Tea Tree Essential Oil from Natural Health Crafters

Tea Tree - from the Bundjalung Aborigines of New South Wales, Australia - 13 times more effective than the most powerful antiseptic known at the time.

Tea Tree Melaleuca alternifolia oil is a remarkable healing agent, and one of the most researched of all the essential oils. Tea Tree belongs to the genus Melaleuca and the trees in this genus are commonly known as paper-backs or honey-myrtles. There are many species of tea tree including M. cajeputi from which cajeput essential oil is produced, M. viridflora, producing niaouli, and M, alternifolia which yields the tea tree (or ti-tree) oil. Although these three oils and many others in the same family share similar properties, tea tree is most favoured by aromatherapists and manufacturers of natural antiseptic creams, spot clearing lotions, toothpastes and shampoos etc.. It has superior healing properties, and is less likely to irritate sensitive skin.

Native to the state of New South Wales in Australia, It is a small shrubby tree, growing to a height of 7m. It has narrow leaves and bears cream bottlebrush like flowers in the spring. Its paper like bark peels easily away from the trunk, and it was once used extensively by aboriginal pepoles to make small canoes, knife sheaths, and thatch. In 1700, British explorers observed the aborigines brewing tea from the tea tree leaves. Hence, Captain Cook named it ‘Tea Tree’ and took samples of the plant back to England for further study. In 1922, Arthur Penfold documented his findings of the germicidal properties of tea tree oil. He found it to be 13 times more effective than the most powerful antiseptic known at the time - carbolic soap.

For many years however the tea trees were hacked and burned by New South Wales dairy farmers who discovered that nothing less than grubbing out the extesive root systems would prevent regeneration of the branches and leaves. Yet, while settlers battled to destroy every tea tree in sight. they were always willing to use the crushed leaves in poultices to heal infected wounds. The trees recuperative powers are astonishing, and the trees which were cut to nothing but a stump are flourishing again. Today these hardy, disease-resistant trees are cultivated in plantations for the highly prized essential oil. The tea tree oil industry is expanding with interest from growers in north Queensland and Western Australia, and the development of a breeding program to select trees of high genetic quality to boost oil production

Produced by steam distillation of the leaves, tea tree oil is virtually colourless, though it sometimes has a tinge of green. Its strong rather medicinal odour is reminiscent of cypress, cardamom and camphor combined. The effect of its aroma is generally perceived as warming and stimulating.

Healing Benefits Our knowledge of the properties and uses of tea tree is based on the long history os use by the Bundjalong Aborigines. From the 1790s onwards, the first european settlers areas around the Clarence and Richmond Rivers learned from the local Bunjalong how to use th leaves for healing purposes such as inhalations for respiratory ailments and ointments for infested wounds. Often the leaves were simply picked from the trees and chewed - for example, as a remedy for intestinal parasites. Since the Australian aboriginal people had no knowledge of distillation, they did not separate the essential oil.

Tea tree essential oil did not reach the attention of the medical establishment until in 1923, A.R. Penfold conducted a study of tea tree and found that it was a powerful antiseptic, 13 times stronger than carbolic acid, the standard of that time. and in 1930 when the Australian Journal of Australia commented that the oil ‘dissolves pus and promotes the rapid healing of wounds, but without apparent damage to the tissues’. This was something new, for most other antiseptics (even to a lesser strength) were known to damage the skin. In 1936 the same journal reported that a severe case of gangerine had been successfully treated with tea tree oil. Australian and British medical journals touted tea tree oil as both powerful and safe. It was considered so effective that the Australian military issued tea tree oil in the first-aid kits to military units in tropical regions during World War II.

Unfortunately demand eventually outstripped supply and synthetic antiseptics were substituted. This coupled with the post-war promotion of antibiotic drugs, led to a decline in interest in tea tree oil. By the 1970s, however, the oil was once again the subject of scientific research when it was cited as a highly effective treatment for athletes foot, ringworm and other infections of the skin. More recently studies have been conducted featuring tea tree oil in the treatment of vaginal thrush. The diluted oil was incorporated into pessaries for insertion once nightly. In most cases, the treatment was highly effective after 30 days.

The key to tea tree's medicinal effectiveness is the ratio of two chemical constituents present in the oil: cineole and terpinen. Although both of these constituents are bactericidal and germicidal, cineole can be a powerful skin irritant. Therefore tea tree oils with low cineole and high terpinen contents are preferred. The cineole/terpinen ratio can vary considerably in the many species of tea tree. The ratio can even vary in the same species growing in different areas. Plants which are identical other than their chemical make-ups are known as chemotypes. This variance prompted the creation of an Australian standard for a minimum terpinen content of 30% and a maximum cineole content of 15%. Now that the plant has been brought into cultivation, a process of selecting and propagating choice plants has produced tea tree oils that surpass the Australian standard, with terpinen contents as high as 40% and cineole contents as low as 5%. When the standard is exceeded in this way, the effectiveness of the oil remains high while its possible irritant effects decrease.

Tea tree oil has been used successfully in the treatment of many other conditions. including genital herbes (indicating antiviral activilty), infections of the throat, respiratory tract and sinuses, mouth ulcers, infected gums, acne, dandruff and burns. The oil is also believed to be an immuno-stimulant capable of helping the body fight infections. Aromatherapists recommend tea tree baths to help restore depleted nervous systems, especially in people who are more susceptible than average to every passing infection. As well as its remarkable anti-infective properties the oil reputedly neutralizes the deadly venom of the funnel web spider. All in all, tea tree is undoubtedly one of the most exciting oils to be studied this century.

Adulteration

Because of the standards imposed, a great deal of blending occurs using oils from various cultivars and species. Terpinen-4-ol may also be added together with other terpenes.

ISO Standard 4730

Tea tree essential oil Melaleuca alternifolia, Terpinen-4-ol type oil.

	α-pinene	1 - 6%
	sabinene	tr - 3.5%
	α-terpinene	5 -13%
	limonene	0.5 -1.5%
	p-cymene	0.5 -8%
	1.8-cineole	tr -15%
	γ-terpinene	10 -25%
	terpinolene	1.5 - 5%
	terpinen-4-ol	30 -48%
	α-terpineol	1.5 -8%
	aromadendrene	tr -3%
	δ-cadinene	tr -3%
	globulol	tr -1%
	viridiflorol	tr - 1%

	Appearance	Clear mobile without visible water.
	Colour	Colourless to pale yellow
	Odour	Characteristic
	Relative density (20%deg;C)	0.885 - 0.906
	Refractive index (20%deg;C)	1.475 - 1.482
	Optical rotation (20%deg;C)	+5° - +15°
	Miscibility in 85% (v/v) ethanol (20%deg;C)	Less than 2 volumes

GRAS

Tea Tree oil has been granted temporary acceptability for use in foods.

Uses

A study of Tea Tree oil against benzoyl peroxide at 5% on 124 patients suffering from dermatitis showed that tea tree had a slower but ameliorating effect with fewer side-effects (46). Other clinical studies have included use as an antiseptic in dentistry, numerous skin conditions including acne, furunculosis (boils), vaginal thrush, foot problems, coughs and colds (47).