Baldwins Original Bush Tea Tree (Malaleuca alternifolia) Essential Oil

Original Bush Tea Tree (Malaleuca alternifolia)

Country of origin: Australia

All tea tree of the variety Malaleuca alternifolia is grown in Australia and is an important crop for the country (producing between 400 & 500 metric tons of pure oil a year!).

The difference between this this tea tree and our standard oil is that this oil comes from a plant grown from original seed stock (rather than the highly cultivated seed used in the wider indusry) and the oil produces a smoother, softer aroma, than the (sometimes quite aggressive) aroma of standard tea tree.

For me the aroma leans towards the Organic Tea Tree and Kunzea essential oils we sell (also Australian) and away from the industrial, angular antiseptic connotations of regular old tea tree.

The main active constituent of tea tree oil is a plant chemical called TTO (terpinen-4-ol) and current standards of production mean that oil produced must contain between 30 - 48% TTO.

(Tea tree with a level of over 45% is suspicious, and likely to be adulterated with pure t-4-ol which is also a waste product from rectified eucalyptus, pine and other oils)

TTO has a great (scientifically backed up) reputation for being strongly antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antiviral. Probably the strongest natural anti-microbial you can use.

Almost all pure Australian tea tree (including the original bush tea tree and our regular tea tree oil) has approximately 40% (just above actually!) TTO content.

Like all our essential oils Tea Tree should only ever be used externally and not used neat