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A large quantity of raw material is required to extract pure, natural essential oil. Since natural plant extracts are hard to procure in such large quantities, most oil products in the market contain a mix of chemical substances, or they are diluted with lower quality, commercial-grade oils. Some essential oils are tainted with foreign substances in order to save on production costs. For the essential oils to be of true therapeutic value, they should be pure, natural and of the highest quality.

Purity is not the factor determining the quality of an essential oil. The quality of plants used and it?s growing conditions also affect the quality of oil extracted. It is therefore essential to buy oils from reputed growers and distillers. It is important that companies selling essential oils must analyze their complete line of essential oils to ensure that each sample measures up to stringent quality standards. The common tests used for quality verification are sensory evaluation, color and clarity analysis and laboratory analysis using both gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS).

The GC/MS is the most important tool for identifying and analyzing volatile oils. It helps to ensure that the oils meet high-quality standards and are a hundred percent pure. Tests to analyze the components of oils should also be conducted.

A simple way to know the quality of an essential oil product is to check whether it has AOC certification, which stands for Appelation d'Origine Controlee certification. AOC certification is hard to get and is given only to oil extracted from plants grown in a quality-controlled environment in the high-altitude fields of France. However, there are many products without this certification that are also genuine and of a desirable quality.

Many customers buy synthetic essential oils believing them to be pure. These synthetic oils don?t have any therapeutic use. In fact, some of them may be toxic. Most synthetic oils contain petroleum-based solvents that are harmful to our health and the environment.

A simple home remedy to distinguish between pure and synthetic essential oil is to put a few sample drops of the oil on a blotting paper. Pure essential oils will not leave any residue once they have evaporated, whereas petroleum solvents will. It is advisable to buy good quality, pure essential oils even if they are costlier, because buying cheap imitations will defeat the whole purpose of using essential oils.