Tea Tree Oil

Since 1920, medical properties of tea tree oil has been established in assays against both bacteria and fungi. When applied to cultures of bacteria and fungi, the oil was shown to kill both, establishing its antiseptic and antifungal activities. By itself, this doesn't establish that its a strong antimicrobial, because high doses of many chemicals can have damaging effects on all life such as bacterial. But a key discovery is that a comparison of the oil against other antimicrobials such as phenol showed that it is over 10 times more active. Meaning, a bit of conventional antimicrobials such as phenol is as effective as a tenth of same amount of the oil. Moreover, its thought to be an excellent additive for cosmetics, moisturizing and enhancing elasticity of the skin. In any Supermarket or natural goods store, we can usually find shampoos, moisturizers and even toothpastes containing tea tree oil. When used in consumer products, tea tree oil is always diluted to low concentration for the reason that higher concentrations have been shown to irritate the skin and other tissues.

Tea tree oil is also known as melaleuca oil. Its physical appearance is clear, but shading can vary and pale yellow is not an uncommon color. The odor is striking, with a camphor-like smell which is strong, aromatic, and reminiscent of moth repellent or turpentine. The purer the oil the more strong it will smell. The oil itself is extracted via crushing and distillation of the liquids from leaves of a plant known as Melaleuca alternifolia. This plant is found along the sea edge of the state New South Wales of Australia. The Melaleuca genus is a wide group of plants that is endemic to Australia, but has since then been introduced to other continents and countries for varoius reasons. In Hawaii and Florida Everglades, members of the genus were introduced to promote draining of low-lying swamp land. Apparently its roots help increase the porosity of the soil which assists in drainage of surface water. But besides human-assisted transplantation of the genus, most Melaleuca plants are only found in Australia.

A serious problem in hospitals is that of MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Methicillin is a common antibiotic used in hospital settings. When overused, as is common in modern hospital settings, bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus can develop resistance via mutations that defend it against the bactericidal properties of methicillin. These bacteria pose an extreme threat to patients because the array of antibiotics directed against these bacteria is highly limited (for example, last resort antibiotics such as vancomycin have to be used). Miraculously, tea tree oil has been found to exert a killing effect even against MRSA, more so than a close chemical analog phenol. Of course, prolonged exposure or overuse of tea tree oil can give rise to the same kind of resistance seen in Staphylococcus aureus toward methicillin and other antibiotics.

True to its reputation as a natural healing antibiotic, natives of Australia have throughout history used the tea trees itself as a source of traditional medicines. The oils available to the natives of course was not in purified form as it is today. Natives used the leaves and ground them by hand to produce trace amounts of oil which was then breathed in to soothe throats and lungs during bouts with the common cold. The oils have also been reportedly used on open cuts in the skin, a use that may indicate its antibacterial properties. The spread of tea tree oil beyond its native borders of Australia did not happen until much much later when an Australia chemist named Arthur de Ramon Penfold. Penfold was an industrial chemist employed by a Technological Museum. In 1920, Penfold showed that the purified oil had substantial antimicrobial properties.