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Tea tree oil (TTO), or melaleuca oil, is an essential oil with a fresh camphoraceous odor and a color that ranges from pale yellow to nearly colorless and clear.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Directory of Essential Oils for Aromatherapy: Tea-Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) )〕 It is taken from the leaves of the ''Melaleuca alternifolia'', which is native to Southeast Queensland and the Northeast coast of New South Wales, Australia. Tea tree oil is toxic when taken by mouth,〔〔 but is widely used in low concentrations in cosmetics and skin washes.〔() SCCP/1155/08 Scientific Committee on Consumer Products SCCP OPINION ON Tea tree oil – European Union Commission Health and Consumer Union protection director general – adopted 18th plenary of 16 December 2008〕 Tea tree oil has been claimed to be useful for treating a wide variety of medical conditions. It shows some promise as an antimicrobial. Tea tree oil may be effective in a variety of dermatologic conditions including dandruff, acne, lice, herpes, and other skin infections. == History and extraction == The name tea tree is used for several plants, mostly from Australia and New Zealand, from the family Myrtaceae, related to the myrtle. The use of the name probably originated from Captain Cook's description of one of these shrubs, that he used to make an infusion, to drink in place of tea. The commercial tea tree oil industry originated in the 1920s when Arthur Penfold, an Australian, investigated the business potential of a number of native extracted oils; he reported that tea tree oil had promise as it exhibited powerful antiseptic properties. Tea tree oil was first extracted from ''Melaleuca alternifolia'' in Australia, and this species remains the most important commercially. Several other species are cultivated for their extracted oil: ''Melaleuca armillaris'' and ''Melaleuca styphelioides'' in Tunisia and Egypt; ''Melaleuca leucadendron'' in Egypt, Malaysia and Vietnam; ''Melaleuca acuminata'' in Tunisia; ''Melaleuca ericifolia'' in Egypt; and ''Melaleuca quinquenervia'' in the United States. Similar oils can also be produced by water distillation from ''Melaleuca linariifolia'' and ''Melaleuca dissitiflora''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tea tree oil」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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