, Sydney
Aboriginal Australians use eucalyptus leaf infusions (which contain eucalyptus oil) as a traditional
medicine for treating body pains,
sinus congestion,
fever, and
colds. In 1788,
Dennis Considen and
John White, surgeons on the
First Fleet, distilled eucalyptus oil from
Eucalyptus piperita, growing on the shores of
Port Jackson, to treat convicts and marines. Eucalyptus oil was subsequently extracted by early colonists, but was not commercially exploited for some time. Baron
Ferdinand von Mueller, government botanist for the
Colony of Victoria, promoted the qualities of Eucalyptus as a
disinfectant in "fever districts", and also encouraged
Joseph Bosisto, a
Melbourne pharmacist, to investigate the commercial potential of the oil. Bosisto started the commercial eucalyptus oil industry in 1852 near
Dandenong,
Victoria, Australia, when he set up a distillation plant and extracted the
essential oil from the cineole
chemotype of
Eucalyptus radiata. This resulted in the cineole chemotype becoming the generic 'oil of eucalyptus', and "
Bosisto's Eucalyptus Oil" still survives as a brand. French chemist,
F. S. Cloez, identified and ascribed the name
eucalyptol — also known as
cineole — to the dominant portion of
E. globulus oil. By the 1870s oil from
Eucalyptus globulus, Tasmanian blue gum, was being exported worldwide and eventually dominated world trade, while other higher quality species were also being distilled to a lesser extent.
Surgeons were using eucalyptus oil as an
antiseptic during
surgery by the 1880s. Eucalyptus oil became an important industry in the
box-ironbark forests of Victoria during the post
gold-rush era of the 1870s. The oil was often described as Australia's natural wonder and was exported to a growing international market, mostly for medicinal purposes. Eucalyptus oil was in particularly big demand during the global
influenza pandemic of 1918-19. A distillation plant was established by the
Forests Commission Victoria at Wellsford State Forest near Bendigo in 1926. The Principal of the
Victorian School of Forestry,
Edwin James Semmens, undertook much of the pioneering chemistry into the composition of eucalyptus oil. His steam extraction kilns are in the museum at the school. The Australian eucalyptus oil industry peaked in the 1940s, the main area of production being the central goldfields region of Victoria, particularly
Inglewood; then the global establishment of eucalyptus plantations for
timber resulted in increased volumes of eucalyptus oil as a plantation by-product. By the 1950s the cost of producing eucalyptus oil in Australia had increased so much that it could not compete against cheaper Spanish and Portuguese oils (being of lower cost due to their proximity to the European market). Non-Australian sources now dominate commercial eucalyptus oil supply, although Australia continues to produce high grade oils, mainly from blue mallee (
E. polybractea) stands. ==Species utilised==