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Australia Post is featuring four of Australia's largest native plant industries: eucalyptus oil, honey, macadamia nuts and tea tree oil in a new stamp issue available on 17 May 2011. More »»
ATTIA Ltd sent seedlings of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea trees) to the CSIRO for host testing in mid 2010. The tests were positive. More »»
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The chemical composition of tea tree oil is defined by international standard ISO 4730 (2004) and the identical Australian standard AS 2782-2009 ("Oil of Melaleuca, Terpinen-4-ol type"), which specifies levels of 15 of the more than 100 components in pure Australian tea tree oil. Any batch of oil sold by an ATTIA member must be accompanied by an independently tested certificate of analysis demonstrating conformance to these standards. ATTIA also recommends that the country of origin is clearly declared when purchasing tea tree oil from any supplier.
A summary of the standard:
Essential oil obtained by steam distillation of the foliage and terminal branchlets of Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden et Betche) Cheel, Melaleuca linariifolia Smith, and Melaleuca dissitiflora F. Mueller, as well as other species of Melaleuca provided that the oil obtained conforms to the requirements given in this International Standard.
| Requirements: | ||
| Appearance | Clear, mobile liquid | |
| Colour | Colourless to pale yellow | |
| Odour | Characteristic | |
| Relative density (20° C) | Min: 0.885 | Max: 0.906 |
| Refractive index (20° C) | Min: 1.475 | Max: 1.482 |
| Optical rotation (20° C) | between + 5° and + 15° | |
| Miscibility in ethanol (20° C) | not necessary to use more than 2 volumes of ethanol, 85% (volume fraction) to obtain a clear solution with 1 volume of essential oil | |
| Flashpoint (closed cup) | mean value | mean value |
| Min volume of test sample | 50 ml | |
| Chromatographic profile: | ||||
| Component | Min % | Max % | ||
| α-Piniene | 1 | 6 | ||
| Sabinene | trace | 3.5 | ||
| α-Terpinene | 5 | 13 | ||
| Limonene | 0.5 | 1.5 | ||
| p-Cymene | 0.5 | 8 | ||
| 1,8-Cineole | trace | 15 | ||
| γ-Terpinene | 10 | 28 | ||
| Terpinolene | 1.5 | 5 | ||
| Terpinen-4-ol | 30 | 48 | ||
| α-Terpineol | 1.5 | 8 | ||
| Aromadendrene | trace | 3 | ||
| Ledene (syn. viridiflorene) | trace | 3 | ||
| δ-Cadinene | trace | 3 | ||
| Globulol | trace | 1 | ||
| Viridiflorol | trace | 1 | ||
A full copy of this standard is available for purchase at: www.saiglobal.com
Page last updated: 29 Jul 2010