LATEST NEWS & MEDIA
30 Jun 2010 - Anti-cancer activity of tea tree oil
A report released today by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation has highlighted the positive role tea tree oil (TTO) may play in the future in treating people with skin cancer. More »»
30 Jun 2010 - Productivity Commission Submission
ATTIA has made a submission to the Productivity Commission on RRDCs. More »»
30 Oct 2009 - EMEA submission
The EMEA (European Medicines Agency) committee on herbal medicinal products called for scientific data to create a Monograph for tea tree oil as a Herbal Medicine in August 2009 More »»
19 Jun 2009 - New ATTIA website
Welcome to our new website. If you are a regular visitor you will notice quite a few changes - this will be progressive as the site is developed over the next few weeks. More »»
PrintISO4730 and AS 2782-1997 Standards
The chemical composition of tea tree oil is defined by international standard ISO 4730 (2004) and the identical Australian standard AS 2782-2009 ("Oil of Melaleuca, Terpinen-4-ol type"), which specifies levels of 15 of the more than 100 components in pure Australian tea tree oil. Any batch of oil sold by an ATTIA member must be accompanied by an independently tested certificate of analysis demonstrating conformance to these standards. ATTIA also recommends that the country of origin is clearly declared when purchasing tea tree oil from any supplier.
A summary of the standard:
AS 2782 – 2009 Oil of Melaleuca, terpen-4-ol type (Tea Tree Oil)
Essential oil obtained by steam distillation of the foliage and terminal branchlets of Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden et Betche) Cheel, Melaleuca linariifolia Smith, and Melaleuca dissitiflora F. Mueller, as well as other species of Melaleuca provided that the oil obtained conforms to the requirements given in this International Standard.
| Requirements: | ||
| Appearance | Clear, mobile liquid | |
| Colour | Colourless to pale yellow | |
| Odour | Characteristic | |
| Relative density (20° C) | Min: 0.885 | Max: 0.906 |
| Refractive index (20° C) | Min: 1.475 | Max: 1.482 |
| Optical rotation (20° C) | between + 5° and + 15° | |
| Miscibility in ethanol (20° C) | not necessary to use more than 2 volumes of ethanol, 85% (volume fraction) to obtain a clear solution with 1 volume of essential oil | |
| Flashpoint (closed cup) | mean value | mean value |
| Min volume of test sample | 50 ml | |
| Chromatographic profile: | ||||
| Component | Min % | Max % | ||
| α-Piniene | 1 | 6 | ||
| Sabinene | trace | 3.5 | ||
| α-Terpinene | 5 | 13 | ||
| Limonene | 0.5 | 1.5 | ||
| p-Cymene | 0.5 | 8 | ||
| 1,8-Cineole | trace | 15 | ||
| γ-Terpinene | 10 | 28 | ||
| Terpinolene | 1.5 | 5 | ||
| Terpinen-4-ol | 30 | 48 | ||
| α-Terpineol | 1.5 | 8 | ||
| Aromadendrene | trace | 3 | ||
| Ledene (syn. viridiflorene) | trace | 3 | ||
| δ-Cadinene | trace | 3 | ||
| Globulol | trace | 1 | ||
| Viridiflorol | trace | 1 | ||
A full copy of this standard is available for purchase at: www.saiglobal.com