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Agarwood and some interesting facts

August 26, 2017 2 min read

Agarwood oil

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So far, we have been blogging about agarwood and its science which is interesting but at the same time, it might also be boring. Let's look at some interesting facts

Sound and healthy Aquilaira trees do not produce agarwood but the wounded one. Physical damage (either by natural factors or human interventions) weaken the trees, making them vulnerable to fungal infection. The host’s (Aquilaria trees) defence system reacts by producing agarwood compounds to fight off the pathogens
Here is the amazing discover documented in "Agarwood, Science Behind The Fragrance" from Dr Mohamed: " trees grown on poor soil happened to yield high-grade agarwood when compared to trees grown on rich soil (Pratiwi et al. 2011 ). Agarwood hunters in Gunung Palung (West Kalimantan) observed that the occurrence of agarwood is more frequent in trees at high elevations and on poor soils, and trees growing under stressful conditions are more vulnerable to infection (Paoli et al. 2001 )."
With today's technology, most of the natural fragrance could be synthesized. The main purpose is to reduce the production cost and the minimise the adverse impact on the environment (for example, wild Indian Mysore Sandalwood was close the bridge of extinction). However, to synthesize agarwood oil which sesquiterpenes are major constituents is a very difficult task to do. In addition, to make it more challenges, the scent of agarwood oil varies from regions to countries, making it is hard to imitate this holy scent.
Agarwood was mentioned in the Holy Bible (search "aloes" means "aloeswood), In Hindi it is known as agar from the Sanskrit, It was also mentioned In Q'ran and in Buddhist Scriptures
"The exclusive quality of agarwood was beyond question among the Chinese nobility, since the aristocrats had learned about agarwood as a select tax and tribute item like gold; the product was thus associated with exclusivity and social prestige" (Dinah Jung, The Cultural Biography of Agarwood (Postprint. Heidelberg: HeiDOK, 2016)