Manuka Oil Production

To produce Arapawa Island manuka oil, foliage is trimmed off wild-sown manuka trees, trees grown without the use of any pesticides or chemicals.  After trimming, the tree remains alive and healthy and can be trimmed again in one or two years.

Only the foliage contains significant amounts of oil. Oil is extracted from the foliage by steam distillation. In this process, steam is passed through the foliage and when condensed it contains a small quantity of pure manuka oil. This oil floats on top of the condensed water and is drawn off.

We Distil White and Red Manuka Oils Separately

"Manuka" actually refers to two species - Kunzea ericoides ('kanuka' or 'White Manuka') and Leptospermum scoparium ('manuka' or 'Red Manuka'). Unlike some other manuka oil producers, we distill red manuka and white manuka (kanuka) oils separately. This lets us combine or separate the properties of the two oils as best suits each product. We can also offer both oils in pure form for separate sale.

If you try our white and red pure essential oils you will agree that the two oils are very different. On the other hand some other "manuka" oils available are actually mostly kanuka, or a variable mixture of red and white manuka oils, depending on what foilage was cut on the day.

We Use Gentle Steam Distillation

At Arapawa Island Manuka we use a gentle ambient-pressure distillation process. It is common to use super-heated steam for fast oil extraction, but while our lower temperatures take longer, they result in a much nicer and more fragrant oil, without heat damage or a 'burnt' smell.