In 2007, WS established a laboratory in-house for the analysis of sandalwood, oil and seeds. We have facilities for GC analysis of sandalwood and agarwood products with possibly one of the largest databases of sandalwood from all over the world. Our facility is available to all interested industry participants, including plantations.
Wescorp Laboratory Services includes the following:
- GC FID Oil Analysis – analysis of sandalwood essential oils by Gas Chromatography flame ionization detector (GC FID) is a widespread method for checking the composition of essential oils. Essential oil samples are dissolved in standard solution then tested in GC FID equipment to get compositions’ retention time, area and concentration for further analysis.
- Hydro Distillation – is a modification of steam distillation used in laboratories for extraction of essential oils from dried and grinded wood samples. It enables the extraction of water-insoluble natural products with a high boiling point. The process involves complete immersion of the plant material in water, followed by boiling and generally carried out under atmospheric pressure.
- Solvent Extraction – known as liquid to liquid extraction and is a method to separate compounds based on their relative solubilities in two different immiscible liquids (usually solution and an organic solvent).
- Miscibility/Solubility Testing – evaluate substances combined to form a homogenous solution without precipitates. The determination of miscibility is by visual observation (clear mixture of sandalwood essential oil and ethanol), the volume of ethanol will be recorded to get ratio of oil sample and ethanol at specific temperature.
- Refractive Index – measures how material slows down and bends light as it passes through it (ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the substance) using a refractometer.
- Optical Rotation – measures how chiral substances rotate plane-polarized light using a manual polarimeter.
To avail any of these services, kindly fill in the Lab Analysis Request Form and send to fleur@wescorp.com.au