We confirm the identity of every lot of herbs that arrives at our processing plant, even the ones from our own farms. We’re looking for quality and purity. We conduct a visual macroscopic analysis to assess botanical characteristics, making sure it is the plant we expect, as well as an organoleptic analysis that assesses for flavor and aroma. All of our senses give us the first indication we’ve got the right plant, from how it looks, smells and yes, tastes. Then we conduct a variety of scientific evaluations to reconfirm we’ve got the right plant variety and plant part. We check for foreign organic matter such as unwanted plant parts. This is when a batch may be rejected for including too much connected stem, for instance, when its plant compounds are traditionally known to be concentrated in the leaves.
Each herb and extract is subject to rigorous microbiological testing. In addition to meeting basic testing criteria, herbs may be further evaluated to ensure they are free of heavy metals, pesticides, fungicides, miticides and herbicides.