WHAT EXACTLY IS TEA TREE OIL (MELALEUCA ALTERNIFOLIA)?
Tea Tree Oil is the essence produced by the distillation of the leaves of the Melaleuca Alternifolia, the medicinal tea tree. There are more than 300 varieties of tea tree, but only one is known to produce medicinal oil. The latest research shows that pure tea tree oil is an extremely complex substance, containing at least 48 organic compounds. These consist mainly of terpentines, cymones, pinenes, terpineols, cineol, sesquiterpenes, and sesquiterpene alcohols. The tree oil is also the first natural substance found to contain the organic compound viridiflorene. No single isolate of the pure oil accounts for all of the properties of tea tree oil. Nor is any one especially effective alone. It seems that all compounds work together in synergy to produce the maximum healing power. The best oil comes from only one small region in the world, the heart of beautiful and remote swamp country around Bungawalbyn Creek near Lismore, in northern New South Wales, Australia, and nothing has been foun
