Tea tree is perhaps one of the most well-known essential oils used in cosmetic formulations and, particularly in skin care products to treat issues such as acne.
As a native Australian plant, tea tree has a well-documented history of use by the indigenous Bundjalung people for health and wellness purposes and the ingredient is ingrained in their culture.
The global tea tree oil industry first began around the 1980s when commercial tea tree plantations started to appear. The oil was mainly used in anti-acne skin care treatments throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s, but it’s now being seen in more unexpected products.
According to Phillip Prather, Chair of the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association and COO at Down Under Enterprises (an Australian company that grows and exports tea tree oil), it has been incorporated into new product categories in recent years.
“More of the mainstream companies are incorporating tea tree into their products in new ways: for example, P&G’s Head & Shoulders brand now features tea tree,” he shared. “Colgate Palmolive also has a new Naturals product line, Smile, which has Tea Tree and Mint incorporated into the toothpaste.
“We have had a lot of a lot of interest customers for dandruff and oral care,” he shared. “Tea tree has really got that great consumer reputation,”
It’s certainly one of the most well-known essential oils for beauty and personal care purposes worldwide. Prather cited a report from Mintel research that claimed tea tree was the fourth biggest natural ingredient that consumers actively searched for and the highest-ranked essential oil.
He also said that Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), which captures beauty and personal care launches across the globe, showed that last year there was a 22% increase in launches of new products that contained tea tree compared to the previous year.
“Melaleuca alternifolia is very important to the Bundjalung people”
Down Under Enterprises’ tea tree farm is located near Byron Bay in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, which is where the Bundjalung First Nations people live and where tea tree originated.
The ingredient is derived from the Melaleuca alternifolia plant species, but according to Prather there are six different versions and only one type has been fully explored with clinical studies to show strong efficacy.
“The specific chemotype is the terpinen-4-ol-dominant variety,” he shared. “Typically, the concentration of this component is in the 40-43%. Although the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) allows for up to 48%, I’ve never seen anything over 44% that is natural/pure. It’s only this one type that has the clinical data and safety data associated with it.”
This is also the genus that is used by the Aboriginal First Nations people of Australia.
“Melaleuca alternifolia is very important to the Bundjalung people: the local people in the area where we have the farm,” explained Prather, who has been working closely with Aboriginal Elders in recent years as part of the company’s Reconciliation Action Plan. “It’s in a lot of their stories, their ancient learnings and also in their health and wellness.”
He continued: “For them, health and wellness are more than just about themselves – this is about the land as well. So, if the trees are doing well, all of the plants are doing well, the people are doing well.”
Melaleuca alternifolia holds a special place in the hearts of the Bundjalung people and Prather explained that it’s even featured in one of their folklore stories about the Princess of Tea Tree, Eelemani, who left the local area to explore and dropped tea tree seeds all along her trail. When she wanted to return to her people, she found them because the seeds had grown into trees with bright white bark that stood out in the moonlight and guided her back home.
Opportunities from an air-cleaning perspective
Prather and his wife Dee Ann first founded their EcoVardis platinum-rated company 22 years ago. Dee Ann’s parents were tea tree farmers and the couple, who were living in the US, spotted an opportunity to market tea tree oil as an efficacious cosmetic ingredient outside of Australia. They worked with naturals companies like Burt’s Bees and Aveda and the business grew from there.
According to Prather, there is plenty of clinical evidence that shows that tea tree has antibacterial and anti-fungal benefits without compromising the surrounding bacteria.
“It doesn’t kill all of the good bacteria,” he explained. “It’s got a good efficacy against transient bacteria, as well as the fungus that causes dandruff, Malassezia furfur. It kills that fungus but doesn’t affect some of the good…
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