WHY IS AGARWOOD EXPENSIVE?

Low yield from plant material, typical and labor intensive process of extraction. These are all very few reasons of high costing of Agarwood Oil. Low grade of resinous wood is used for oil production normally require minimum 20kg to produce 12ml of oil.

 According to Nabeel Adam Ali, the director of Swiss Arabian Perfumes, the highest-quality oudh, once upon a time, came from trees older than 100 years. Having said that, it doesn't mean that the new trees don't get a good fragrance but what is missing is the quality, the heritage and the tradition. Still, sales of oudh-based perfumes continue to grow each year, but to meet the demand, many perfumers have started to using a blend of natural and synthetic oud. (New York Times)

Mr. Ajmal estimates that roughly 20 years ago, a kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of high-quality "e-grade" oud -- the entry-level grade among the best oud quality grades -- would cost about 1,800 dirhams, or $500.

Now, that same amount would cost 12,000 dirhams, he said, a staggering increase in price. For those who are willing to spend as much as 200,000 dirhams per kilogram, the highest-quality oudh is still available. But Mr. Ajmal said that at that price, the profit margins are slim. (New York Times)

It has been estimated to be 18.000 euros for one kilo from the current market price.It is basically used in Natural Perfumery for long lasting and for increased weight in Natural Perfumes.

 

Another reason of agarwood being expensive is a threat to becoming endangered. The most important resin-producing species of Aquilaria are A. agollocha, A. malaccensis and A. crassna. A. malaccensis is protected worldwide under the CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) convention as well as by the World Conservation Union, IUCN. A. crassna was listed as an endangered species few years back by the Vietnamese Government but is now listed as a protected species in Vietnam.

Oudh details

Oudh and Designer Perfume

Oudh oil offers what commercial perfumery never will: an exercise in sensory refinement.

For most olfactory adventurers and frag aficionados, the road ends with Artisanal Oud Oil™. It's the supreme artistic creation in the world of fragrance, an acquired taste nurtured to open doors of extraordinary sensation.

The perfume industry tries to synthesize and mimic a particular scent, while containing little more than pure laboratory chemicals, rarely any genuine essential oil. It smells the same all the time, on everybody. Pure oud oil is far more captivating.

Ensar Oud™ agarwood oil is a 100% organic, natural, and authentic fragrance essence. Too thick to spray, agarwood oil feels like fine velvet when rubbed onto the skin. Ensar Oud™ agarwood oils do not contain one molecule of synthetic aroma chemicals, and are certifiably the core essential perfume you are seeking in any designer fragrance.

Benefits of Oudh

Indigenous cultures and modern minds alike swear to the sacred nature of this mysterious tree. Oud has a place in the homes of laymen to business tycoons, whether as carved religious symbols, or bottles of fragrant oil.

We might have dismissed it as mere superstition, had it not been for our own experience with this precious wood and its oil:

'We've lost our minds, and our sense of time,' Ensar said, shaking his head. Sunrise was minutes away, yet we felt like it was still midnight!

We'd just spent the best part of the night engulfed in the smoke of burning oud chips, talking about how spacey our minds had become.

'Boy, the mental ... incredible,' Ensar muttered to himself as the burner was sizzling up the last chip for the night.

As for relieving stress, there's no doubt. But all those anecdotes about meditating monks and samurai warriors swearing by the 'power' of agarwood incense suddenly became more than just ancient references to something most of us never really take too seriously.

It was clear that these bubbling oud nuggets on the burner had everything to do with a certain mood we found ourselves in; making you more receptive to certain thoughts and emotions. We were fascinated by how the peculiar frame of mind made us appreciate, as if for the first time, the part agarwood plays in meditation rituals.

From applying a swipe to save face on an nerve-wrecking plane-ride through thunder clouds, to chewing a bite-sized piece to help clear away an aching throat, we've encountered our fair share of strange moments – moments where the mystery associated with this fragrant tree have not seemed that far-fetched. Not far-fetched at all.

Ancient wisdom taught of the profound unity of the corporal, spiritual, and experiential dimensions of Humankind. From Tibetan monks to Japanese Shamans, from agnostic new-age Spirituality to orthodox Sufism, agarwood possesses a salient mystery honoured by traditional cultures wherever it was found.

Being an earthly element, agarwood has a quality that grounds our primordial being, with its medicinal and therapeutic properties well recognized by all who have spent some time exploring its intricacies. Yet, oud is recognized for more than just its healing qualities. It has a very real spiritual pull, no doubt. But it also just smells incredible.

In times where humanity has been all but completely severed from the pristine splendour of his native soil, oud oil reminds us of a place now so remote, yet so dear to us.

What Makes Good Aloeswood/Oud Oil?

Over-exposure to inferior 'oud-based' fragrances on offer all over, coupled with a lack of experience with the kind of aroma real connoisseurs go after, leaves many misinformed about what makes good oud oil.

Your first encounter with oud might very well have been an enlightening moment, or even a completely insignificant one. Regardless of that first impression, your olfactory sense on that day was essentially numb, and your experience veiled from the allure that brings fragrance-lovers back to oud oil, time and time again.

At this stage, you think oud is oud. You have little knowledge about the intricacies those seasoned enthusiasts take into consideration – was the oil extracted from wild Agarwood, or cultivated? From young saplings or trees decades old? Steam or hydro distilled? Aged or not? From India or Indonesia? And so on.

Finding oud oil is not difficult. Finding exceptional oud oil is a different story. It fact, it's next to impossible to get hold of anymore. The highest quality oud oil was extracted from wild trees that were left to naturally mature in unspoilt soil for decades. This is unheard of today.

Until recently the wild agarwood trade was a civil affair. Then with a big bang, wild forests have since been wiped off the map by profit-driven campaigns to obtain as much of the material as possible, as quickly as possible, the bulk of which then goes off to the Chinese market.

But finding premium grade agarwood is only half the story. A great deal of fantastically good agarwood has been wasted due to poor distillation procedures - granite in the hands of an amateur is not quite the same as in the hands of Donatello.

The value of the agarwood from which it's extracted, and the meticulousness of the distillation process itself, are the two main factors determining the quality of your Oud. Ensar Oud™ commissioned and supervised its distillations according to very precise and unique provisions, approving only superior China-quality agarwood for its extraction.

Expensive Oud?

What comes to mind when you see someone sell a bottle of oud for $500, while another sells one for $400? Or, if you see one bottle for $500, and another for less than $200?

Some are under the impression that the only difference between the two offers is the $100 you'll save by going with the cheaper option. When it comes to greater price differences - $500 vs $200 - some feel they're getting played by a over-charging merchant, asking unduly high prices for the same product you can get for far cheaper elsewhere.

So, when compared to a $100 bottle of oud, why might one costing you $500 actually be worth that much more?

The one bottle might contain oud oil distilled many years ago, from wild agarwood no longer available, in tailored artisanal fashion, commissioned, supervised and collected in person by an experienced pioneer of the craft. The other was distilled a month ago, by a nameless person, from prematurely harvested low-grade wood, which was then shipped to a seller who's never even seen a distillation unit, nor an actual agarwood tree for that matter.

But aside from the quality, there are two highly significant factors everyone investing in oud should consider: (i) the way products are advertised, and (ii) how much oud oil you're actually getting.

First, every online vendor pushing '100% pure oud' do so in much the same way: posting a picture of the standard 'oud bottles' on their website, with a price tag attached to it. Presenting the same bottle images leads you to believe that all oud dealers are offering pretty much the same product - or the same amount of it, at least. This is not the case.

Second, instead of grams, they use millilitres as an indication of how much you're getting. So you'll see a bottle being filled with 'x ml' of oil.

The approach most people use when filling bottles by millilitre is that they buy bottles supposed to be able to contain 3ml of liquid, and the thinking is that if they fill these bottles, they will contain that much.

In practice, a rough estimate is that 3ml equals 3g of oil, so pouring 3g worth of oil into a 3ml bottle should just about fill it up. However, as a rule, we pour our oils only by weight. This means that we're able to precisely gauge exactly how much oil goes into each bottle, and time and time again we've been faced with the dilemma of these so-called '3ml' bottles not being able to contain 3g. In fact, there's often a disparity of up to 0.5g worth of oil. This means that although the bottles are supposed to be able to hold 3ml, they very often don't. The point here is that there's really no way to tell whether the one you bought counts as one of these.

Next time you consider a bottle oud, carefully study the amount of oil stipulated in the deal. That's if it's even stipulated, for very often it's not. Often the only information you have is that you're getting a 'full' bottle [of the one shown in the picture].

Suppose you're about to invest in a bottle of oud at, say, $600. All you know at this stage is that there's a picture of a bottle, and it's going to cost you $600. Next thing you'd want to know is how much you'll be getting. 'Well, the seller says I'll get 3ml'. Let's suppose you're getting a '3ml' bottle of oil. This means you're paying $200 per millilitre; $50 for 0.25ml. Is thisreally what you're getting?

Well, with most dealers it's not. Or, at least, there's no way of knowing. If your bottle happened to be one of the dozens not accurately able to contain 3ml (instead only 2.7ml or 2.5ml), then you're not just 'getting a little less'. The difference is considerable – the difference costing you $50, $70, $90, $130, or even more.

At Ensar Oud™, you're getting a bottle poured by weight. This means that when we say you're buying a 3 grams of oud, that's exactly how much you're getting. Maybe a little more, but never less. We use sensitive measuring equipment for this purpose. No droppers, no eyeing the '3ml' bottle to see if it looks filled up.

The main problem then with [first:] advertising images comparable to all others in the market is the impression it creates, and the frequently unfair comparisons which ensue. For instance, say we're selling a bottle for $500, while another dealer sells one for $350. Who charges more?

At this stage, all you need to do is ask yourself: how much am I getting? What you'll find is that, nine out of ten times, the bottle you get from us contains 3 grams, while the other one contains 2.5ml, 2.7ml, 2.8ml - a measurement that to us means little, because the main problem with [secondly:] filling bottles according to millilitres is that there's no way of knowing if that's how much you actually filled it with, regardless whether you say '2.5ml' or '2.8ml'. No matter how well-intentioned the seller may be, they cannot know for sure. At Ensar Oud™, we're not taking $500 from you and only giving you $400's worth, intentionally or otherwise. Every drop is accounted for.

With Ensar Oud™ you can rest assured that you're seeing through a legitimate transaction, where you know exactly what you're getting in return for what you're giving, and that the little price difference there might be is completely accounted for by the difference in quality.

Oud Oil 101

Just like their fruit-bearing counterparts, agarwood trees produce radically different types of resin.

To the same degree that snakefruit can be said to resemble durian, Indian oud oil resembles Cambodian, and Bornean resembles Papuan. They are all 'agarwood oils' to the same extent that papayas, dragon fruit, lychee, kiwi and oranges are all fruits; but that is where all similarity ends. All further comparisons, whether in chemical make-up, olfactory profile, method of inoculation, peak maturation, fermentability, and optimal extraction techniques hold as much water as similar comparisons would between different fruit-bearing trees. The best way to harvest mangosteen bears no relevance for watermelons and the optimal extraction method for orange juice is of little relevance to mulberries.

In the perfume industry, there are two types of vendors: there are vendors of perfumes – be they colognes, eau de toilettes, eau de parfums, solid perfumes, botanical perfumes, natural perfumes, 'mukhallats' – and there are vendors of perfumery ingredients – essential oils, concretes, absolutes, floral waters, CO2 extracts, etc. The first never claim to offer the wares of the second group, and seldom does the second group attempt to purvey the branded merchandise of the first.

The first group offers a box, a container, and a fashion statement. The second group offers an artisanal, crafted, natural substance which may or may not be employed in the production of the wares of the first group.

You have the 'oudh', or the 'aoud', of the perfume houses which is a branded, generic Arabian (or Middle Eastern) fashion statement that is slowly gaining popularity in the West – and you have the artisanal oud oil, or pure agarwood essential oil of Ensar Oud, which is the natural raw material to which this scent category owes its original archetype.

For Ensar Oud, agarwood oil is not only a very specific type of essential oil which is extracted from a certain species of tree possessing a necessary degree of resination triggered by particular traumas – it is a painstakingly defined grade of that essential oil.

For John Doe, 'oud' could be any ratio of that oil in combination with any other oil, be it of natural or synthetic origin. For yet a third, it might be any combination of dioctyl phthalate (DOP) in conjunction with other chemicals. And for the 'big houses', it is a scent category.

Just as musk is for the 'big houses' of French perfumery, so is 'oud' for the big Arabian houses – a type of smell – regardless of what substance is used to give off or emit that smell.

About Agarwood Oil

 Agarwood Oil, also known as Oud oil, Aloeswood oil, and many other names depending location, is an extremely rare and precious natural oil obtained from several species of Agarwood (Aquilaria sp.) trees. It originates in North Eastern India, Bhutan and parts of South East Asia - especially Vietnam and Cambodia - the Philippines, and Indonesia, including Papau New Guinea. Agarwood has a very long history of medicinal use, as a valuable component of incense, and as an aromatic oil. There are several species of Agarwood, the most important species are: Aquilaria agollocha, A. malaccensis and A. crassna. Aquilaria malaccensis is endangered and protected worldwide under the CITES convention and A. crassna is listed as endangered by the Vietnamese government.

Our Oud comes from the species Aquillaria agollocha, and is plantation grown in Assam, India, an area originally known to have an abundance of naturally occurring agarwood trees. While there are still wild agarwood trees to be found in inaccessible forest regions, they are extremely rare and very difficult to obtain. By purchasing agarwood oil from cultivated trees, we help reduce damage to the last remaining wild agarwood trees, and to the forests in which the precious agarwood trees grow.

The fragrance of Agarwood comes from a process where fungi infect the trees, producing an oleoresin which saturates the wood. It is through this oleoresin saturated wood where Oud develops its aroma. The fragrance is complex, deep and woody, and is highly prized as an incense in Japan and as an oil in the Middle East. Because of its rarity, Agarwood is not well known in the West, but should be experienced by every connoisseur of essential oils, and anyone serious about aromatherapy and natural perfumery.

There are many grades of Agarwood, and the highest quality wood is extremely expensive. In fact, the first-grade wood is one of the most expensive natural products in the world, with prices of up to $13,000 per pound, and the essential oil from wild agarwood trees is one of the most expensive oils in the world. Since we source our Oud from trees that are cultivated - not from wild or endangered trees - we are able to supply a very decent oil at a more affordable price. And because Eden Botanicals' Agarwood Oil is pure and unadulterated, you only need a tiny amount in your blends to enjoy its beautiful aroma.

agar (odhu)

AgarAura's previous Japanese incense-inspired blends have been outstandingly popular, but Kyoto marks the launch of our new 'Smoke Infusion' series and give incense lovers an experience like no other.

Take a look at the ingredient list of the finest Japanese incense mixes, and you notice they are short and simple. It is the qualityof the raw materials and the precise ratios in which they are used that sets them apart. 

In that vein, Kyoto was formulated with minimal ingredients. But its more than just a concoction of essential oils. What makes it unique is the fact that its infused with the smoke of fine Vietnamese agarwood, vintage Indian sandalwood, and honey. The painstaking and time-consuming process of enfleuraging the smoke took almost a year to complete
And its no exaggeration that this is literally incense in a bottle.

Formulated using some of the most traditional ingredients, Kyoto is an olfactory journey several centuries back to the imperial court of Japan. Unscrew the cap, and you would almost think there is incense burning right under your nose.A word to the wise, if you are a fan of agarwood or sandalwood, you don't want to miss out on Kyoto.

Oud comes from the wood of the tropical Agar (Aquilaria) tree, believed to have originated in the Assam region of India, and from there spread throughout Southeast Asia. When the wood of this tree gets infected with a certain mould variety (Phialophora parasitica), it reacts by producing a precious, dark and fragrant resin, which is the perfume ingredient oud (also called agarwood).

Oud (in Arabian ‘oudh’) is highly valued by perfumers for its sweet, woody, aromatic and complex scent. It is used in forms of oud oil (dehn al oud) or raisin (oud mubakhar). The oil of oud, whether extracted by distillation from wood, or by melting the raisin, is non-irritating and can be applied directly on the skin, or added in a perfume composition, most often as a base note.

The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar natural analogues. As a result, agarwood and its essential oilgained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world, being mentioned throughout one of the world's oldest written texts – the Sanskrit Vedas from India.

There are seventeen species in the genus Aquilaria and eight are known to produce agarwood. In theory agarwood can be produced from all members; however, until recently it was primarily produced from A. malaccensis. A. agallocha and A. secundaria are synonyms for A. malaccensis. A. crassna and A. sinensis are the other two members of the genus that are usually harvested.

Formation of agarwood occurs in the trunk and roots of trees that have been infected by a parasitc ascomycetous mould,Phaeoacremonium parasitica, a dematiaceous (dark-walled) fungus. As a response, the tree produces a resin high in volatile organic compounds that aids in suppressing or retarding the fungal growth, a process called tylosis. While the unaffected wood of the tree is relatively light in colour, the resin dramatically increases the mass and density of the affected wood, changing its colour from a pale beige to dark brown or black. In natural forest only about 7% of the trees are infected by the fungus. A common method in artificial forestry is to inoculate all the trees with the fungus. Oud oil can be distilled from agarwood using steam, the total yield of agarwood (Oud) oil for 70 kg of wood will not exceed 20 ml (Harris, 1995).

The First International Scientific Symposium on Agarwood was held at the Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, during 2013 under the auspices of Associate Professor Dr. Rozi Mohamed.

Psychoactive is one way to describe it.  Mind-blowing is another.

A perfumer's guilty pleasure, oud oil, also known as agarwood essential oil, is without a doubt the most refined olfactory merchandise available anywhere.

The distillation of oud oil has become an art form in its own right. Bursting with a rich and enchanting aroma, aficionados study classic oud samples as they would the Mona Lisa.

These days, a new fad has taken root among designer perfume lines – Dior, Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent, Estee Lauder, to name a few – who have started to incorporate agarwood scents into their mainstream products.

However, producing high-end oud today is a thing of the past. We no longer have access to the grade of agarwood previously used in its production. That, and you could never supply such a precious material to the mass-market without manipulating the process by introducing chemical additives of all sorts. Consequently, the market for essential oud oil has become tainted by the spread of such synthetic products being sold as 'agarwood/oud oil', while in fact they hardly qualify.

While perfumers worldwide have only just stepped onto the stage of oud oil, Ensar Oud has already drawn its curtain. We offer vintage oud oils - oud distilled many years ago, in trademark fashion, from a grade of agarwood now impossible to get hold of, which was then left to naturally age and mature ever since.

The Vintage LTD oils in the Ensar Oud collection were painstakingly produced by the most highly qualified distilleries in the Far East. Our unheard-of distillation techniques and rigid standards of purity means that the agarwood oil you get from us is a very different products compared to the generic qualities you can find in the common market. For one, we made sure that incense quality raw agarwood was used in the production of our agarwood oils. Too expensive for common distributors to implement, this was common practice at Ensar Oud.

The agarwood tree is a tall evergreen that spans across the majority of south east Asia. With more famous and sought after species presiding in north east India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, it can also be found in Laos, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Myanmar.

Agarwood, also known as oud and aloeswood, is a dark resin that forms in the heartwood of the Aquilaria genus of the Thymelaeaceae family, after it becomes infected with a certain mould. As the infection progresses, the tree creates this dark aromatic resin to help combat the infection. This infected wood is prized for its unique and distinctive fragrance.

This precious wood is then sorted into different grades and ground into chips or powder before being distilled, with the most common methods being either steam or hydro distillation.

As a fragrance pure agarwood oil can differ massively, with the main factors that influence the final scent coming down to the grade and age of the wood, the care and skill during distillation, and the geographical location and species of the tree.

Profile of Agarwood Tree

AGARWOOD 

Common Name:             Agarwood, Aloeswood, Oud, 
Scientific Name:            Aquilaria crassna
Categories       :            Threatened Species, Cosmetic/Medicinal;

Introduction
Aquilaria crassna is a tree species that has been of great ethnobotanical importance to people throughout the Greater Mekong region and beyond. Its heartwood and resin are highly valued commodities that have been transported along long-established trade routes for thousands of years. However, this species has now become Critically Endangered, owing to over-exploitation. Currently the majority of Agarwood comes from wild populations and there is now a very real danger this species may become extinct if wild harvesting continues at the current rate. To conserve this species, it is vital that this plant becomes more widely grown in cultivation, to reduce the pressure on the few wild populations that remain.

* Why is this species important?
The timber of this species is known as the ‘Wood of the Gods’ and has been known and highly appreciated for thousands of years. There is a strong connection that exists between the use of the wood, religion and curative properties.

* Where is it found?

This species has a fairly wide distribution and is found is Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Aquilaria crassna is a light-demanding species, which grows scattered through natural forest on rocky, shallow, ferralitic soils, often growing alongside streams. It grows within an altitudinal range of 300-900m.

   * How do people use it?
The wood from Aquilaria crassna contains aromatic resin, known as ‘gaharu’. This is produced by the tree in response to injury if the production of callus tissue is inhibited. It acts as a chemical barrier to attack by insects and fungi. However, under natural conditions gaharu is not produced by trees at all. This resin is often used in temples as perfume wood. The wood can also be distilled to yield a valuable essential oil, which is widely used in Chinese and Southern Asian medicine and also in the Middle East for making perfumes and cosmetics.

  * Why is it threatened?

Economic exploitation of this tree for both its heartwood and oil has significantly reduced the natural range of the species and has placed it under threat. Unregulated collection of both seeds and saplings from the wild occurs widely, and good income can be earnt from selling these plants. This has also reduced reproductive capacity of the species, and it now only grows in scattered stands with low numbers of individuals.

* What conservation action is needed?

To conserve this species, the Vietnam Tree Seed Project has established a demonstration seed orchard in cooperation with the Central Forest Seed Company. The objective of this project is to promote the use of this species in non-timber plantations to enhance ex-situ conservation. This will help to reduce the pressure on harvesting from wild populations. It is essential that the seed orchards are used as a tool to raise awareness of the importance of conserving this species. They will also help to maintain genetic diversity among the species population. Further advantages of this project are that its methodology can eventually be implemented elsewhere and cultivation of the plant leads to valuable extra income for local people.

* Acknowledgements

Many thanks to BGCI for writing this profile.

* Selected references

Jensen, Anders and Meilby, Henrik (2008) ‘Does commercialisation of a non-timber forest produce reduce ecological impact? A case study of the Critically Endangered Aquilaria crassna in Lao PDR’, Oryx (Volume 42, Issue 2): pp. 214 -221;

                           

What is Agarwood ?

Agarwood is a resinous heartwood that sometimes occurs in trees belonging to the genus Aquilaria  (Thymelaeceae family). Aquilaria is a fast-growing, archaic subtropical forest tree, with a population range stretching from South Asia’s Himalayan foothills, throughout Southeast Asia, and into the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. It grows at elevations from a few meters above sea level to about 1000 meters, with approx. 500 meters being most ideal. Aquilaria can grow on a wide range of soils, including poor sandy soil. Seedlings require a great deal of shade and water but will grow rapidly, producing flowers and seeds as early as four years old. At least fifteen species of Aquilaria are known to produce the much sought-after agarwood. In South Asia, particularly India, Aquilaria achalloga is found. Aquilaria malaccensis is mostly known from Malaysia and Indonesia, whileAquilaria crassna grows primarily in Indochina. A number of others are also known, such asAquilaria grandfolia, Aquilaria chinesis etc., though these are relatively minor species for agarwood production.

Usage :-

The “Wood of the Gods” has been traded and highly coveted for thousands of years. The resinous wood is used as incense, for medicinal purposes, and pure resin in distilled form is used as an essential oil as well as a perfume component. Outside its native countries, it is most widely known in the Middle East, China, Taiwan, and Japan. A strong connection exists between use, religion, and curative properties, and elaborate traditional and religious ceremonies are known around the world. Faith healers in the Middle East use it at curative ceremonies, Japanese pilgrims donate flowers and agarwood oil to Shinto-Buddhist temples, and Vietnamese religious groups are obliged to bring agarwood to ceremonies at their temples in Mekong Delta communities.

Value :-

The value of first-grade Agarwood is extremely high. A wide array of products of different grades is available on the market, varying with geographical location and cultural deposition. Prices range from a few dollars per kilo for the lowest quality to over thirty thousand US dollars for top quality oil and resinous wood. Aquilaria crassna is listed as a critically endangered species in Viet Nam, and A. malaccensis is listed as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union, IUCN.

Extinction :-

Resin-producing trees are endangered throughout their known habitat all across Southeast Asia. The main driving force, which initiated this project, was the recognition of unsustainable Aquilariaharvesting in natural forests that resulted in the near extinction of this tree genus in Viet Nam and elsewhere. Aquilaria crassna is now a protected species in Viet Nam. Trade and harvesting restrictions will be virtually impossible to implement and enforce if no alternative is developed to forest-based harvesting. In addition, both in the short and long-term, a natural resource base needs to be maintained to supply present and future Aquilaria plantations with genetic source material in order to prevent plant decease, maintain diversity, and possibly improve resin production.

Substitutes :-

Development of synthetic substitutes usually arises when sustainable supplies of the natural product are not available. One of the first questions pursued when contemplating the pilot project was, “Is it possible to synthesize agarwood and agarwood oil?” The answer is a qualified no. Agarwood cannot be synthesized. Chemical substitutes are already available for perfume; these are cheap and constitute the least profitable end of the market. In addition, these products do not come close in emulating the natural product and thus do not pose a threat to producing non-synthetic agarwood products. The major chemical components responsible for the characteristic scent of agarwood products, 15-carbon chain compounds called sesquiterterpenes, can in principle be synthesized. However, these are very complicated structures that are extremely expensive to synthesize, which makes it commercially unattractive.

AGARWOOD OIL INDUSTRY

Agarwood is a resinous, fragrant and high valuable heartwood. The scientific name isAquilaria. It is also known as aloeswood,eaglewood, krissana in Thailand, gaharu in Malaysia and Indonesia, Oudh in the MiddleEast, chen-xiang in Chinese and jin-koh in Japan.Healthy agarwood is relatively light andpalecoloured.When the wood is infectedby a disease in the wild, the infection process producesa darkaromatic resin in
response to the attack. This results in a very
dense, dark, resin embedded hardwood.
This resin is highly prized and commands
an exceptionally high value because of its
distinctive fragrance and medicinal benefits.
The international trade in agarwood involves wood, wood chips, powder and oil.
Agarwood oil is also known as Oudh oil or Oud oil. The oil is conventionally obtained by the waterdistillation
process.
Agarwood oil can be applied directly to the
skin. Pure agarwood oil has a slow release
effect lasting at least 8 hours.

A small amount of agarwood oil can be
added to other oils to give a rich and
complex depth and to fix the aroma of
middle or top notes in perfume blending.
Pure agarwood oil is also burned as
incense, especially in Japan. It is used in
spiritual ceremonies or holy occasions as a
temple offering in the Muslim, Hindu and
Buddhist traditions.

* THE GLOBAL AGARWOOD MARKET :-

Globally, there are two major agarwood consumption regions:
• North-east Asia and the markets of Taiwan, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, and
• West Asia or the “Middle East” which centres on the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
The uses of this resinous wood include
medicinal, religious and cultural applications in
various societies across Asia. No agarwoodproducing
species is known to grow west of
India, and yet it has been a traded item within
Arab-speaking commerce for over 2,000 years,
being sourced from both India and further east in
South-east Asia.


* AGARWOOD OIL: POSSIBLE USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS :-

When used in aromatherapy agarwood oil (Oud
oil) may help to treat anxiety, stress, depression
and other nervous system disorders.
Agarwood oil is used to treat cirrhosis of the
liver, kidney problems and lung and stomach
tumours.
Agarwood oil is also used as an anti-rheumatic,
an anti-convulsant, an anti-asthmatic, and a

carminative diuretic as well as an aphrodisiac.

* AQUILARIA SPECIES PRODUCES AGARWOOD :-

There are 17 species of Aquilaria, which can produce agarwood. Among them A. agollocha, A.
malaccensis and A. crassna are the best known. One of the main reasons for the relative rarity and
high cost of agarwood is the depletion of the wild resource. The endangered A. malaccensis has been
protected worldwide under the CITES convention since 1995 while all Aquilaria species have
received CITES protection since 2004. However, a number of countries have reservations outstanding
regarding this. In Bangkok, we are doing research work in conjunction with Asia Plantations to

develop the growing of Aquilaria trees in plantations to develop a sustainable source of Oud Oil.

* FACTS ABOUT AGARWOOD :-

• An 80-year-old Aquilaria tree can yield
6-9 kg of agarwood oil.
• A 50-year-old Aquilaria tree can yield
2.7 to 3.6 kg of agarwood oil.
• The amount of oud oil that is extracted
from each tree is not constant. Amounts
vary from using 1.2 kg to 3.6 kg of wood
to produce 1 tola (12 ml) of oud oil.
• The yield is totally dependent on the
infection level of the tree, also known as

resin formation.

* NATURAL RESIN FORMATION :-

The production of resinous compounds is a result
of a plant defence mechanism associated with
wounding; insects possibly assist fungal
invasion.
Phaeoacremonium parasitica is an important
fungus dealing with the resin formation process.
Naturally, the process of resin accumulation may
take many years and the longer the process, the
more expensive and highly valuable the resin.

* ARTIFICIAL RESIN FORMATION :-

First, a tree is drilled to make a hole about 5 mm
in diameter, with a 25 cm space in between the
holes.
Second, one ml of liquid inoculum is injected
with a syringe.
One month after inoculation, the effectiveness of
the process is checked by peeling the tree bark to
observe the disease symptoms.
A 7-8 year old plantation tree yields between 2-4

tolas of Oud oil.

* RESINOUS COMPOUNDS :-
The resinous compounds in agarwood oil
are detected by the Gas Chromatography-
Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) method.
Many chemical compounds are found in
Oud oil. Some major chemical
constituents that make agarwood oils
distinctive from other oils include:
• Agarol
• Agarospiral
• α-agarofuran and β-agarofuran
• Eudesmol
• Jinkohol-eremol
• Guaiol
• Selinene

• 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromone.

* RESINOUS COMPOUNDS :-
Some of these chemical compounds were
scientifically reported to have medicinal

benefits.
• Agarol is an effective, gentle and
pleasant tasting laxative
• Agarospiral and Jinkohol-eremol
are considered to be neuroleptic
• Agarofuran is an anti-tumour
compound
• α-eudesmol can protect against
brain injury
• Guaiol can be used as skin
lightening product
• Selinene has anti inflammatory
effects
• 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromone shows cytotoxicity against the human gastric cancer cell line.

* EXTRACTION PROCESS :-

The extraction process also affects the oil yields.
Water distillation methods using traditional apparatus is time
consuming with high-energy consumption and low yields. The
picture on the left shows the conventional distillation plant

with wood fired stoves.
The right hand picture is a modified distillation plant with gas fired
stoves and agitation systems. Energy and mass transfers have been
improved on the later model. However, the distillation system still
requires on-going research and modification.
Solvent extraction can be used in combination with distillation.
A hydrocarbon solvent is put in with the wood dust and
dissolves the essential oil. The resulting solution is then filtered
and put through a distillation process that concentrates the oil to
produce a resin. The remaining substance is a combination of
wax and essential oil called "concrete".
The supercritical fluid extraction method is non-flammable,
non-toxic, and chemically stable and consumes less energy. It
provides some advantages over the classical method, since
supercritical carbon dioxide has low viscosity, high diffusivity,
and good transport properties and gives faster extraction and
high yields.The extraction process can be further enhanced by a pre-treatment process that is affected by many
parameters including wood chip size, solid to liquid ratio, pH, soaking time and agitation speed. For
the distillation process more study and research is still required. There are questions such as whether
water or steam distillation is better. The impacts of pressure, temperature and distillation time should
be further investigated.
For solvent extraction, the effects of the different types of solvents, pressure, temperature, extraction
time and agitation speed should be studied.