Associate Professor David N Leach BSc(Hons)(La Trobe) PhD(La Trobe) MRACI CChem David N Leach has over twenty years experience in phytochemistry specialising in chemical analysis and biological activity of essential oils. Much of the early work in this field was academic in nature and focussed on tea tree oil, its chemistry and antimicrobial activity. Over the past six years his work has been more commercially focussed with a strong emphasis on application of essential oils as pesticides. Fundamental chemistry conducted at Australian Phytochemicals Ltd led to the development of a patent for BioProspect Ltd on QCIDE, a specific Eucalyptus oil based on the general class of chemical compounds referred to as B-triketones. Based on other work also undertaken at APL an additional patent has also been lodged for a termiticide utilising another endemic Australian essential oil. His major areas of expertise lie in extraction and analysis of bioactive plant extracts using modern chromatographic techniques, mass spectrometry and NMR. He has published over 70 papers that reflect a broad range of chemical experience, is a member of CH21 Essential Oils for Australian Standards Association and has supervised or co-supervised 13 PhD students and 2 MSc candidates.
Journal articles
Chemical composition and antioxidant and anticandidal activities of essential oils from different wild moroccan thymus species (with Chaima Alaoui Jamali, Leila El Bouzidi, Khalid Bekkouche, Hassani Lahcen, Mohammed Markouk, Hans Wohlmuth, and Abdelaziz Abbad), Chemistry & Biodiversity (2012)
Samples of the aerial parts of Thymus broussonetii, T. ciliatus, T. leptobotrys, T. maroccanus, T....
Essential oil composition and antimicrobial activity of wild and cultivated mint timija (Mentha suaveolens subsp. timija (Briq.) Harley), an endemic and threatened medicinal species in Morocco (with A Kasrati, C Alaoui Jamali, K Bekkouche, H Lahcen, M Markouk, Hans Wohlmuth, and A Abbad), Natural Product Research (2012)
The hydro-distilled essential oils obtained from aerial parts of the wild (w) and cultivated (c)...
Essential oil composition and antimicrobial activity of wild and cultivated Moroccan Achillea ageratum L.: a rare and threatened medicinal species (with Leila El Bouzidi, Abdelaziz Abbad, Lahcen Hassani, Karine Fattarsi, Mohammed Markouk, Laurent Legendre, and Khalid Bekkouche), Chemistry & Biodiversity (2012)
The essential oils of leaves and flowers of the wild and cultivated Moroccan Achillea ageratum...
Intraspecific chemical variability of essential oil from leaves of Cupressus atlantica Gaussen, an endemic and endangered coniferous species in Morocco (with Abdelaziz Abbad, Youssef Sfairi, Hassani Lahcen, Khalid Bekkouche, Mohammed Markouk, and Hans Wohlmuth), Natural Product Research (2012)
The composition of essential oils isolated from leaves of 11 natural populations of Cupressus atlantica,...
Wheat bran lipophilic compounds with in vitro anticancer effects (with Lei Liu, Kelly M. Winter, Lesley M. Stevenson, and Carol A. Morris), Food Chemistry (2012)
Wheat bran has been widely recognised as a cancer preventive agent, although the mechanism of...
Book chapters
SPME and GC-AED-Olfactometry for the detection of trace odorants in essential oils (with S Grant Wyllie and K A. Merry), Gas chromatography-olfactometry: the state of the art (2001)
Conference publications
Centipeda cunninghamii: an Australian traditional medicinal plant (with Karren D. Beattie and Peter G. Waterman), 59th International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (2011)
Centipeda cunninghamii (DC.) A.Braun & Asch. is an endemic Australian Asteraceae with a long history...
In vitro activity of alkylamides and ethanolic extracts from Echinacea (with Anita Matthias, Kerry G. Penman, Linda K. Banbury, Kerry M. Bone, and Reg P. Lehmann), Proceedings of 8th World Congress of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2004)
Genetics and biochemistry of essential oil biosynthesis in tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) (with Dale Shelton, Peter R. Baverstock, and Robert J. Henry), ComBio 2002 (2002)
Analysis of expressed sequence TAGS (ESTs) isolated from immature leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia (with Dale A. Shelton, Peter R. Baverstock, and Robert J. Henry), Plant and Animal Genome IX Conference (2001)
Melaleuca alternifolia, is a commercially important, Australian native tree commercially harvested for its monoterpene-rich essential...
Terpene synthases from Australian Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) (with Dale A. Shelton, Shahid Chohan, S Grant Wyllie, Peter R. Baverstock, and Robert J. Henry), Plant and Animal Genome VIII Conference (2000)
Melaleuca alternifolia is an evergreen, Australian native tree species commonly referred to as Tea Tree....
Patents
Biologically active compounds. WO2007062468 Bioactive Exports Pty Ltd. (with Lesley M. Stevenson, Brigitte Gabriel, and Karen Beattie), Centre for Phytochemistry and Pharmacology Papers (2007)
Quality assurance for tea tree oil safety investigative samples (with Ian Southwell, Robert Lowe, and Aaron Pollack), Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (2006)
Tea tree oil has recently received bad media coverage overseas though headlines stating: “tea tree...