Cajeput oil is a volatile oil obtained by distillation from the leaves of the myrtaceous

Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here. All species are woody, with essential oils, and flower parts in multiples of four or five...

 tree Melaleuca leucadendra

Melaleuca leucadendra

Melaleuca leucadendra is a tree belonging to the Melaleuca genus. The common name, Cajuput Tree, is derived from the Malay word kayu putih - meaning "white wood".-Description:...

, and probably other Melaleuca

Melaleuca

Melaleuca is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae known for its natural soothing and cleansing properties. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia...

species. The trees yielding the oil are found throughout the Malay archipelago

Malay Archipelago

The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....

, the Malay Peninsula

Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

 and over the hotter parts of the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n continent; but the greater portion of the oil is produced from Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

. The name “cajeput” is derived from its Malay name, “kayu putih” or "white wood".

The oil is prepared from leaves collected on a hot dry day, macerated in water, and distilled after fermenting for a night. This oil is extremely pungent, and has the odor of a mixture of turpentine

Turpentine

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...

 and camphor

Camphor

Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...

. It consists mainly of cineol (see terpene

Terpene

Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, particularly conifers, though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeterium. They are often strong smelling and thus may have had a protective...

s), from which cajuputene, having a hyacinth-like odor, can be obtained by distillation with phosphorus pentoxide

Phosphorus pentoxide

Phosphorus pentoxide is a chemical compound with molecular formula P4O10 . This white crystalline solid is the anhydride of phosphoric acid. It is a powerful desiccant.-Structure:...

. The drug is a typical volatile oil, and is used internally in doses of 2 to 3 minims

Minim (unit)

The minim is a unit of volume in both the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. Specifically it is of a fluidram or of a fluid ounce....

, for the same purposes as, say, clove oil. It is frequently employed externally as a counterirritant

Counterirritant

A counterirritant is a substance which creates inflammation in one location with the goal of lessening the inflammation in another location. They can be used as antipruritics. This strategy falls into the more general category of counterstimulation....

. It is an ingredient in some liniments for sore muscles

Heat rub

Heat rub is the name for a variety of products intended to relieve the pain of fibrositis, lumbago and muscular aches and strains. They are so named because they produce a feeling of warmth within the muscle of the area they are applied to, typically acting as rubefacients via a counterirritant...

 such as Tiger Balm

Tiger Balm

Tiger Balm is the trade name for a heat rub manufactured and distributed by Haw Par Healthcare in Singapore.- History :It was originally developed in the 1870s by a herbalist, Aw Chu Kin, in Rangoon, Burma, who asked his sons Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par on his deathbed to perfect the...

 and Indonesian traditional medicine Minyak Telon.

It is also used as an ingredient in inhalants/decongestants and topical pain/inflammation remedies such as Olbas Oil. It is noted for its antiseptic properties, as is its cousin, Tea tree oil. Like Tea tree oil it may have use against resistant staph infections.