ESSENCE OF AUSTRALIA™	EDUCATORS

The Australian Essential Oil Company has an active Research and Development program. Currently under investigation are essential oils from many native plants, shrubs and trees. These include Araucaria, Backhousia, Baekia, Callitris, Eremophila, Eucalypts, Geijera, Leptospermums, Melaleucas, Prostanthera and Zieria. The best-known of the Australasian plant oils is Tea Tree, or Melaleuca alternifolia, which has been a subject of phyto-therapeutic investigations for more than 75 years. Widely known and used in millions of homes around the world, it is truly the first line of defense against everyday happenings - cuts,stings, abrasions, minor burns and infections, and other problems of the skin.
The common belief is that Captain Cook’s diary records the brewing of a tea from a plant, possibly a Leptospermum, which somehow led to all similar species being called ‘tea trees’. While it is true that Cook did record the brewing of a tea, we believe that the explanation is much more obvious: the Melaleucas which grow very close to or even in water around coastal creeks and lakes are Melaleuca quinqenervia (with five veins in the leaves), and the tannin from these trees colours the water so that it looks remarkably like tea!
These trees have beautiful papery bark, as do Melaleuca alternifolia and many others, and all of them are often called ‘tea trees’. We prefer to use the correct botanical description, and avoid the confusion! Agreement with Ciba for the supply of Essential Oils The Australian Essential Oil Company has a long-term Research and Development agreement with Ciba Speciality Chemicals Inc Consumer Care Division in Switzerland for the development of Australian native plant oils and extracts. Ciba is utilising the company’s entire range of oils and natural products to develop a number of products which it will market internationally. Ciba Speciality Chemicals, with customers in 117 countries, is dedicated to producing high-value effects for their customers’ products, through use of speciality chemicals added in small quantities, to enhance the performance, look and feel of the final product.