White Lotus Aromatics Newsletter - Agarwood, August 25, 2001
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Agarwood 1
Dear Friends- I hope that all of you are well and that the recent newsletters have added some new dimensions to your exploration and understanding of aromatic plants and the essences derived from them. I realize that what I am sharing is not specifically in the line of therapeutic application. This is an area which as I have mentioned before is known to most of you much more than myself. Each area of endeavor requires a tremendous amount of study and I am aware that in the short span of this life, I will not be able to become fully competent in therapeutic application and sourcing as well. So I will continue to share with you what little I can from the sourcing angle, knowing that you will fill in all the parts that apply to the work you are engaged in. Agarwood Ever since I started offering essential oils, CO2 extracts, absolutes, attars, etc. I have been receiving enquiries for pure agarwood oil of Indian origin. This aroma has captivated the attention of people for many centuries as its bouquet is very mysterious, rich, deep, and profound. In the last 50 years because of the rarity of the material a lot of over exploitation of the natural forest resources has occured in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India(paricularly India) where the tree which produces the resin grows. The high cost of this precious resin has spawned a very lucrative industry centered around the compounded product which is sold as true agarwood/oud/eaglewood, etc. Indeed the genuine product is rare and extremely expensive(by far the most expensive essential oil in the world to my knowledge) Agarwood from the above mentioned countries has its own qualities depending on how much the resin has matured, the type of distillation technique used, etc. It is a fascinating subject that one can explore from numerous angles.
General Description: Large evergreen tree, 18-21 meters, sometimes up
to 40 meters in height, 1.5-2.5 meters in girth, moderately straight and often
fluted stem. Leaves are 5-9 cm. long, thinly coriaceous, oblong-lanceolate.
Flowers are white, green, or dirty yellow in terminal sessile or shortly peduncled,
umbellate cymes. (WI, v. I, p. 328)
http://members.aol.com/ratrani/agarwood.html
Ethnobotanical Uses
Other_info Ethnobotany Use
Abdomen Aquilaria agallocha China
Anodyne Aquilaria agallocha China
Asthma Aquilaria agallocha China
Chest Aquilaria agallocha China
Colic Aquilaria agallocha China
Congestion Aquilaria agallocha China
Diarrhea Aquilaria agallocha China
Gastralgia Aquilaria agallocha China
Hiccup Aquilaria agallocha China
Insectrepellant Aquilaria agallocha Elsewhere
Elsewhere Kidney Aquilaria agallocha China
Nausea Aquilaria agallocha China
Skin Aquilaria agallocha Elsewhere
Stomachic Aquilaria agallocha China
Tumor(Abdomen) Aquilaria agallocha India
Evil-Eye Aquilaria agallocha China
Stimulant Aquilaria agallocha China
Aphrodisiac Aquilaria agallocha China
Cancer(Thyroid) Aquilaria agallocha China
Tumor(Lung) Aquilaria agallocha China
Carminative Aquilaria agallocha China
Diuretic Aquilaria agallocha China
Cancer Aquilaria agallocha Europe
Tonic Aquilaria agallocha China
http://ars-genome.cornell.edu:80/cgi-bin/WebAce/
webace?seme=
2&db=ethnobotdb&class=
Taxon&object=Aquilaria%20agallocha
Table-maker:
Phytochemicals of Aquilaria agallocha
Chemical Part
3,4-DIHYDROXY-DIHYDROAGAROFURAN Plant 4-HYDROXYDIHYDROAGAROFURAN Plant AGAROL
Wood AGAROSPIROL Wood AGAROTETROL Wood ALPHA-AGAROFURAN Wood AQUILLOCHIN Plant
BENZYLACETONE Wood Essent. Oil BETA-AGAROFURAN Wood DIHYDROAGAROFURAN Wood Essent.
Oil DIHYDROXYAGAROFURAN Wood GMELOFURAN Wood LIRIODENINE Wood NORKETOAGAROFURAN
Wood NOROXOAGAROFURAN Wood OXO-NOR-AGAROFURAN Wood Essent. Oil P-METHOXYBENZYLACETONE
Wood Essent. Oil P-METHOXYCINNAMIC-ACID Wood
By good fortune, several years ago, I was presented with a small amount of agarwood which was personally distilled by a close friend and colleague, Dr. Mohan Maheshwari. Dr. Maheshwari did his Phd on agarwood in the late 1960's and was the first person to properly identify several unique aromatic molecules found in agarwood. At that time true agarwood from Assam and the Northeast section of India was available in good quantity and since he was doing research at the highest level, he had no problem in procuring the finest resin available. The richness and beauty of that oil after 30 plus years is something unbelievable. I have a few precious drops that I inhale now and again to exhult in the wonder of pure agarwood. Agarwood Essential Oil(description as per the sample given to me by Dr. Maheshwari)
Physical description-amber colored mobile liquid
Olfactory description-rich and powerful sweet woody notes mingle with
a peculiar balsamic wine-like bouquet. Within this complex one also discovers
mysterious earthy nuances that are delight to explore. An oil of wonder and
delight. Very very tenacious, a few drops filling the area around one for many
many hours
Formation of the fungus that produces the resin
The wood infected by certain fungi, develops large and irregular patches
of dark streaks charged with the oleoresin and becomes odiferous. The intensity
of the dark patches of agar is a measure of the quantitiy of oleoresin present.
Agar is found frequently in trees that are c. 20 years old; but commercially
exploitable amounts of agar are found in 50-year-old trees. Trees c 80 year
old are known to be riches in their content of agarwood, varying from 6.9 kg
to 9.0 kg per tree. Agar is the pathological product of a fungal disease contracted
by the tree chiefly through wounds on the trunk.... Since agar is located deep
within the trunk, its detection is not easy. Generally such trees are distinguished
by poor crown development, the presence of swellings or depressions or cankeers
on the bole. Depending upon the extent of the resin accumulation the heartowood
is graded into four categories:(1) Grade 1 or Black or True Agar; (2) Grade
11 or Batang; (3) Grade 111 or Bhuta or Phuta; and (4) Grade 1V or Dhum. In
true of black agar, the impregnation of the resin is intense and the wood resembles
black stone. It is heavy to the extent that it sinks in water, and bears the
highest content but it is difficult to distill. True agar is mainly exporeted
to the Middle East countries where it is used as incense. Bantang is brown in
colr without any black tone. Bhuta is also brown in color but interspersed with
50 per cent or more of yellow-colored wood. These two grades are also usually
used in incense. Dhum is the lowest grde which is mostly yellow with scattered
streaks of brown or black resin. It is cheifly distilled for the oil. Sometimes
oil is also extracted from Bhuta and this oils is reported to be superior to
that from Dhum. Wealth of India Volume 1-1985 Other Uses:When dusted on clothes
and skin as a preventative against fleas and lice. Used in fumigators such as
pastilles and agarbatis (The ancient Indian name for incense "agarbati" means
lights of agar). Bark is a source of the writing material sachpat, whcih is
immune to insect attack and used for writing religious scriptures. (WI, v. 1,
p. 329)
http://members.aol.com/ratrani/agarwood.html
http://www.rain-tree.com/aquilaria.htm
a great ethobotanical database on agarwood
http://www.forest.gov.my/forweb/ourfor/flora/pp/amalac.htm
image of Aquilaria malaccensis leaves http://herbwalk.com/remedy/
Aloeswood_226.html
agarwood in Chinese medicine http://www.fao.org/montes/foda/wforcong/PUBLI/V3/T15E/3-24.HTM
ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF AQUILARIA MALACCENSIS AND ITS CONSERVATION IN MALAYSIA http://django.harvard.edu/users/jjarvie/Itemscan/Aquilaria.htm
echical botanical information on Aquilaria genus of Borneo
http://www.vnstyle.vdc.com.vn/myhomeland/vietnaminclose-up/chitiet.cfm?ID_Tin=192&CM=tb_vn_closeup
cultivation of Aquilaria in Vietnam
http://www.euronet.nl/~trp/report.htm
photographic documentation of Rainforest agarwood project in Vietnam
http://www.oller.net/aloes_desc.htm
good monograph on agarwood
http://www.healthlink.com.au/nat_lib/htm-data/htm-herb/bhp799.htm
agarwood in Chinese medicine
http://members.aol.com/ratrani/agarwood.html
my monograph on agarwood
http://www.traffic.org/news/agarwood-executivesummary.html
superb report on agarwood
A source for Agarwood from Sustainable Sources Arises
Up till now when people have asked me about procuring agarwood from India
I have had to say that I had not access to any genuine material but in the last
week a new development has emerged. I have come in contact with a horticultural
operation in India's northeast sector that over 10 years ago established cultivated
plantations of agarwood trees and has successfully inoculated them with the
fungus that causes the resin to form. They are currently distilling several
kilos of oil per month from the sustainable source of agarwood and they have
indicated that the oil is very similar in quality to the wild harvested material(which
is very very rare) with the exception that at room temperature it solidifies(whereas
the wild harvested material is a flowable liquid) And the cost of the material
is comparatively inexpensive.