Sandalwood oil
• Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) is a valuable tree associated with Indian culture.
• Second most expensive wood in the world• Heartwood• Sandalwood oil-perfumes, cosmetics,
aromatherapy and pharmaceuticals
• Karnataka,Tamil Nadu and Kerala Monopoly• IUCN Red List• essential to encourage-sandalwood
plantations
• small to medium-sized hemiparasitic• more than 5000 years, India has been the
traditional leader• Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam• funeral pyre• The beige-colored paste of sandalwood is
applied on the forehead
• outer wood - has no scent• heartwood is described as astringent, bitter,
moderately hard, heavy, durable, yellow or brown
• African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon).
Sandalwood oil
• steam distillation of heartwood powder• Hydrosol• CO2
• 5 g of oil- Rs 1500• yellow to yellow viscous liquid, with a sweet,
fragrant, persistent, spicy, warm, woody, animalic, milky and nutty notes
• two forms of a sesquiterpene alcohol – α-santalol (7–60%) and β-santalol (7–33%).
• good fixatives perfumery and toiletry industry
• Most Indian attars-• base because of its inherent capacity to absorb
most of the ethereal notes of other whole herbs or flowers, as it can enhance their perfumery status and stability
• frozen• flavouring substance-dairy desserts, candy, pan
masala, baked food, gelatin, puddings and also in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
• acute scarcity-search for novel synthetic raw materials
• Ayurveda, Chinese and Tibetan medicinal systems• common colds, bronchitis, fever, dysentery, piles,
scabies UTI, inflammation of the mouth and pharynx, • expectorant, stimulant, carminative, digestive
and as a muscle relaxant
Therapeutics
• effective on methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• antimycotic-resistant Candida species• antibacterial activity against Helicobacter
pylori• virulence against isolates of drug-resistant
herpes simplex virus type I• anti-carcinogenic activity• anti-influenza A/HK (H3N2) virus activity
• elevates pulse rate, skin conductance level and systolic blood pressure and brings about higher ratings of attentiveness and mood inhumans
Monopoly
• prospective economic resource• Tippu Sultan-declared sandalwood tree as a royal
tree-1792• Karnataka Government.• Jurisdiction of the Forest Department-1864• 18 classes was introduced in 1898• Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV• Outbreak of the World War I-Out of 1313 tonnes-
only 70 tonnes
• professors J. J. Sudbourough and H. E.• Watson-Indian Institute of Science(IISc),
Bengaluru• sandalwood oil distillery-1916• Excessive harvesting without replenishment• Kannauj- 800kg of oil monthly at peak.
• spike disease-• 700,000 • 350,000- arsenical solution. (1903–1916)• forest fires, absence of adequate number of seed
bearing trees, lack of established plantations and heavy demand by the Sandalwood Oil Factory
• Illegal- 76.75 tonnes in 1999–2000 to 3.52 tonnes in 2010–11
• Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation -fixed at 100 tonnes
• The Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Act 2001 and The Tamil Nadu Forest (Amendment) Act 2002
• spike disease-Mycoplasmas and phytoplasmas.
Cultivation parameters
• Volcanic soil• Good sunlight• Free draining soil• Slope north to west• Annual dry season• Weed protection in early stage.
Facts & figures
• Global demand- 5500-6600 tonnes• Global production- 4400 tonnes• India- 400 tonnes• India unofficial 2000 tonnes• Australia- S.spicatum-2000 tonnes• 350 tonnes from Timor, Malaysia, Indonesia.