Standardizing a natural perfumery material: how can you achieve a more consistent profile?

A natural material may vary from one batch to another. Yet an industrial fragrance must maintain a sufficiently consistent profile so that the finished product remains recognizable. This is where characterization, control, and, depending on the materials, standardization come into play.

Why seek consistency?

An essential oil, an absolute, or another complex natural material contains many constituents. Their proportions may change depending on the origin, harvest, part used, processing, and extraction.

Perfumery must therefore work with a material that is not necessarily identical from one batch to another. The aim is not necessarily to make every batch chemically identical, but to control variations that may affect quality or the final formula.

Standardizing does not mean making a material “artificial”

Standardization may consist of defining an expected profile or set of characteristics, then checking batches against these references. It does not automatically mean that the material is synthetic or that it has lost all of its natural complexity.

It is also necessary to distinguish standardization, rectification, and adulteration: these terms do not refer to the same thing and should not be used as synonyms.

What information can be checked?

Good quality practices recommend, in particular, defining the expected properties, testing ingredients against organoleptic and analytical specifications, and keeping information about batches and their origin. IFRA describes these quality control practices.

The case of Natural Complex Substances

Professional organizations use specific categories to describe Natural Complex Substances (NCS). IFRA and RIFM have notably developed a nomenclature that takes into account the part of the plant used and the extraction or transformation process.

This precision is important because the same general name may cover several qualities of material with different compositions. IFRA’s NCS nomenclature serves precisely to better characterize these complex materials.

How does formulation absorb variations?

A perfumer may work with a material that meets certain specifications, then adjust a formula when the characteristics of a lot change within the expected range. Analysis and knowledge of the material’s behavior then become formulation tools.

In some cases, lot-specific analytical data may be used instead of simple indicative values. For example, IFRA explains that analytical data specific to a given quality of NCS may be taken into account when available.

Standardizing a material does not mean “improving” it

A more consistent material is not automatically a nobler, more natural or higher-quality material. Consistency serves the purpose of controlling the product. A natural material may also be sought precisely for its nuances.

Example: rose, jasmine, oud and resins

In oriental perfumery, this issue concerns in particular rose, jasmine, oud, resins, spices and certain woody materials. Their profile can depend heavily on their origin and the process used to obtain them.

For oud in particular, it is important to avoid referring to a single profile: the term can cover very different materials, oils and accords. A serious comparison must therefore specify what is actually being compared.

Standardization, analysis and traceability: three related concepts

Key takeaway

Standardization seeks to control variability; it does not necessarily transform a natural material into a synthetic material. It relies on references, controls, and sufficiently precise knowledge of the material so that the formulation can remain consistent.

For further reading: variation in natural materials, laboratory analysis and GC-MS, raw material traceability, and authenticity and adulteration.