Kunzea ambigua, Australian oil

From the recent Study Tour in Australia by Vera Matovina

At the beginning of March 2026 I went to Australia on Study Tour organizes by IFEAT .

We visited farms/growers of aromatic plants and distillers of essential oils in New South Wales,

Victoria and Tasmania provinces.

Some of Australian aromatic plants and their oils are well known and popular like Tea tree oil, different species of Eucalyptus oil and there are some that are not well known that I am going to focus on.

First Australia native aromatic species that I will explain in more details is Kunzea sp.

Kunzea ambigua
Photo: Brian Walters

Genus Kunzea is indigenous to Australia and New Zealand and includes 42 species od woody shrubs. Kunzea ambigue is small to midium size shrub with narrow lanceolate leaves. It grows in sandy and granitic soil. It prefers areas where other plants do not thrive and it is often found revegetating formerly cleared areas. Kunzea grows naturally in costal and near costal area in New South Wales,Victoria and Tasmania. The local name for the bush is “white kunzea” and “tick bush” because it has tick repellent properties.

Kunzea habitat map

Natural distribution of Kunzea ambigua

The essential oil is in the leaves and terminal branches of the shrub. Harvesting is done in late summer and early autumn (February to April) for the best chemical composition. When the shrubs are fully mature the harvesting could be done mechanically. It can take 36 years for the plant to fully mature if planted from the seedlings.

The yield of essential oils is low from 0.20 -0.30 % wt/wt.

Physical parameters

The oil consists of 70% monoterpenes and around 25% sesquiterpenes.

From monoterpenes

alpha-pinene 30-50%

1.8 cineole 9-16%

alpha terpineol 0-9%

High amount of alpha pinene and 1.8 cineole suggest that Kunzea oil is helpful for respiratory problems and has antimicrobial properties.

From Sesquiterpenes

bicyclogermacrene 0.5-15%

globulol max. 15%

viridiflorol max. 18%

ledol average 1.3%

Because of high amount of Sesquiterpenes the Kunzea oil has anti inflammatory property. Reducing inflammation helps to relieve mascle and joint pail.

The essential oil can also contain substantial quantity of leptospermone and betha triketone with insect repellent properties (Park 2017).

Kunzea oil has two Patents:

J.J.D. Hood Kunzea ambigue oil for therapeutic and insect repellent uses Patent :WO 98177491998

R.A. Armstrong, Psoriases ointment containing Ducane Kunzea oil. Patent: AU 2004 100152 (2004)

Park, C. G., Jang, M., Shin, E., & Kim, J. (2017). "Myrtaceae plant essential oils and their ß‐triketone components as insecticides against Drosophila suzukii." Molecules 22(6) 674:683