What makes a therapeutic quality essential oil?  This is a very important question.

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years and today are considered to be the leading edge of natural medicine.

AFNOR and ISO Standards Set the Minimum Requirements

AFNOR standards (Association française de Normalisation) and ISO (International Standards Organization)were created to establish the minimum requirements for an essential oil to be sold on the international market as a particular named plant oil.  These minimum standards are established to meet the needs of the major users of essential oils— the food and cosmetics industries.  These industries purchase over 98% of the essential oils produced on the planet earth.  And as producers of products of mass consumption (needed consistency in flavor or scent) they are only interested in a few constituents that are most responsible for the characteristic scent or flavor of a plant oil.  Because the interest is only on a few molecules among potentially hundreds produced by a single plant, the standards are woefully inadequate for establishing therapeutic quality.

Don’t be fooled by labels-  a plant substance may have been shown over time as being therapeutic- but using  the word “therapeutic” on the bottle may not be indicating that the contents are of therapeutic quality and uncontaminated by dilution.  Labeling standards allow the claim that a substance is in the bottle if there is a portion of the volume that is that substance, other ingredients may not necessarily have to be identified.

Producing a therapeutic grade essential oil requires care at every step.

Seed selection and planting - the correct species is required to obtain the appropriate oil.  Hybrids may have similarities but different therapeutic value-  Lavender versus Lavandin is an example.  Both smell great and both have relaxing influences.  BUT pure lavender- Lavandula agustifolia properly grown and distilled has properties that aid the healing of burns…. Lavandin- a hybrid – contains camphor and will worsen a burn.  Lavandin grows with 3 flower spikes per stalk and thus yields far greater quantities of oil making the oil of Lavandin much cheaper than Lavandula agustifolia.   Lavandin is often labeled as Lavander.

Growing conditions – Therapeutic quality oils must be grown organically, without chemically treated water, pesticide or herbicide residuals in the soil or used on the plants which destroy the quality of  the oil, making them dangerous to use on the skin- that is part of why many people insist that they must be diluted.

Harvest time – After it is cut, the plant cannot grow any additional oil compounds, it is what it is.  This is why producers who want therapeutic quality oils test small batches prior to the mass harvest so that there is not a risk of harvesting too soon.  Some uncaring or unscrupulous producers will actually add man-made molecules to increase certain constituents and make up for failures in the other aspects of production.  Man-made constituents are nothing more than a “drug” and they will not have the same action as a natural molecule made by a plant.

Distillation- Distillation equipment must enable low temperatures with no added pressure.  Increased pressure will cause faster heat build up making the distillation process to go faster but it will break many of the therapeutic molecules in the process, rendering the result no better than food grade.

Bottling - Dark glass bottles must be used to protect the oil molecules from what is known as polymerization.  This occurs when oils are exposed to the sunlight – the molecules sort of bunch together causing some to settle out rather than having a consistent liquid.

Conscientious producers will test the oils that they grow themselves AND they will test any oil that they purchase from another grower.  There should be a free and open discussion of the growing, purchase, and testing policies in place.

Dilution with unscented liquids is also often done in international markets to increase the volume of oil at little cost- rendering the product non-therapeutic and possibly dangerous depending on the additive used.

The University of Minnesota has produced their list of suggestions for what constitutes a therapeutic grade of essential oil.