NZ Aromatic Research Project analysing aromatic hydrosols in NZ

Research Project

Principle Researcher: Dr. Wendy Maddocks (RN, DHlthSc) From Nature Ltd

Title: Analysis of the chemical composition of Manuka and Kanuka hydrosols produced via hydro distillation in a copper alembic type still, from various geographical locations in New Zealand.

Note: due to the small volumes produced it is expected that small volumes of essential oil will be retained in the distillate and not be removed.

Background: Manuka (Leptospermum scopiarum) and Kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) are wild grown, scrubby plants which are plentiful around NZ Craft or home distilling of plants and flowers using traditional copper alembic stills has become a popular pastime in NZ, especially since there is limited availability of genuine hydrosols, and imported stock is often prohibitively expensive due to freight. Whilst it is well accepted that manuka and kanuka essential oil is easily available, most commercially produced oils are from the North island, with one commercial South island producer known. It is virtually impossible to buy manuka or kanuka hydrosol, and little known exploration has been undertaken as to the constituents of these for potential therapeutic benefits.

Method; samples of correctly identified leaf and small twig of manuka and kanuka are to be collected and either sent to the principle researcher, or distilled on site by a volunteer distiller. For consistency all samples are to be harvested and distilled through July/August (winter) in NZ. The leaves are to be stripped from woody branches and soaked in water with small branchlets for at least 4 hours if possible and removed from water and placed directly into a copper alembic still and covered with boiling water and sealed. The distillation process then commences. The first 200 ml of hydrosol is to be saved and sent for sampling. The remainder of the hydrosol can proceed and used for other reasons. A digital photo (JPEG) is requested of the harvested plant material prior to distilling for further visual identification and if possible a photo of the tree(s)

Sample Labeling: label bottle with date, plant, geographical location, weight of plant matter and volume of water and (if known) total distillate produce and how long distilled for.

It is the hope of the principle researcher that a minimum of 3 of each (manuka and kanuka) samples will be funded.

Analysis: Once all samples are collected and sent to the principle researcher, they will be sent as a batch to the Callaghan Institute for analysis via GSMS and components compared with known constituents.

Due to the cost of analyses crowd funding has been requested for this research product via a Give a little Page NZaromatics (web www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/NZaromatics.

Interested parties are asked to donate anything from $1. it is hoped that at least $690.00 can be raised to analyses four samples. If 5-8 samples are supplied the cost is reduced significantly to $120 +GST per sample

Once the analysis has been completed the results will be shared to the wider Australasian Aromatic community via a self funded presentation by the pricniple researcher at Aromatic Conference in Tweed heads in october 2015 (http://www.iaama.org.au/events/aromatica-conference-2015). The results will also be published via Aromatherapy today and may be submitted to other publications after the presentation. A summary will also be shared on the principle researchers blog after the conference (www.aromaticadventures.com)