THE UPDATE
from
DOWN UNDER
Keep up-to-date with our latest news, tips, updates, special offers, and more.
September 2022
G’day mate,
We have fantastic news for all you good folks - our Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil has just come down in price!
With a very sizeable expansion of Lemon Myrtle plantings over the last 4 years, we are experiencing peak harvests this season. Down Under Enterprises is proud to offer our valued clients the best priced deals on your pure Australian Lemon Myrtle Oil needs - both certified organic (NOP) and conventionally grown. Please reach out to your Down Under salesperson and learn more about our offering.
If you are not so familiar with Australian Lemon Myrtle Oil, it has a lovely aroma that many describe as “more lemon than lemon”. It is up to 50 times higher in citral content than lemons. In fact, it has the highest citral content of any organic, natural source. Lemon Myrtle Oil is one of the most promising Australian native active ingredients - it aligns exceptionally well with current cosmetic trends. Learn more here - 10 Global Cosmetic Trends.
Read on to learn more about our Australian Lemon Myrtle Oil:
- Lemon Myrtle - The Queen of Lemon Herbs
- Sustainability - Upcycled and Zero Waste
- Farm Update: Protecting our biodiversity
- Dee-Ann's Farm Tour Video: Lemon Myrtle
Thanks for reading.
Phil Prather
FEATURED PRODUCT
NEW: Lemon Myrtle - the Queen of Lemon Herbs
Lemon Myrtle is referred to as the 'Queen of Lemon Herbs' due to its remarkably higher natural citral content than any other known plant. Its natural citral composition is approximately 50 times higher than in lemon. Lemon Myrtle may be added to personal and home care products with natural preservative properties to complement the lemon aroma. Its natural antibacterial and antioxidant properties are becoming highly valued, with a 150% increase in launches of Lemon Myrtle-containing products globally since 2019 (MINTEL GNPD search, August 2022).
🍋Highest Citral: More Citrus Fragrance
Lemon Myrtle Oil can add a clean and crisp citrus quality to a wide range of aromatic blends. The whopping natural citral concentration of 93% gives Lemon Myrtle Oil the long-lasting lemon scent which is highly sought after by perfumers. As MINTEL reports in August 2022, 67% of UK consumers ranked "long-lasting scent for all day" as the single most important property they are seeking when purchasing a fragrance.
Explore your options with Australian Lemon Myrtle Oil as a fragrance/perfume compound.
Learn more - download our PERFUMERY BROCHURE
🍋Highest Citral: More Functional Benefits
Natural Preservative: An Alternative to Phenoxyethanol (PE)?
Beyond its application as a fragrance, Lemon Myrtle Oil offers outstanding antimicrobial properties.
A study published in 2003 showed at 1% Lemon Myrtle Oil performance is comparable to Phenoxyethanol across common fungi, yeast, and bacteria
LEARN MORE IN OUR BLOG: Lemon Myrtle: An Alternative to Paraben-Based Preservatives?
🍋Highest Citral: Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory
Other studies reveal that Lemon Myrtle Oil also offers antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functionality. It inhibits nitric oxide production and inhibits TNF-α.
LEARN MORE IN OUR BLOG: Researching Lemon Myrtle, Stronger than Antibiotics?
🍋Lemon Myrtle Oil: Hitting the top trend of Global Cosmetics
In our Top 10 Global Trends Series, Lemon Myrtle Oil is one of the top ingredients hitting almost all the 10 trends in cosmetics right now. Products launched with Lemon Myrtle increased by over 150% in the last 3 years (MINTEL GNPD search, August 2022). The multifunctional capabilities of Lemon Myrtle Oil have been added to many successful products that coincide with the top cosmetic trends, such as healthy glow skin, fragrances with mood and functional benefits, and eco-friendly oral care. With consumers paying increasing attention to their personal hygiene, the antibacterial property of Lemon Myrtle Oil has translated into many personal care products like hand and body cleansers, shampoos, and other skincare products.
For inspiration on product development with Organic Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil, please Request a Sample and download the FREE Sample Formulation: Face Cream Formulation with Organic Lemon Myrtle
🍋Safety of Lemon Myrtle Oil
Citral itself has generally been recognized as safe with the FEMA GRAS listing. When incorporated into the formula of up to 1%, Lemon Myrtle Oil is considered safe with minimal skin irritation. The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) recommends that citral be used in association with substances that prevent a sensitizing effect. While a different high citral oil, Lemon Verbena oil (Lippa citriodora, Kunth), has been banned for use in cosmetics by the European Commission since Dec 2009, Lemon Myrtle Oil is well tolerated with no such restrictions.
To learn more, read our Blog: Is Lemon Myrtle Safe?
BENEFITS OF AUSTRALIAN LEMON MYRTLE OIL
BENEFIT 1 – Large, stable supply - Conventional and Certified Organic
BENEFIT 2 – Multifunctional - Fragrance, Preservative, Antimicrobial
BENEFIT 3 – Upcycled - Zero-Waste
BENEFIT 4 – On trend- mood-boosting functional fragrance
THE EVIDENCE
The Essential Oil of Lemon Myrtle Possesses Antioxidant, Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activities.
A study by Lim AC, Tang SGH, Zin NM, et al. published in the August 2022 issue of Molecules, identified the chemical composition and bioactive characteristics of the Backhousia Citriodora(Lemon Myrtle) Essential Oil while compared favourably to the common antibiotic gentamicin and streptomycin.
LEARN MORE Lemon Myrtle, Stronger Than Antibiotics?
Contact Down Under to discuss your Lemon Myrtle Oil requirements.
IN THE NEWS
Lemon Myrtle Bumper Harvest
We are experiencing peak harvest this year after the expansion of Lemon Myrtle plantings over the last 4 years.
Down Under Enterprises is proud to offer our valued clients very attractive pricing on your Lemon Myrtle Oil requirements - both for USDA NOP and conventionally farmed.
We can provide the largest commercial supply of Certified Organic and conventionally farmed Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil globally.
FARM UPDATES
Preparing for our Harvest, Nesting Boxes Installed to Aid Biodiversity
We are getting hands-on for the upcoming Tea Tree harvest and improving biodiversity resources by hanging nesting boxes for the wildlife on our farm. Many of the lowland shrub and tree native habitats are suffering vegetation loss after the floods earlier this year.
To help our local wildlife manage, we have installed nesting and resting boxes in various sizes to support our much-loved critters in the region, like native birds and marsupials such as cockatoos and gliders.
Read more about Australia’s astonishing flora and fauna in our blog.
TRACEABILITY
Be sure with traceable Lemon Myrtle Oil from Down Under
One of our fastest growing essential oils is our 100% Pure Australian Lemon Myrtle Oil. But with success comes risk – in the form of adulteration. We are now seeing significant quantities of "Lemon Myrtle Oil" come onto the market - often at very unrealistic prices.
Further investigations have determined this cheap "Lemon Myrtle" oil to contain substantial amounts of “citral isomers”, from natural and/or synthetic sources. The main sources of inexpensive natural citral are Lemongrass from India, and Litsea cubeba from China. In other words, a large concentration of the oil is from potentially unknown sources - this introduces risk in your products and lacks supply chain transparency.
It's not just a price issue, adulteration can also impact the final product. To learn how adulteration can affect the safety and efficacy of essential oils, read our blog, Purity and Efficacy. Is there a link?
Furthermore, many of these adulterated oils are still being sold as "Australian" Lemon Myrtle. This practice dramatically impacts Australian farmers producing the real thing in accordance with good safety, modern employment conditions, and environmental protections. 
Supply Chains can be complex, but we can all play a part in eliminating the injustices that occur and transforming supply chains in a positive way. Transparency is essential to sustainable and ethical supply chains.
Post COVID-19, consumers want to be reassured that companies are paying workers fairly. They are also more interested in how brands address rising hunger amid the pandemic, reports MINTEL. Consumers want to know that the people who grow, make, package, and deliver goods are being compensated fairly. Consumers are turning against brands which are overtly 'greenwashing' their labelling.
As a signatory to the UN Global Compact Sustainable Development Goals, Down Under Enterprises helps to make an impact globally, by respecting and valuing the human rights of workers while working to set a good example for the global natural ingredients industry.
Every single one of our ingredients is fully traceable, from the botanicals that we grow, and those that we source from small farms across Australia. We have undertaken steps to introduce Blockchain traceability into our systems.
Read more about Blockchain HERE.
For more information about traceability, Contact Us directly.
SUSTAINABILITY
Upcycled Lemon Myrtle, A Zero-Waste Production
Lemon Myrtle leaves are harvested year-round in Australia, with most of the leaf going to (drinking) tea and culinary applications. The leaves not fit for food applications are ‘upcycled” into Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil via a steam distillation process. The distillation process also produces a by-product mulch that is returned to the soil around the lemon myrtle plants, to prevent weed growth, slow evaporation of moisture from the soil, and improve the soil nutrient character. We also launched our Certified Organic Lemon Myrtle Oil earlier this year with the completion of the new distillation facility and 4 years of work on the plantation.
Upcycled is a new trend in the beauty industry that utilizes product that normally contributes to waste. With brands looking to hit zero-waste targets, MINTEL analysts suggest that by 2030 the use of upcycled ingredients could become an industry standard.
Read more about this trend and other Top Global Cosmetic Trends in our White Paper HERE
