Overview
ISO 23954:2009 - Oil of lime expressed, Persian type (Citrus latifolia Tanaka) - specifies characteristic requirements and test methods to facilitate assessment of the quality of Persian‑type lime essential oil. The standard defines organoleptic and physicochemical criteria, a mandatory chromatographic profile, sampling volume, and references to laboratory methods for reliable quality control, labelling and safe handling.
Keywords: ISO 23954, oil of lime expressed, Persian type, Citrus latifolia, essential oil quality, chromatographic profile, gas chromatography
Key Topics and Requirements
- Scope: Defines essential oil expressed (cold‑pressed) from peel of Citrus latifolia Tanaka; principal producers include USA, Mexico and Brazil.
- Appearance & Organoleptic: Mobile clear liquid; colour green/yellow‑green/brownish‑green; odour characteristic of fresh lime peel.
- Physicochemical limits:
- Relative density (20 °C): 0.861 – 0.879
- Refractive index (20 °C): 1.476 – 1.486
- Optical rotation (20 °C): +38° to +53°
- Miscibility: 1 volume oil must dissolve in ≤3 volumes of 95% ethanol (slight haze allowed)
- Residue on evaporation: 5.0 – 12.0% (mass fraction)
- CD value (UV spectrometry): Minimum 0.24 (measured up to 315 nm)
- Chromatographic profile (normative): Gas chromatography identification with component percentage ranges (examples include):
- Limonene: 47.0 – 53.0%
- γ‑Terpinene: 11.0 – 14.0%
- β‑Pinene: 10.0 – 12.0%
- α‑Pinene, myrcene, neral/geranial, neryl/geranyl acetates, and sesquiterpenes (β‑caryophyllene, α‑bergamotene, β‑bisabolene) are specified with minimum/maximum ranges.
- Flashpoint: Informative mean value +46 °C (tag closed cup or equivalent).
- Sampling & testing: Minimum test sample 30 ml; references to ISO methods for density, refractive index, rotation, miscibility, residue on evaporation, CD, and GC profiling.
Applications and Users
ISO 23954 is used by:
- Essential oil producers and packers for product specification and batch release
- Quality control and analytical laboratories performing GC profiling and physicochemical tests
- Buyers, ingredient formulators (flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, food industry) verifying authenticity and composition
- Regulatory, transport and safety officers (flashpoint reference, labelling and storage guidance)
- Certification bodies and commodity traders requiring standardized quality assessment
Practical benefits include consistent quality benchmarking, fraud detection, authentic composition verification, and compliance with international trade and safety expectations.
Related Standards
Normative and informative references include ISO/TR 210, ISO/TR 211, ISO 212, ISO 279, ISO 280, ISO 592, ISO 875, ISO 4715, ISO 4735, ISO 11024‑1/2 and ISO/TR 11018 - all supporting sampling, test methods, chromatographic profiling, packaging, labelling and flashpoint determination.
