Proteomics and Essential Oils

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Updated - November 19, 2024

Essential oils are offered by many manufacturers, for fragrance lamps, as flavorings for beverages and therapeutic applications. Proteomics is concerned with the identification of protein biomarkers using a combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrography. Proteome research thus provides a complete overview of cellular processes at protein level.
One such device is, for example, the Fischer Thermo Scientific - Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribrid.

Why is an essential oil not the same as an essential oil, or is the effect more or less given?

Finding the truth

Establishing the truth is quite complex, as it is not clearly(!) regulated. Manufacturers can declare a product as a consumer product, for example, but also as a foodstuff. However, a product labeled as a consumer product cannot necessarily be used as a foodstuff.

If you want to know what your purchased product actually contains, you cannot avoid requesting a mass spectrographic analysis from the manufacturer. This provides precise information on all ingredients and their concentration.

The declaration of essential oils provides initial information on the authorized use:

Industrial quality - e.g. fragrance additives in cleaning agents
On-demand products - e.g. room fragrancing
Cosmetics - e.g. bath additives, skin care
Food - e.g. flavoring, seasoning of foodstuffs
Medicinal products - e.g. internal, external use

Mandatory information on the product packaging:

Company / name of responsible person, address
Country of origin (for imports)
Nominal content at the time of filling (weight / volume)
Best before date
Precautions for use
Batch number, symbol for identification
Intended use
Ingredients (with INCI name in decreasing order)

Optional information are

German, botanical plant name
Designation of the oil
– natural, untreated
unmodified oil
– natural
Oils with, from physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes
ingredients
– nature-identical
in artificial processes are modeled on natural fragrance molecules,
Molecular constructs derived from crude oil,
usually very intense smelling
– synthetic
Fragrance oils that originate from fruits or animals that are neither distilled,
nor, due to species protection, can be obtained from animal materials.
They are produced purely synthetically. The designation then consists of the
chemical name (e.g. benzylidene heptanal)
Country of origin, cultivation
Cultivation method
Part of the plant used
Extraction process
Solvent, type of diluting oil, mixing ratio
Certification, inspection body
Safety instructions
Dosage recommendation

The nose as referee

Now, not everyone has the laboratory equipment for their own analysis, nor sufficient motivation to ask manufacturers for the relevant documentation (which, however, is highly advisable as it is a matter of personal health).

Fortunately, our sense of smell is designed in such a way that it is able to distinguish between good and bad very precisely and extremely quickly, within only about 8 seconds (this is when the scent molecules reach the limbic system). An unusually intense odor or e.g. headache, nausea indicate synthetic components in the oil. The same goes for our skin, which reacts to allergens with redness, even if it takes several minutes.

Manufacturer inquiry

If you take the trouble to look for the relevant information directly on the manufacturer's website, you will very rarely find it. I am currently only aware of one manufacturer who offers the possibility of viewing the mass spectrograph of this batch by entering the batch number on their website.

Other competitors only disclose this information on explicit request or not at all, citing "trade secrets". Experiences in the search for laboratory analyses of essential oil suppliers were here described in detail.

The subtle difference

The subtle difference can therefore only be discovered with a certain amount of self-initiative.

Another quality feature may initially be the price. An oil with therapeutic purity, i.e. natural purity and officially declared as a medicinal product, will be significantly more expensive than an oil approved as a consumer product.

Similarly, an oil with a high concentration of active ingredients will definitely be more expensive than one with a lower intensity.

Why, for example, is one lavender oil more effective than another, even though they are all naturally pure?

The first difference lies in the botanical name of the plant. There are around 37 different species. The soil conditions are also decisive for the active ingredient content, as are the intensity of the sun during the growth phase, soil moisture, the time of harvest, distillation and bottling.
All factors determine the possible therapeutic purpose.

There are very few essential oil manufacturers on the world market who bottle their oils themselves. Cheaper suppliers often purchase their oils on oil exchanges. Oils from different suppliers are mixed and bottled there. This means that it is no longer possible to trace the cultivation, harvesting and distillation conditions.

Comparing apples with apples should actually be possible. However, the above example makes it easy to see that even this can be difficult. So mass spectrography after all ...

Analytics

With the help of the above-mentioned analysis technique, the following aspects are the subject of a differentiated investigation:

Protein identification
Which proteins are formed under normal conditions in a defined cell type, tissue or body fluid?
Protein quantification
How is the Protein abundance* in a specific cell type, tissue or body fluid? Which proteins are differentially expressed?
* Under Protein abundance is the protein abundance calculated from the sum of all unique, normalized peptide ion abundances for the respective protein in each measurement run.
Post-translational modifications
If the protein shows disease-relevant, posttranslational* changes?
* Post-translational Modifications refer to changes in the properties of proteins through the addition of charged groups or hydrophobic molecules (lipids), e.g. the binding properties of a protein to other proteins or cell membranes.
Protein localization
Where is the protein formed, where does it accumulate? Localization of the protein in the cell, the tissue.
Functional proteomics
Which protein function change results depending on the concentration, modification, localization or surrounding network? Identification of the biological function of individual proteins.
Protein-protein interactions
How does a protein network change depending on a disease, which proteins interact?

In addition to the above analyses relating to proteomics, other test methods are essential to ensure the therapeutic quality of essential oils, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography, isotope analysis, mass spectroscopy, microbial, organoleptic and heavy metal testing.

Study by Roseman University

In one Contribution from October 3, 2018, scientists Drs. Tim Le and Jeffrey Talbot from the College of Pharmacy at Roseman University of Health Sciences, Nevada, describe their proteomic analysis of essential oils from various manufacturers, including dōTERRA.

It could be proven that (quote): Dr. Talbot adds that the therapeutic potential of essential oils is highly dependent on the complete composition of the oil. Sourcing, processing and characterization are critical.
(Translation: Dr. Talbot adds that the therapeutic potential of essential oils is highly dependent on the overall composition of the oil. Sourcing, processing and characterization are crucial.)

The attempt to reproduce the effect profile and mechanism of action by isolating the individual active ingredients and "artificially" combining them failed. The human organism obviously recognizes the existence of a symbiosis of all the effective components of an essential oil and only reacts to these in the intended way.

The studies will continue as part of research into the therapeutic potential of nutraceuticals by Roseman University's School of Pharmacy.