AGORWOOD

RS- 1000
  1. Agarwood is a highly valuable aromatic dark resinous heartwood of Aquilaria species. The formation of agarwood is generally associated with the wounding and fungal infection of the Aquilaria trees. The resin is secreted by the trees as defense reaction and deposited around the wounds over the years following the injury, where the accumulation of the volatile compounds eventually forms agarwood. Agarwood has been widely used as therapeutic perfumes, traditional medicine, religious purposes and aromatic food ingredient.
  1. Agarwoodwere recorded in ancient literatures, religious scriptures and medical texts. The word “aloes” which means agarwood was found occurring in the Sanskrit poet, Kâlidâsa that can be dated back to c. 4th–5th century CE. Meanwhile, the use of agarwood in the prescription of traditional Chinese medicine of the same period had also been recorded. Development of Agarwood Induction Technologies The Chinese medicine uses it as a natural sedative, pain reliever, digestive aid and carminative.
  1. Agarwood has high demand throughout the world as a raw material for incense, perfume and medicine purposes, with Middle East and East Asia as the two major regions of consumption. As the wealth of the consumer countries has gradually increased in the recent decades, the market’s demand for agarwood started to exceed its supply. Global Agarwood prices can be ranging from US$ 20 – 6,000 per kilogram for the wood chips depending on its quality or US$ 10,000 per kilogram for the wood itself. In addition, the value of agarwood essential oil can be as high as US$ 30,000 per kilogram. The annual global market for agarwood has been estimated to be in the range of US$ 6 – 8 billion, yet a large number of the trades have not been recorded.
  1. Since agarwood formation in natural environment is a very long process which can take up to 10 years, the development of effective induction technology has received a great attention as it is extremely crucial to ensure the stability of agarwood yield from the domesticated Adularia trees. Naturally, agarwood formation is often linked to the physical wounding or damage of Adularia trees caused by thunder strike, animal grazing, pest and disease infestations. These events expose the inner part of the trees toward pathogenic microbes, which elicit the defence mechanism of Aquilaria to initiate the resin production. This natural formation process of agarwood has greatly inspired the development of diverse artificial induction methods.