Study on Estimation and Seasonal Variation of Essential Oil in Tea Tree by Hydro Distillation Method.

Background: Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) oil is an essential oil that is steam distilled from the leaves of the tea tree, native to Australia. The oil has fresh and pleasant odour and some medicinal properties of odour eliminating as well as antibacterial and antiseptic action. Tea tree oil has found increasing use in certain consumer products including cosmetics. Tea tree oil components will vary depending on the growing environment including air and sunlight conditions. Methods: The present study on estimation and seasonal variation on essential oils from different plant parts of tea tree was carried by hydro distillation method. Result: The study reveals that, the needle leaves and flowers have the higher oil content of 2.30% and 2.25% respectively. The effect of months on different plant parts showed that the oil recovery from needle leaves and flowers were higher during the month of July and August. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]