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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tea Tree Oil? Tea Tree Oil is the essential oil steam distilled from the Australian plant Melaleuca alternifolia. This species, 1 of 300 species of the laurel family, is native to Northern New South Wales. Melaleuca, which means peeling bark, was discovered and used by Australian Bundjalung Aborigines. Tea tree oil is a complex essential oil with 48 natural compounds the most significant being monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and their alcohols. The oil also includes terpinenes, cymenes, pinenes, terpineols, and cineole. Levels of 14 components are stipulated in the International Standard for Oil of Melaleuca, Terpinen-4-ol type (ISO 4730). Tea Tree oil is colourless or pale yellow. Why Treemenda? Treemenda Therapeutics Tea Tree products offer the best solution for all family's skin care needs. We import the finest therapeutic grade tea tree oil from Australia. In measuring the quality, Treemenda has 40% terpinen-4-ol (Australian standard - 30% terpinen-4-ol) that indicates the optimal activity for healing power. Treemenda also has a 2.5% cineole content (Australian standard - 15% cineole). The lower count makes it less toxic and less irritating. All products are bottled and manufactured in Canada with the finest and safest of ingredients. Why is Tea Tree Oil used? It is a powerful broad range antiseptic, fungicide and bactericide. It is active against a wide range of microorganisms including Gram negative, Gram positive bacteria, fungi and yeast. It was found to be bactericidal against most organisms. The bacterial action increased in presence of blood. It penetrates deeply into infected tissue, sloughs off infection while leaving healthy surface. What are the advantages of tea tree oil? Completely natural, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, bacteriacidal mode of action, antifungal activity, excellent skin penetration, non-irritating, low incidence of skin sensitivity. Dilutions of 1:250 are still bacteriostatic against pathogenic streptococci and staphylococci, typhous, pneumococcus. Can Tea Tree Oil be toxic? Tea Tree Oil has low toxicity and is virtually a non-irritant to sensitive tissue. When is Tea Tree harvested? Some growers harvest in summer, when the oil is at its optimum, but run the risk of not being able to harvest at all because of summer rain patterns. Some harvest in winter when oil content is low, so that they get all of the optimum growing in spring and summer, and make up for low percentage oil yield with greater biomass. How is Tea Tree harvested? Very little is now hand-harvested. Most oil is now produced in plantations of 5 acres to maybe 1000 acres, and is harvested mechanically. Some growers use modified silage harvesters, some use flail harvesters, and some use very specialized machinery. In almost all cases, the chopped leaf and twigs is flung into a field bin, which is towed back to the distillery, has a lid attached, a steam line connected, and then becomes the distillation vessel. How is the Tea Tree Oil extracted? Only the leaves and terminal branclets (the little green bits at the ends) have essential oil. As Tea Trees are a permanent crop, with the wonderful attribute of regrowing after being harvested, the major branches (which have no oil) are also harvested along with the leaves, and the whole lot is steam distilled. Only steam is used. There are no producers who use solvent extraction. Why is the steam distillation method used? Tea Tree is very volatile, easy to distill, and the cheapest method is steam distillation. It also has the side benefit of converting some of the intermediate compounds in the leaf oil into more stable, more bio-effective compounds. Extra terpinen-4-ol is created this way, adding to the plant's biosynthesis of this the most important compound in the oil. Where is Tea Tree Oil processed? Most farms have their own distillation equipment, used only for the farm's production of Tea Tree Oil. Some farmers have mobile equipment that they share. What kind of container is Tree Tea Oil stored and shipped in? We ship in steel containers with a special inert lining, impervious to Tea Tree Oil. Some people ship in stainless steel, mostly because I guess they see this as the best material to use. By special request we use stainless, but it is really "gilding the lily". It is not necessary if one knows how to use the lined steel drums effectively. What is the shelf life of Tea Tree Oil? In an unopened drum the shelf life of Tea Tree Oil is a few years. In an opened bottle, with good cap and seal the shelf life is up to 10 years at least. We conducted 10 year shelf life trials, completed in 1998, and only the oil in the few faulty bottles, caps and seals was badly affected in that time. Is Tea Tree Oil Genetically Modified? No. Treemenda Tea Tree Oil is the sweetest most natural oil there is. Genetic modifications are carried out by God. If you have more questions, please contact us at 877-265-2615 www.treemenda.com |
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