ABSTRACT
Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden et Betche) Cheel(Myrtaceae), also known as Melaleuca linariifolia var. alternifolia, is a small shrub or tree of up to 5 m in height with a papery bark. The species is unique to Australia and is usually found in swampy or wet ground on the northern coastal strip of New South Wales and southern Queensland (Lassak and McCarthy 2001). The plant was used medicinally by the Australian aboriginal people for centuries to treat coughs, colds, wounds, sore throats, and skin aliments. However, the antiseptic properties of the essential oils obtained by steam distillation of the plant foliage were only discovered in the 1920s (Penfold and Morrison 1946). At that time, the major component of the oil, terpinen-4-ol, was also found to be associated with the activity of the oil, commonly referred to as “tea tree oil.”
