Tea Tree Essential Oil

Botanical name:  Melaleuca alternifolia                                                                               

Ingredients: 100% v/v pure Tea Tree essential oil.

MORE INFO on Tea Tree Essential Oil:

Directions and More Uses:

Aromatherapy Oil: 2 to 4 drops in an oil burner or vaporiser, 1-4 drops into a bath, add to your own skin care products for an anti-bacterial boost

Blend Tea Tree essential oil with:

Try blending with Blue Cypress, Emerald Cypress, Eucalyptus varieties, Lemon Tea Tree,  Niaouli, Nerolina, Rosalina and Sandalwood.

Main Actives of Tea Tree essential oil:

Terpinene-4-ol, alpha-terpineol, gamma-terpinene and para-cymene.

Precautions:

Do not ingest, keep out of reach of children, store away from direct sunlight and below 30 degrees.

Other Common Names:

Paperbark, Ti Tree, Melaleuca, Melaleuca oil tree.

Natural Occurrence in Australia:                                                                                                                              

Tea Trees naturally occur in the lowlands and swamps of northern New South Wales and south east Queensland.

The tree is reasonably common, sometimes growing in pure stands in the wild.

Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) in flower, in the wild, Wardell, northern NSW

Oil Characteristics of Tea Tree Essential Oil:

Clear to pale amber yellow colour, watery, crisp, medicinal scent.

Research:

There have been many studies into the effects of Tea Tree oil, these include work by A.R. Penfold in the 1920’s, work by Dr Paul Belaiche, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris in 1985, Carson and Riley in 1995, to name a few, all of which demonstrated Tea Tree’s anti-bacterial prowess.

Extraction and Farming Method:

Tea Tree essential oil is extracted via steam distillation of the leaves and green branchlets. Tea Tree is grown in plantations in northern New South Wales and south east Queensland.

Plantation trees are planted in rows, are kept to a maximum height of 4 metres, they are machine harvested and are then steam distilled immediately to maintain quality Tea Tree essential oil.

History –Tea Tree Essential oil:

Traditional Usage

Indigenous people, would put rocks in their fires, until the rocks were extremely hot, these rocks were then place into small pools of water, often by small waterways. The water in the pool would then steam, Tea Tree leaves and branchlets were place into the steaming water and the oil vapour was inhaled for respiratory conditions.

Another use was where leaves and small branchlets were ‘stuck’ onto troubled areas with wet mud onto the affected area.

Early European usage

There were several small distillations of small wild populations, particularly around the northern New South Wales region in the early 1900’s. When raw materials (antiseptics) were in short supply in World War 1 and 2, soldiers would carry the oil with them, as a first aid kit.

After World War II with the development of antibiotics, Tea Tree faded away.

Present day usage

In the 1970’s Tea Tree oil was restarted by the Dean family, just south of Byron Bay. Tea Tree oil is now known around most of the world. In the 1980’s and 1990’s many Tea Tree oil farms were established around the northern New South Wales region. However the price crashed as some plantations were established in India and many other countries where labour is much cheaper. Essentially Australia sources its Tea Tree essential oil, directly from local northern New South Wales Tea Tree farmers, these farmers have been long involved with Tea Tree industry and their expertise and quality is second to none.

Typical Chemical Profile of Tea Tree Essential oil (Australian Standard 4941-2001)                                                                

alpha-pinene                                                      1-6%
sabinene                                                   trace-3.5%
alpha-terpinene                                                5-13%
limonene                                                         0.5-4%
para-cymene                                                 0.5-12%
1,8 cineole                                                          0-5%
gamma-terpineol                                            10-28%
terpen-4-ol                                                     30-48%
alpha-terpineol                                               1.5-8%
aromadendrene                                           trace-7%
delta-cadinene                                              trace-8%
globulol                                                         trace-3%
viridiflorol                                                     trace-1.5%

Relative Density @ 20 C: 0.860-0.920
Refractive Index @ 20 C: 1.4750-1.4900
Optical Rotation +3.5-+12.0