E.O.B.B.D. Testing: From Plant to Laboratory
E.O.B.B.D. testing includes several steps to ensure that quality control and chemical testing criteria are met throughout the entire process of making these high quality therapeutic grade essential oils. Each lot or batch of essential oils is subjected to rigorous testing that is summarized in the Expert Report, which documents the following seven stages of testing:
- Botanical definition
- Confirmation of producing organ
- Extraction method
- Anti-pollution control
- Physico-chemical analysis
- Physical analysis
- Biochemical analysis
E.O.B.B.D. analysis by itself is not enough to guarantee an essential oil’s quality and purity. The analysis results must be compared to specially prepared reference standards by skilled experts in order to verify that E.O.B.B.D. standards are met.
The following elements are therefore integral to true E.O.B.B.D. testing:
- Batch identity. The batch or lot is traced back to the field and distiller from which it was produced.
- Product expertise. Testing data and results must be examined by someone with experience and training who knows the signs of quality and adulteration to look for in the testing results.
- Sample library. Testing results by themselves are relatively useless. Results must be compared to valid reference standards in order to accurately gauge the quality of results.
- Certificate of analysis. The certificate of analysis details the results of the testing to provide a permanent record for each batch.
Next topic: Extraction Methods
