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My friend is studying bacterial and fungal growth in her microbiology class and I asked her to do an experiment for me. Since tea tree oil is touted to be the "cure-all" for most viruses, bacteria and fungal infections, I wanted her to put it to the test so she tested the effects of tea tree oil on E. coli.

Here are her results with a photo. The yellow is the E. coli and the faint black outline of a circle in the middle is where she put the two drops. Very cool!

"I totally forgot to show you the results of tea tree oil and E. coli. From
this plate test it proves that the oil inhibits E.coli growth. I spread the
bacteria all over the plate and then put 2 drops of oil in the middle of the
plate and the oil spread a good bit. I circled with a sharpie where it was
since it was clear and hard to see. The bacteria only grew around the oil
and there was no growth at all where the oil is setting. I wish I could run
somemore tests to prove tea tree oil kills but this was all the time I had.
If it inhibits E. coli it must do the same for bacteria similar to it's
makeup. Fun little experiment!"

That's definitely interesting, but that was one test among many bacterial types in a very controlled environment. I'd like to see more studies and have them replicated before I'd trust tea tree oil over antibiotics for something potentially serious, like strep throat.

Oh and you can't have one item that cures bacteria, viruses and fungal infections. In fact, you CAN'T cure a virus at all. You can attempt to prevent or manage a virus, but it either passes through your system eventually or remains as a permanent condition.

DeadPoolX wrote:I'd like to see more studies and have them replicated before...

Me too. Since tea tree is potent enough to inhibit the growth of such a serious bacteria like E. coli, I would hope it is able to inhibit the growth of less harmful bacterial. This little study was a real eye opener.

DeadPoolX wrote:Oh and you can't have one item that cures bacteria, viruses and fungal infections. In fact, you CAN'T cure a virus at all...

That's why I put cure-all in quotes.

Jules wrote:

DeadPoolX wrote:Oh and you can't have one item that cures bacteria, viruses and fungal infections. In fact, you CAN'T cure a virus at all...

That's why I put cure-all in quotes.

That's true. I think I missed that.