History of Agarwood/Oud

 

Agarwood has long been appreciated for its multipurpose uses, range from incense for religious and traditional ceremonies, perfume, medicine and ornamental functions in many countries. The occurrence of this-so-called the wood of the gods has been strongly surrounded by myths and history. Agarwood use is mentioned in the Old Testament as ‘aloe’ or ‘ahaloth’ in Isalm 45:8. Agarwood is the only tree in the Eastern myth that has been descended to Man from Eden garden (Duke, 2008). In Egypt and Japan, Agarwood was used to embalm dead bodies. In India and Cambodia, it is used for traditional and religious ceremony.

The resin compound of agarwood is highly commercial. Resin impregnated in the heartwood a number of agarwood-producing species is due to fungal infection. Two mostly known genera are Aquilaria and Gyrinops that are native to Southeast Asia with India,Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Papua New Guinea being the main producing countries, and Singapore being the central trade country (Persoon, 2007).

Agarwood is used to make Great and Beautiful Agarwood Carvings/Sculptures.

Agarwood Beads made from grown-up trees is another area of its usability. In some Religions, they believe that wearing The Agarwood Beads can keep you safe from The Evils Spirits and Bringing Good Luck. The Agarwood is also named “The Wood Of Gods”.

The Agarwood Oil is The most expensive essential oil of it’s kind. It has been known and used as natural, non- alcoholic perfume known as Oud or Dehnul-Oud. Each different area of Agarwood produces a different fragrance of aromatic smell. The Agarwood Oil is distilled from the cheaper quality of Agarwood and the yield is very low between 0.0002 % up to 0.010% depends on the raw materials and the Agarwood itself. That is why the price of The Agarwood Oil is expensive.

Agarwood Incense available in cones, coils or sticks made from Agarwood are using for Aromatherapy & Religious Usages.

Natural forests have been the main resource for agarwood collection for many years. However, agarwood hunters usually cut down the whole trees to find the resin and this practice has diminished agarwood population in the wilds and consequently has led agarwood-producing tree species under a threat of extinction. Major harvesting of agarwood was recorded between the 1980s and early 1990s in East Kalimantan caused by high demand for gaharu and was due to diminishing supply from countries like Vietnam and Cambodia (Barden et al.,2001 in Gunn et al., 2003). This excessive hunting activity has caused significant reduction of wild agarwood stocks within a short period of time. Similar activity also occurred in Papua after agarwood hunters landed in 1996 that has led to an ending of agarwood harvesting from its natural habitat (Persoon, 2007). 1998 was the first officially recorded year for agarwood discovery and harvesting in Yapsiei, May River and Ama villages in West Sepik, Papua New Guinea (Gunn et al., 2003). Harvesting of agarwood in these countries involve professional and traditional collectors. Professional collectors sponsored by Chinese and bogus trades were sometimes dropped by helicopters to hunt for agarwood (World Wide Fund for Nature, 1999).

In November 1994, Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk. was initially listed in CITES (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), Appendix II to prevent this species from extinction. However, continual excessive agarwood exploitations have then put two genera Aquilaria and Gyrinops in CITES, Appendix II, only ten years later. CoP13 Prop.49 (TRAFFIC, 2004) listed 24 species of the genus Aquilaria and seven species of the genus of Gyrinops. CITES regulates the permitted quota for agarwood export in order to sustain agarwood existence, and yet, India, in particular, has not been able to meet the quota because it has become more difficult to collect agarwood from its natural habitat because they are dissapearing.

Due to a significant increase in agarwood demand and high prices of agarwood, efforts have taken places to implement technology for stimulating agarwood production artificially, for a much faster process. Traditional wisdom combined with scientific knowledge have been implemented with numerous approaches to find the most efficient agarwood induction technology that will be able to fulfill the demand and at the same time conserve the remnants in the wilds.

This website provides a general overview of agarwood with specific reference to Inda as one of the most important country for agarwood production. Because the future of agarwood is dependent upon conservation and sustainable production management strategies, emphasis is given to research and development of induction technology for sustainable production of agarwood which is the main target of us – the Production and Utilization Technology for Sustainable Development of agarwood.

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What is Kyara or Kynam?

Kyara/Kynam/Kinam is a tiny subset within aloeswoods in a very very small percentage. In a historical context, it refers to a special type/grade of aloeswood with unique and excellent fragrance properties. The Chinese have a saying that one needs an accumulation of 3 lifetimes of virtues before one would have the chance of encountering real kynam, and 8 lifetimes of merit to have the chance to use and appreciate kynam. Such a saying could only suggest the rarity and precious nature of kynam.

In the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that 1 tael of kynam was worth 1 tael of gold. In Ming Dynasty, that saying evolved into 1 inch of kynam, was worth 1 inch of gold. In the modern day, due to material extinction and extreme rarity, 1 gram of historical kynam costs several times the price of gold, up to twenty times or more in the Chinese market.

In Vietnam these days, no one is able to locate a living tree with kynam anymore,, and everyone is just searching through the mud and soil hoping to find small pieces of buried kynam. These pictures were from the Vietnamese newspaper, where hundreds of people were reported to be scouring the hillsides that were once known to have had kynam found there. Most people returned empty handed, whilst a lucky few, managed to find small pieces of kynam.

As such, from non-living, wood material alone, its impossible to genetically identify the species from which kyara is produced from. Aquilaria Sinensis is known to produce the Chinese version of Kynam, whilst Aquilaria Crassna and potentially Malaccensis as well, was thought to produce the Vietnamese/Cambodian form of kynam. There is no empirical evidence at the moment.

How Kyara is formed out of agarwood trees, or from agarwood is unknown. Given its complicated chemical and dynamic scent profiles, with more compounds than normal agarwood, including a very high sesquiterpene content, there are speculations. In Japan, its been speculated that recurrent or multiple infections at different time points over centirues could have caused kyara to be formed. The Chinese speculate that it could be bees making hives in agarwood tree trunks, with the honey affecting the resination process causing different scents to result. Others believe it to be centuries of aging and weathering in a humid climate resulting in the “ripening” of resins, breakdown of hard resins into soft pliable materials. Another theory was an extremely special species of fungus infecting the tree and changing its genetic expressions relating to plant defense, causing secretion of special/unique compounds. There is absolutely no cultivated kyara known at this point of time, people growing A. Sinensis, Crassna, or Malaccensis, have not been able to induce or obtain materials that are comparable to wild agarwood, not to even talk about forming such extremely rare and superior kyara/kynam materials. Perhaps only from the microscopic structure alone, we can observe compaction that seem to imply that kynam/kyara to be core/heartwood material. I personally believe kyara to be formed by a combination of all the previous speculations stated.

There has also been limited research done in the world on Kyara/Kynam, with the first GCMS profile only known/published last year in 2012. This is due to material limitation, rarity, and the expense of such experiments. A rich and avid kyara/kynam collector sponsored the raw material for scientific analysis.

The word kyara/kynam is easily abused for quick profits, since not many people have came across real authentic kyara/kynam materials, there are some shops/retailers that claim the woods they are selling to be kynam, but when seen in person by myself, it was far from it. The easiest and the most reliable way to identify kyara/kynam grade materials, is to know the kodo scent profile of these materials. Once you know it, the knowledge of this scent stays with you forever.

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CONSERVATION AND USE OF Aquilaria crassna IN VIETNAM

agarwood sapling

Introduction

Aquilaria crassna (Thymeleaceae) is medium-sized evergreen tree growing to a height of 15-20m and a diameter at breast height of 40-50cm. A. crassna trees start flowering at an age of 6-8 years, between the months of March and April. Fruiting takes place between June and July in the same year (Vu Van Can & Vu Van Dung 1992). It is a light-demanding species,, which can regenerate under the forest canopy but requires canopy openings for subsequent growth. In its natural habitat, A. crassna (and other members of the Aquilaria genus) sometimes produces a resinous heartwood known variously as agarwood, eaglewood or aloeswood (tram in Vietnamese). This highly valuable product is used in Chinese and Southern Asian medicine as well as for incense and cosmetics in the Middle East. In 1990, one kilogramme of tram cost between US$800 and US$1000 (Nguyen Hong Lam 1990).

A. crassna grows on deep sandy clay soils at elevations of 300-800m. In Vietnam, where it has been heavily exploited for tram, A. crassna is now found only in scattered stands with low numbers of trees. These stands are located mainly in the southern coastal forest fringes adjacent to the Cambodian border, and the western part of Da Nang province along the border with Lao PDR. Of particular importance are the coastal belts: Quang Ninh, Ha Bac, Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and Phu Quoc Island. The other main localities are in the central highlands, namely, Ha Tinh, Kon Tum, Quang Nam-Da Nang, Binh Dinh and Gia Lai (Le Mong Chan & Vu Van Dung 1992). In 1996, the Vietnam Red Data Book identified A. crassna as an endangered species (category E of the IUCN classification), in need of protection and conservation.

Since 1986, local people in Ha Tinh province in the central part of Vietnam have collected seedlings of A. crassna from natural forests and planted them in home gardens. Good incomes can be earned from selling whole trees for tram extraction. In 1997, a plantation trial of A. crassna was established as pure and mixed stands with Aleurites montana and coffee in Ha Tinh province. Initial trial results show good growth of trees, suggesting that A. crassna can be grown easily in plantations and is also suitable for under-canopy planting in agroforestry systems.

Conservation strategy

In order to conserve and use the valuable genetic resources of A. crassna, the Vietnam Tree Seed Project has conducted a number of studies and established a demonstration seed orchard in cooperation with Central Forest Seed Company. The aim of these efforts is to promote the use of this species in non-timber plantations as an ex situ conservation model. This will offer the following advantages:

• Reduced exploitation pressure on natural populations because tram can be harvested from plantations.
• More effective anagement of gene conservation efforts is possible in plantations.
• Public awareness of the importance of gene conservation can be raised by demonstrations in seed orchards.
• Cultivation can contribute to local incomes and help to alleviate poverty.
• Plantations provide a basis for further research and tree improvement.

In tree improvement activities, the yield of tram is used as a criterion of selection. In natural forests, however, it is difficult to use this criterion to select plus trees because the yield of tram from standing trees can only be estimated. According to local collectors and traders, trees which yield large quantities of tram usually have cracks in their bark of varying forms and depths. This trait has to some extent been confirmed by plantation studies. Such cracks, therefore, could be used as an indirect means of selecting high-yielding plus trees in natural forests.

Using this criterion, 34 plus trees were selected in Huong Khe district of Ha Tinh province in 2000. However, improved techniques are needed to determine the tram content of bark samples and to test progenies and clones. It is important to identify the level of inheritability of this trait for vegetative propagation and tree breeding purposes.

Seed research

At the same time as plus trees were selected, samples of fruits and seeds were collected and studied. The seed of A. crassna is oval in shape, with a diameter of 0.5-0.8cm. One end of the seed is pointed; the other has a black aril 2-3cm long with a white stripe.

The moisture content of fresh A. crassna seeds is 49%. Desiccation with silica gel to reduce the moisture content to 40%, 35%, 25%, 15% and 8% shows that the seeds can maintain normal germination rates (33%) at a moisture content of 25%. Seeds with varying moisture contents were stored at 8ºC, 15ºC and ambient temperatures (20-25ºC). The optimal conditions were found to be a moisture content of 25% stored at a temperature of 8ºC, which produced a germination rate of 22% after a two-month period of storage (CFSC in press).

Vegetative propagation and establishment of seed orchards

A. crassna trees are rare and it is difficult to obtain large amounts of seeds. Studies of vegetative propagation have demonstrated rooting rates of up to 90% for cuttings from young trees treated with the Chinese rooting powder ABT1. The average number of roots in each cutting was 10.9, with an average root length of 2.9cm per cutting. Successful propagation by cuttings provides opportunities for large-scale production of planting material of this species.

The Vietnam Tree Seed Project has established a breeding orchard of A. crassna to provide an improved seed source and carry out ex situ gene conservation. The orchard also serves as a plantation model for other valuable tree species in the country. The orchard is three hectares in size and is situated in Bo Trach district of Quang Binh province.

To establish the breeding orchard, seeds from 34 selected plus trees were collected separately and germinated to create 34 half-sib families. Each family was planted in a group of nine trees at a spacing of 2m x 2m with 19 replicates (plots). The groups were randomly arranged in the field, with the exception of neighbouring groups of the same family, which were separated.

Planting density was 1989 trees per hectare. The groups will be rogued to leave only one tree, and the final density will be 221 trees per hectare.

Future activities

A. crassna is an indigenous tree species with great economic potential for non-timber plantations. In order to conserve the genetic resources of this species, and develop its end uses, we recommend that the following activities be carried out:

• Continue seed research to determine the best time to collect fruits;
• Improve vegetative propagation methods;
• Maintain the established orchard;
• Conduct phenological studies in the orchard and in natural forests;
• Establish trials at larger scales to identify the best provenances and sites for plantations; and
• Disseminate research results and other information on A. crassna.

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Crassna Cha Experiment

Crassna Cha

We were in quite a pickle that night in the hotel room.

We’d just finished harvesting a twenty-year old organic tree that day, where Ensar picked up a fresh chunk of wood to keep as a memento. He took the chunk, which smelled extremely fecal (or like some nicely aged cheese), back to our hotel room. Big mistake!

As the night grew older, the smell of that chip became just too intense, and quickly filled the entire room. It was as if we were stuck in a cheese factory. And this was already after we’d put it in a zip-lock bag!

Yet when we collected the oil from this tree a month later, we got the cleanest, greenest scent we’ve ever smelled in any oud. It’s almost too green!

Crassna Cha’s Beginning:

Left to grow in its natural habitat, an agarwood tree can mature for many decades, allowing the fragrant resin to embrace the entire tree. An experienced eye can then pick up the signs that show how resinated the tree is, of what quality, and if it’s ripe for harvest.

The process by which the tree produces its fragrant resin is a sheer miracle, and trying to replicate what happens in the wild in a plantation is a very delicate affair. It requires a whole new kind of expertise.

When we arrived in Thailand’s oud producing province, we were told that there are more than fifty agarwood farmers in the area. But after clarifying what we expect from the farmers, it turned out we could only work with a couple of people.

To spray the earth and inject oud trees with lab chemicals is nothing strange in these parts; the odd thing to do is not to spray. To harvest a tree only five to seven years old is the norm; the odd thing to do is not to harvest. In fact, the couple of farmers we’ve come to know as friends over the last few months were the only ones eccentric enough to pull off the kind of distillations we had in mind.

The Harvest:

The twenty-year organic aquilaria crassna tree we decided on for this experiment is a fine example of how things can be done right: the tree was left to grow in its natural habitat, not inoculated with synthetic lab chemicals, nor pre-maturely harvested to meet monthly production quota.

At twenty years old, this aquilaria crassna was already moribund, fully resinated, free from chemicals, and fit for harvest.

The Distillation Stills:

There are only three distillation methods for oud oil: steam, hydro and CO2 extraction. The latter is seldom used save in large-scale productions. The results are far from impressive, with a pasty, sticky, solid at room temperature wax as the end product. The scent is impaired by the extraction of non-resin particles along with the agarwood essence.

Steam distillation is widely used in Indonesia. We’re unsure about the benefits of using steam, considering that normally the oil is subjected to temperatures above 300 degrees fahrenheit. Some of our distillers harbor an intense dislike for steam distillation when it comes to oud. Yet Borneo 3000, Borneo Kinam and Kyara Koutan, for example, were steam distilled.

Then we have classic hydro distillation. Simple chemistry: you boil the wood and the resin rises to the top; from there you funnel it into a glass vessel where it gathers over the course of several days, floating atop the water. This is the oldest, most widely used method in Southeast Asia and Assam. The original Oud Royale, Oud Mostafa, Thai Encens (1 and 2), and other oils were extracted via this method.

This is where distillation can get real high tech, with different material tubes for different steps of the process. You can have, for example, a stainless steel boiler with copper tubes that the oil travels through; or a fully stainless unit; or a fully copper one; or a copper still with stainless tubes; or different material tubes for different parts of the process. The possibilities are endless.

With steam distillation, you get agarwood oil that was heated up to a certain temperature and then separated from the condensed steam, with the resultant oil potentially impaired by the high temperature. In hydro distillation, the raw materials are in close contact with water for a period of several days. The water has an almost magical effect on the oil, changing its character dramatically depending on how long it stays immersed, the type of water it is boiled in (spring, rain, ground water), the chemical breakdown of the water itself, salt and mineral content, etc.

Collecting Crassna Cha:

Water is never filtered prior to soaking or cooking the wood. Rather, it comes directly out of the ground. Every distiller has a signature, and it is most certainly his groundwater. We know of a great master whom we have a huge reverence for, the only man who refused to distill our incense grade wood in his stills, lest our incense notes should disturb his lilies and lilacs which he’s worked 20 years to perfect in his oil.

So, believe it or not, whether you get a fecal, a fruity or a woody, a dark or a light, a leathery or a green smelling oud oil depends a great deal on the water you use to cook the raw materials!

We collected the oil from our twenty year-old crassna tree one month after the harvest, after four days hydro-distillation using steel pots.

We picked up a ‘fecalicious’ scent when entering the distillery where the wood was drying atop the cookers, prior to grinding.

We might have been looking forward to some barnyard Thai oil, given our firsthand encounter with the super fecal smell direct from the still moist tree. But post soaking and distillation we got the greenest smell imaginable, without the slightest trace of the cheesy aroma that kept us awake that night in the hotel.

How did that happen? The type of groundwater used for soaking the wood, and then the stainless steel stills. Would we have ended up with an aged cheese smell had we used steam extraction? Most probably! Would we go back and use steam if we could? Nope!

Most distillers cannot go into the nitty gritty of different material ducts and tubes. Hydro distillation stills are cemented in place, making it nearly possible to change anything once they’re built. So changing the set-up or trying out different ideas is easier said than done. We only know of one guy who built and rebuilt his entire distillation system three times within one year because the smell of the oil was not what he was looking for.

Collecting and filtering the oil from our 20 year old organic agarwood tree, rounding off a month-long production process, we couldn’t help but be moved by the grandeur of it all.

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Expensive Oud?

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’ does 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 gage 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 (like 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 this really 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.

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Agarwood help clean the air, increase vital energy to the environment

Over the centuries , agarwood of incense are used in churches , temples and places of worship . The purpose to clean the air and protect energy sources in the holy place . In Asia , in the decontamination ritual , people use incense in the form of incense smoke to create a kind of sacred , direct connection to the area around their living space .

Agarwood incense is often used in religious ceremonies .
Agarwood helps create clean atmosphere .
In the ritual sacrifices in temples , shrines , … people still use incense to create a special energy , bring the breath of spiritual beings sent prayers to the surface .
Scent from pure sandalwood capacity to heal and soothe very strong . Therapy incense in the air clean living space is always bring great effect on morale . Thus , incense is great choice to close your eyes when you can feel completely new energy surged .
Sandalwood scented mild , mellow feeling naturally brings peace for you and everyone around . Thereby , in the workplace , people lead more openly .

There are many different ways to clean the air in the space where you live, and incense is the most wonderful way.

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What Makes Good Aloeswood/Oud Oil?

Good Agarwood

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.

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What is Agarwood/Oud Oil?

Oud Info – What is Oud

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.

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Asia Plantation Capital – Agarwood

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Agarwood (Oud)

Group: Woods and Mosses

Odor profile: The pathological secretion of the aquillaria tree, a rich, musty woody-nutty scent that is highly prized in the Middle East. In commercial perfumery it’s safe to say all “oud” is a recreated synthetic note.

Common name: Agarwood, oudh, agalocha
Plant family: Thymelaeceae
Genus: Aquilaria
Species: There are about 15 species of the genus Aquilaria

Agarwood is reputed to be the most expensive wood in the world. There are many names for the resinous, fragrant heartwood produced primarily by trees in the genus Aquilaria. Most commonly, the resin is known as agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gaharu, agalocha or oudh (In Arabic).

Agarwood

“The ability of surviving trees to grow and reproduce is dramatically reduced”.

Agarwood has been used to make high quality incense since centuries. The Chinese describe its smell as “a sweet, deep but balanced fragrance” and use it in religious and festive celebrations, and so do Arabian, Indian and Japanese people. Agarwood is also part of many traditional pharmacopoeias, dating back to medieval times and Chinese doctors still prescribe it for colds and disgestion problem. Oil extracted from agarwood is used in Arabian countries as a perfume.

Agarwood is a resinous heartwood that occurs in trees belonging to the species of Aquilaria, Aetoxylon (A.symeatalum) and Gonystylus genus of Thymelaeceae family. However, species of the genus Aquilaria are mostly known for the production of agarwood – it’s a fast growing, evergreen tree.

Agarwood Leaf

Agarwood or oudh forms as a reaction to fungal or bacterial attack. Trees, ocassionally become infected with a parasite mould secrete a fragrant, protective oil into wounded areas (roots, branches or sections of the trunk), which gradually become harder and dark brown to black. The heartwood (central part of a tree, which is darker in color than the sapwood) is relatively light and pale color before infection. Normally harvesters would cut only the infected parts in the hope that the tree would produce more of this resinous wood.

Aquilaria crassna

Aquilaria species that produce agarwood are found throughout Asia, while occur naturally in South and Southeast Asia. The Indian sub-continent was the main source of agarwood for many centuries but as trees became scarce in the middle of the twentieth century, extraction intensified in Indochina. Later on it was extended to Indonesia and Malaysia. Today Agarwood plantations exist in a number of countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Aquilaria

It can grow on a wide range of soils, including poor sandy soil. Seedlings of most species establish best in shady, moist conditions, but large adult trees sometimes become emergent in the forest and can withstand full sun. Some species can be found growing on steep, rocky, exposed slopes, and in regions that experience a hot, dry season. The trees grow to 6-20 m tall.

The leaves are alternate, 5-11 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a short acuminate apex and an entire margin. The flowers are yellowish-green, produced in an umbel, the fruit is a woody capsule 2.5-3 cm long. At least fifteen species of Aquilaria trees are known to produce Agarwood.

Agarwood Chips

Following are the species that produce agarwood:

• Aquilaria khasiana, found in India
• Aquilaria apiculina, found in Philippines
• Aquilaria baillonil, found in Thailand and Cambodia
• Aquilaria baneonsis, found in Vietnam
• Aquilaria beccarain, found in Indonesia
• Aquilaria brachyantha, found in Malaysia
• Aquilaria crassna, found in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam
• Aquilaria cumingiana, found in Indonesia and Malaysia
• Aquilaria filaria, found in China
• Aquilaria grandiflora, found in China
• Aquilaria hilata, found in Indonesia and Malaysia
• Aquilaria malaccensis, found in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India
• Aquilaria microcapa, found in Indonesia and Malaysia
• Aquilaria rostrata, found in Malaysia
• Aquilaria sinensis, found in China
• Aquilaria subintegra, found in Thailand

Aquillaria Malacenensis is considered to be the queen of Indonesian oudh. This tree can grow about 40 M or 131.23 ft in height with its diameter 80 cm. It is the best producer of agarwood resin and oil in Indonesia.

Agarwood is exported in various forms (wood chips, powder, oil and as finished products such as perfumes, incense and medicines), and the main importers are countries in the Middle and Far East – in particular the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia (where agarwood is known as oudh), as well as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

EXTRACTION METHOD

There are three methods through which agarwood oil is distilled namely, hydro-distillation, steam distillation and super critical CO2 extraction. However, the most common methods of distillation are hydro-distillation and steam distillation. Another thing that has its mark on the distillation of the oil is the age of the tree. Older trees have a higher resin content and just like a wine, old resin gets better with age. Speaking of the grading of agarwood oil, the best quality oil comes out from first distillation and after this the wood undergoes for second distillation and hence, it is graded accordingly the number of times it is cooked.

Oil coming from steam distillation is said to lack the three-dimensional smoky quality which comes from hydro-distilled oil. In both methods, after the oil has been distilled, it is filtered, sunned, and aged for a while. The more the oil aged, the better it will smell.

Agarwood Extracting

When is it needed to develop synthetic substitutes?

Development of synthetic substitutes usually arises when sustainable supplies of the natural product are not available and are expensive at the same time. Since, 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 even close in mimicking the natural product. The major chemical components responsible for the characteristic scent of Agarwood products, sesquiterpenes, can in principle be synthesized. However, these are very complicated structures that will be extremely expensive to synthesize, which makes it commercially completely unattractive.

So the major difference in fragrances of oudh oil and synthetic oudh can be distinguished easily. Oudh smells heavenly, woody and balsamic and surrounds a warm aura of bitter sweet and woody nuance. Whereas, synthetic oudh smells plain woody, leathry and lacks that warm balsmic aura.

WHY IS AGARWOOD EXPENSIVE?

Quality Agarwood Perfume

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)

Agarwood (Oud) Oils

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.

Agarwood Oils

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.

USES OF AGARWOOD

An important use of agarwood is the production of incense. Agarwood is an aphrodisiac, both in oil form, and as incense. These are generally topical uses but the oil is also sold in Vietnamese pharmacies for internal use with the same goal. Chinese medicine uses powdered Aquilaria as a treatment for cirrhosis of the liver and for other medicines. It has also been used as a treatment for lung and stomach tumors.

Quote from site www.vnagar.org