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AUSTRALIAN TEA TREE and LEMON SCENTED TEA TREE. |
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| INDEX | ||
| These notes are a general
ramble, based largely on our personal experiences of growing and
distilling both varieties, with a bit of gossip, and some solid references
for further reading.
Two very different essential oils and both are native to Australia. A common thread is that they are potent chemical concoctions -albeit from a natural source. At 100% concentration, i.e. pure essential oil, USE WITH CARE - a little goes a long way, keep out of the reach of children, do not ingest the pure oil, and store in dark glass or stainless steel, in a cool, dark area. As with all crops, the quality and quantity of any essential oil will vary from plantation to plantation because of different soil types and horticultural practices. The analogy we use is comparing essential oil trees with vineyards - if the trees/vines are treated well, they will respond and produce for many years. Many essential oils are identified by their country of origin, and there is occasional talk of a form of Appellation Controllee for essential oils. To a certain extent, this already operates on an informal basis, with retailers identifying their oils by distillers. The common names - Australian Tea Tree oil and Lemon scented Tea Tree - suggest similarity, but apart from having disinfectant or bactericidal properties, they are as chalk and cheese. If asked, my answer would be - Melaleuca alternifolia (Australian Tea Tree) for instant first aid, and Leptospermum petersonii (Lemon scented Tea Tree) for a great natural insect repellent. If you don't have the latter to repel the insects, the former will alleviate the pain and itch when you do get bitten. Both these trees can be grown in plantations, are harvested in a similar way, and steam distillation of the leaves and terminal branchlets will produce the essential oil. Fairly simple, really - buy a farm with suitable terrain, get hold of some seed, propagate into seedlings, plant at a desired pattern to suit irrigation, maintenance and harvesting, sit back and watch them grow, harvest, distil and sell. Easy. When you finish doing your sums on making a fortune, redo with the expenses trebled, and the returns halved, and then buy your oil from someone who has already done it ! Both trees, in our experience, do not respond well to (over) fertilising. We'd go one better - mulch and water are all that is needed. Fertilisation may produce nice green bushy trees, but the growth tends to be in the foliage, and not in the oil glands. Most distressing to harvest and distil, get a poor yield of oil, look at a leaf under a microscope, and find 80% of the oil glands are empty - and after spending all that time and money on a fertiliser program. |
Both oils are lighter than
water, but need to be dewatered and filtered before bottling or drumming.
No oil should be bottled or drummed while still warm - condensation will
form, and contamination commences. Stainless steel drums are now
recommended for both oils. This is more expensive, but increases the
chances that the buyer will pay, rather than shout abuse. If a nitrogen
gas blanket is used to displace the air above the oil, even better. As
with all oils, never fill any container to the top - the oils expand and
contract, and that can get messy if there is insufficient headspace.
Below, I will quote some steam distilled derived yields for these oils. Many will be able to do better, many will do worse - the variables associated with achieving maximum yields are innumerable, which makes distillation such a delight and a headache ! Australian tea tree - Melaleuca alternifolia. In its natural environment, seen as a small paperbarked tree to 7m (23 ft), with small, soft narrow leaves, which, in its native environment, grows in swamps and coastal regions of northern NSW. The two major chemical components are Terpinen-4-Ol and cineole. (The latter is the major component in eucalyptus oil). There are now three official standards for Melaleuca alternifolia oil - Australian, International and European Union. Take your pick. A great first aid kit. Antiseptic and antifungal, it should be a constant in every medicine cabinet. Melaleuca alternifolia has a scent that is offensive to some, but interestingly enough, adding Lemon scented Tea Tree can improve both the scent and the efficacy. This is an oil that we use in a pure form on both ourselves and our animals, as a primary first aid in cases of insect bites or minor cuts and scrapes. We would not, in a public forum, suggest this use to anybody, but our personal observations of the use of this oil suggest that optimum results are achieved when the oil has an initial infection (two days, no more than twice a day) on which to work. Continuous application over a long period of time, or diluted, does not have the same effect, and may be detrimental. Melaleuca alternifolia is used in a multitude of products for skin, body and personal care, and there is now a large amount of verified research as to the efficacy of Melaleuca alternifolia against a number of fungal organisms. |
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