Aromatherapy Essential Oils

Definition of quality How I would define it: -soil quality:

Materials from pesticide-free soil are the best quality! I know some

distillers working in these conditions. Sceptics could add this is

wishful thinking, pollution is spreading. I agree, but there are

still a lot of (relatively) unpolluted places in the world.

-they are certified organic:

This means that an independent third-party organisation is controlling the

farmers.

-harvest

performed with hand tools or with machinery …

The use of machinery is no problem IMHO; hand tools are mainly used with wildharvesting.

More important is the exact time of harvesting. The distiller Henri Viaud performed some tests proving

that the components of essential oils could change depending on the time of harvest, not only

before or after flowering, but also if harvested in the morning or late in

the day!

Example: the content of thuyone in Salvia officinalis \”Dalmate\” is 26 % if harvested in spring and 51 % if harvested in autumn.

-distillation methods :

Freshly-harvested materials are used in distillation…

There are some exceptions where the distillation is easier if the plants are dry (for instance, dried peppermint will be easier to distill, and the distillation time will also be shorter).

Ylang ylang needs to be distilled immediatly, to avoid fermentation and loss of fragrance.

The seeds of anise and fennel, stored in good conditions, are easier to keep than the essential oils of them.

-distillation is performed at low temperature and pressure; pure spring water and stainless steel equipment is utilized for optimum cleanliness.

This will also prevent discoloration of the essential oils: lavender distilled in old copper alambics can turn into a red-colored essential oil.

Solvent extraction:

(see FAQ, part I )

-The essential oils are 100% pure and not in any way \”extended\” with cheaper materials

-relatively small volumes are produced – good quality essential oils will never be a mass-market line.