The Manuka Oil extraction process starts with freshly harvested leaves and twigs of the Manuka tree. The harvest is hand-cut from naturally growing sustainable stands of trees in the hills of the East Cape Region of the Northern Island of New Zealand. This essential oil has the distinction of being Wildcrafted. Wildcrafted oils are pesticide-free and grow naturally in areas where the plants are native to the region.

Mother Nature provides the nutrients that make the oil grown here exceptionally potent. New Zealand is one of the very few countries that have strict regulations for GMOs. Manuka oil harvested in New Zealand is free from any GMO tampering whether intended or not. The extraction of the oil is carefully done by low-temperature steam distillation to preserve the freshness and chemical properties of the oil.

A botanical survey report prepared for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of New Zealand found a very high active anti-bacterial & antifungal component of the Manuka oil produced by our supplier. This East Cape property is a triketone rich chemotype that is particularly potent in these plants. We select only this variety for its unique properties.

See:  New Zealand Agriculture Report

Our supplier’s laboratory tests each batch of the oil so it conforms to the highest quality standards. We airfreight the oil to our facility in the USA and carefully bottle the oil in amber-colored glass bottles. This reduces the intensity of light acting on the oil which can oxidize and degrade its qualities. Manuka Oil has a shelf life of four years when stored tightly sealed at room temperature in a dark place.

Tamanu oil is extracted from the nut of the Tamanu tree. Tamanu trees typically grow along the beaches of tropical countries. They prefer salty, sandy soil and and grow profusely in the South Pacific and the Asia Pacific regions. The tree is slow-growing and can grow up to 30 meters in height. The flowers produce green fruit that becomes yellow in color as they mature. Inside the inedible fleshy fruit is the Tamanu nut.

The fruit usually falls naturally from the tree. The pale-colored nut kernels are then laid out on racks to cure in the sun for 6-8 weeks. During this natural curing process, these kernels turn a brownish-red color and are able to release a strong, rich oil. Tamanu oil is then extracted by cold-pressing the cured nuts and filtering the resulting golden green colored oil.

Our supplier regularly tests the oil for quality and documents each batch with a Safety Data Sheet to certify its authenticity. This is done to verify that no shortcuts were used in the production of our oil.

Some manufacturers heat the nuts to decrease the curing time which makes the oil very dark. Some manufacturers dilute the extracted Tamanu oil with Olive oil or other carrier oils. One way of spotting this is that the oil will become yellowish, instead of the dark green color of pure, cold-pressed Tamanu oil.

We bottle the oil in light-resistant glass bottles to prevent oxidation and to preserve the essence of the oil.  This also contributes to maintaining a shelf-life of three years when stored at room temperature.