Eucalyptus globulus leaf oil  is a volatile essential oil used by traditional medical science for a number of common ailments and now commonly available over-the-counter (OTC) as ointments, drops, mouthwashes, suffumes and balms. It is considered safe, but doses should not be exaggerated.

Raw Materials and Their Functions

Eucalyptus Globulus (Myrtaceae) Leaves. The leaves of the eucalyptus tree are rich in essential oils, particularly eucalyptol (cineole), which imparts the oil's noted therapeutic properties.

Industrial Production Process of Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil

• Distillation of Eucalyptus Globulus leaves. During this process, steam passes through the leaves, extracting the essential oil, which is then condensed and collected.
• Purification. After distillation, the oil is purified to remove any impurities and optimize the quality of the fragrance and therapeutic properties.
• Quality Control. Eucalyptus Globulus leaf oil undergoes quality testing to ensure it meets the required standards in terms of purity, aromatic profile, and chemical properties.

A large quantity of eucalyptus oil is commercially available, but most contain chemical additives and fillers.

It appears as a yellowish liquid with a particularly intense camphor scent, almost insoluble in water, 70% soluble in ethanol, absolute ethanol, fat and oil.

What it is for and where

Eucalyptus globulus leaf oil is widely used in aromatherapy, personal care products, cleaning products, and as an ingredient in pharmaceuticals. Eucalyptus oil is known for its refreshing, decongestant, and antimicrobial properties. It is commonly used in products to relieve cold and cough symptoms, in lotions and ointments for muscle relief, and as a natural insect repellent. Additionally, it is used in cleaning products for its fresh scent and antibacterial properties.

Cosmetics

It is a restricted ingredient as  III/355 a Relevant Item in the Annexes of the European Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009.

INCI Functions:

Perfuming. Unlike fragrance, which can also contain slightly less pleasant or characteristic odours, the term perfume indicates only very pleasant fragrances. Used for perfumes and aromatic raw materials.

Skin conditioning agent. It is the mainstay of topical skin treatment as it has the function of restoring, increasing or improving skin tolerance to external factors, including melanocyte tolerance. The most important function of the conditioning agent is to prevent skin dehydration, but the subject is rather complex and involves emollients and humectants that can be added in the formulation.

CAS   84625-32-1

EC number   283-406-2

Other uses

Applied topically, it demonstrates an analgesic effect and suppresses local allergic inflammation. Also useful on insect bites, chapped skin.

Natural cleanser for removing hard-to-remove stains or oil on carpets, fabrics, clothes.

Safety

Warning: not to bring this oil too close to the eyes as it may cause irritation.

For more information:

Eucalyptus leaf oil studies

The Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) is a large plant that easily reaches 30 to 40 metres in height and thrives in temperate climate regions and belongs to the Myrtaceae family.

There are about 800 species of eucalyptus, including:

• Eucalyptus staigeriana
• Eucalyptus camaldulensis
• Eucalyptus pellita
• Eucalyptus regnans
• Eucalyptus grandis
• Eucalyptus urophylla
• Eucalyptus Sideroxylon
• Eucalyptus maidenii
• Eucalyptus robusta
• Eucalyptus citriodora
• Eucalyptus tereticornis

What it is used for and where

Its leaves are used to produce:

• oil that needs to be diluted (and not taken pure) against colds
• ointment to relieve muscle aches
• hot steam for cold inhaments
• mouthwashes against gingivitis and other oral tract infections

Eucalyptus is the primary food source for Koala living in Australia.

It is a primary source for the production of paper and cellulose in South America.

Studies

The most interesting ingredients, from a healthy point of view, of these plants are mainly alkaloids, flavonoids, pigments, phenolic, terpenes, amides, steroids and essential oils. Recent studies have exhibited its antimicrobial effects against bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral agents (1).

Methanol extract (8:2) demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity through membrane stabilization  protein denaturation inhibition, anti-lipoxygenase, and proteinase inhibition assays.  (2).

Another interesting application of eucalyptus essential oil is its larvicide and insecticide potential and can therefore be used in the community in artificial water bodies as an eco-compatible vector control measure in the era of the resistance to chemical insecticides (3).

The data emerging from this study shed other health-oriented characteristics of the use of the aqueous extract of leaves of Eucalyptus globulus  that can play an important role as an anti-hypertensive agent to reduce the burden of cardiovascular complications (4).

Typical commercial product characteristics

References___________________________________________________________________

(1) Ghasemian A, Eslami M, Hasanvand F, Bozorgi H, Al-Abodi HR.  Eucalyptus camaldulensis properties for use in the eradication of infections.  Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2019 Aug;65:234-237. doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2019.04.007.

(2) Ashour RMS, Okba MM, Menze ET, El Gedaily RA.  J  Eucalyptus Sideroxylon Bark Anti-inflammatory Potential, Its UPLC-PDA-ESI-qTOF-MS Profiling, and Isolation of a New Phloroglucinol.  Chromatogr Sci. 2019 Jul 1;57(6):565-574. doi: 10.1093/chromsci/bmz029.

(3) Kaura T, Mewara A, Zaman K, Sharma A, Agrawal SK, Thakur V, Garg A, Sehgal R. Utilizing larvicidal and pupicidal efficacy of Eucalyptus and neem oil against Aedes mosquito: An approach for mosquito control.    Trop Parasitol. 2019 Jan-Jun;9(1):12-17. doi: 10.4103/tp.TP_35_18. Epub 2019 May 22.

Abstract. Background and objectives: Plant-based products can provide safe and biodegradable mosquito control agents. The essential oils have a strong odor due to complex secondary metabolites and exhibit lower density than that of water, which renders them suitable to form a thin layer above the water surface. The present study was designed to evaluate the larvicidal, pupicidal activity of Eucalyptus and neem oils against Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus....Conclusions: Eucalyptus oil was more effective against mosquito larvae at lower concentration as compared to neem oil. It can, therefore, be utilized in the community in artificial and small temporary water bodies as an eco-friendly vector control measure in the era of increasing resistance to chemical insecticides.

(4)  Ajebli M, Eddouks M.  Eucalyptus globulus possesses antihypertensive activity in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats and relaxes isolated rat thoracic aorta through nitric oxide pathway.   Nat Prod Res. 2019 Apr 10:1-3. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2019.1598992

Abstract. In the current study we determined the effect of the aqueous extract of leaves of Eucalyptus globulus (AEEG) in anesthetized normal and L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats and on rings of isolated thoracic aorta from Wistar rats at a dose of 160 mg/kg. Our results show that AEEG extract reduced systolic, mean and diastolic blood pressure after repeated (7 days) oral administration of this extract in hypertensive rats. In addition, it was revealed from the present study that AEEG relaxed aortic rings in a dose-dependent (25-200 µg/ml) manner via the activation of nitric oxide production. Pre-treatment of aortic rings with indomethacin, glibenclamide, nifedipine or propranolol did not attenuate the AEEG-induced vasorelaxation. Our data elucidate the health-orientated virtues of using AEEG which may play an important role as an antihypertensive agent to reduce the burden of cardiovascular complications.