There have not been many changes to the eucalyptus oil distilling process over the past 65 years, according to Yesteryear Plantation’s Paul and Andrea Sturgess.
Mrs Sturgess explains the process here:
A tree, two to three years old, is ready to be harvested.
We cut down the tree, leaving a four foot stump for re-coppice before chainsawing the big limbs off the trunk.
The limbs are cut down smaller then put through the chipper as it is important most of what is going into the tank is leaves as that is where the most oil is.
The limbs go through the chipper, into a tank on the back of an old Toyota, which is really the only change made from when Paul’s dad was doing this 65 years ago, who had a vat in the ground.
The tank has a hose that uses steam to cook the leaves, turning the oil into vapour, which is collected by a different hose at the top of the tank.
It is then run through condensing pipes which cool the vapour.
By the time it reaches the end of the pipes, it has turned into cold water with the eucalyptus oil in it.
It is fed into a container where the oil and water sit and begin to separate.
The water goes to the bottom of the tank while the oil sits on top.
This makes it easy to collect.
The oil is filtered, leaving the pure Radiata eucalyptus oil our customers have come to love.
It is widely believed the yield of oil averages about one per cent of the organic matter harvested, needing five kilograms of leaves and small branches to fill a 50-millilitre bottle with oil.
