PART 2: A-Z OIL CHEMISTRY
This part of the Oil Chemistry Handbook contains the most detailed
chemical information publicly available on each of dōTERRA’s
single oils. The oil name and botanical name are both included in
the header of each entry, with the suggested uses (Aromatic, Topi-
cal, and Internal) and skin sensitivity (Neat, Sensitive, or Dilute) on
the right side of the header. The middle section of each entry con-
tains information about the potential uses of each oil and the body
systems it may support.
Below the uses and body systems are two pie graphs represent-
ing the chemical composition of each oil, one characterizing its
functional group and the other giving information on the backbone
composition. To the right of these pie charts is a list of the main
constituents that consistently appear at levels at or above 5%. A
percentage range indicates the possible values for the percent
composition of constituent depending on the oil batch. Note that
the percent composition of the main constituents often does not
add up to 100%. This is because there are many additional com-
pounds present in smaller amounts.
One limitation of the information given here is that it doesn’t ad-
dress the topic of chemical diversity. Unfortunately, this aspect of
chemistry is impossible to convey in the form of a simple pie chart
or a short list of constituents. For example, Spikenard and Myrrh are
two incredibly diverse oils, each with potentially hundreds of differ-
ent compounds. It would require many pages to list the names of
all of their constituents. It is important to realize that the presence
of these minor constituents can often give an oil additional ben-
efits that are not associated with its main constituents. Because of
synergy and the interaction between oil constituents, the benefits
of the oils listed in this section may be different than a simple sum
of the benefits of their constituents taken from Part 3.
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