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Experience
the fragrance of the rainforest
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Amidst the growing awareness of the value of Australian native
rainforest plants, Lemon Myrtle stands out for the rarity
of its fresh fragrance, and its medicinal and germicidal properties.
The existence of the Lemon Myrtle tree was known as far back
as 1853, when it was given the botanical name Backhousia Citriodora
after the English botanist, James Backhouse. The high citral
content of the oil extracted from the leaf - 90% to 97% -
was ascertained some 100 years ago, but it is only now that
its commercial potential is being realised.
The essential oil distilled from the leaf has strong anti-bacterial,
anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. The Rideal-Walker test
assesses the anti-microbial activity of a plant by examining
the phenol co-efficient of a number of essential oil components
such as citral, using bacteria salmonella typhii as a test
organism. The test (in which the higher scores are best) awards
Lemon Myrtle oil a co-efficient rating of 16, Tea tree a score
of 11, while Eucalyptus citriodora scores 8.
Further research at Charles
Sturt University, and as reported on Burkes
Backyard (April 2000), found that Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia
citriodora) has very good antibacterial and antifungal activity.
In fact, studies suggest that backhousia oil has better anti-bacterial
and anti-fungal properties than the better-known Tea tree
(Melaleuca alternantheria).
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