Trends – EOPAA

The Australian Essential Oil Industry History & Emerging Trends

Australia – Unique flora

Australia has a unique flora largely of Gondwanan origin with later influence from the Indian subcontinent and SE Asia.

Dominant plant families include oil bearing genus:

Myrtaceae – Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Leptospermum
Rutaceae – Boronia, Citrus
Santalaceae – Sandalwood
Myoporaceae – Eremophila sp.
Cupressaceae– Cypress pines

Around Australia

Hummock grasslands (WA, SA, NT) 23%
Eucalypt woodlands (QLD, NSW) 39%
Acacia Woodlands WA, QLD, NSW 10-20%
Acacia shrublands WA
Tussock grasslands – arid and temperate areas
Chenopod/samphire shrubs and forblands – near-estuarine, arid and semi-arid areas. eg. Saltbush SA, WA

Australian Vegetation

Tropical or temperate rainforest
Tall or open eucalypt forests
Callitris and Casuarina forests

Restricted to areas of less than 70,000 square kilometres

Early Researchers

Baker & Smith 1896 -1920
Penfold & Smith 1920’s
Penfold & Morrison 1930’s – 1940’s

R.T (Richard Thomas) Baker

(1854 -1941)

Economic Botanist & Lecturer in Forestry > 100 papers
A Research on the Eucalypts, especially in regard to their Essential Oils (1902), with H. G. Smith
A Research on the Pines of Australia (1910), with H. G. Smith

Henry George Smith

(1852 - 1924)

1896 – commenced a long collaboration with R. T. Baker
Investigating essential oils in eucalypts, with Baker working on the botanical side and Smith on the chemical side
A Research on the Eucalypts, especially in regard to their Essential Oils (first published 1902, revised 1920)
Smith was the author of more than 100 papers( J. Roy. Soc. N.S. W and J. Proc. Aust. Chem. Inst.)
His work on the essential oils of the Australian flora achieved worldwide reputation
He is honoured in the name Eucalyptus smithii R. T. Bak. (1899)

Arthur de Ramon Penfold

(1890-1980)

Chemist and museum director, was born on 1890 in Sydney, Died 1980
He worked initially with H. G. Smith and achieved world recognition largely in the field of the volatile or the ‘essential’ oils of the Australian flora
He published some hundred original research papers, many in collaboration with F. R. Morrison, in Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales
A.R Penfold & J. L. Willis ”The Eucalypts: Botany, Chemistry, Cultivation and Utilization” (1961)
1927 Curator of the Sydney Technological Museum
1948 Director of the Sydney Technological Museum
Hypothesised that diversity was the norm in Australian essential oil chemotypes rather than consistency

Recent researchers

Dr. Erich V. Lassak

(1934 - 2015)

1964 – Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney.
PhD – UNSW – 1972
1979 – Senior Research Scientist – N.S.W Department of Agriculture.
Approximately 50 papers on essential oils.
Lassak, E.V. & McCarthy, T. (1983), Australian Medicinal Plants, Methuen, Australia (illustrated by Betty Hinton) 
President of the Australian Society of Perfumers and Flavourists
Chairman of the Essential Oil Committee of the Standards Association of Australia

Assoc. Professor Emilio Ghisalberti

(1943 – 2015)

Migrated to Australia from Italy in 1954.
Natural Products Chemist – isolation and structural elucidation of natural products from Western Australian plants.
Comprehensive reviews of genus Eremophila and Boronia
Lecturer at University of Western Australia 1970 – 2012
> 100 scientific publications

Joseph John (JJ) Brophy

Honorary Visiting Fellow, UNSW
Prolific author on Australian essential oils from 1969 – present >100 papers.
Brophy collection – ~5000 essential oil specimens
Essential oils chemistry, particularly of the Australian Myrtaceae and Rutaceae

Professor Ian Southwell  

Principal Research Scientist- NSW Department of Agriculture 1983 – 2005
Secretary Essential Oil Producers Association of Australia- 2005 – 2015
Adjunct Professor – Southern Cross University– 2015 – Present
Chairman of the Essential Oil Committee of the Standards Association of Australia
> 50 papers on Australian essential oils
Seminal work on Tea Tree oil and Lemon myrtle

Australian Native Oils - Emerging Trends

A number of Australian native oils which were commercialised in the early 20th century later waned in popularity and thus production, including Tea Tree Oil, Lemon Myrtle and West Australian Sandalwood.

Interest in these oils and others gathered momentum in the 1970-1980’s with an increase in consumer demand for natural alternatives for antiseptic, insect repellence and fragrance and flavours.