Agarwood


Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gaharuwood, commonly referred to as oud or oudh, is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small hand carvings.
It forms in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees after they become infected with a type of Phaeoacremonium mold, P. parasitica. The tree defensively secretes a resin to combat the fungal infestation. Prior to becoming infected, the heartwood mostly lacks scent, and is relatively light and pale in colouration. However, as the infection advances and the tree produces its fragrant resin as a final option of defense, the heartwood becomes very dense, dark, and saturated with resin. This product is harvested, and most famously referred to in cosmetics under the scent names of oud, oodh or aguru; however, it is also called aloes, agar, as well as gaharu or jinko. With thousands of years of known use, and valued across Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Chinese cultures, oud is prized in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures for its distinctive fragrance, utilized in colognes, incense and perfumes.
One of the main reasons for the relative rarity and high cost of agarwood is the depletion of wild sources. Since 1995, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has listed Aquilaria malaccensis in its Appendix II. In 2004, all Aquilaria species were listed in Appendix II; however, a number of countries have outstanding reservations regarding that listing.
The varying aromatic qualities of agarwood are influenced by the species, geographic location, its branch, trunk and root origin, length of time since infection, and methods of harvesting and processing. Agarwood is one of the most expensive woods in the world, along with African blackwood, sandalwood, pink ivory and ebony. First-grade agarwood is one of the most expensive natural raw materials in the world, with 2022 prices for superior pure material as high as US$150,000/kg, although in practice adulteration of the wood and oil is common, allowing for prices as low as US$100/kg. A wide range of qualities and products come to market, varying in quality with geographical location, botanical species, the age of the specific tree, cultural deposition and the section of the tree where the piece of agarwood stems from.

History

The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar natural analogues. In the perfume state, the scent is mainly distinguished by a combination of "oriental-woody" and "very soft fruity-floral" notes. The incense smoke is also characterised by a "sweet-balsamic" note and "shades of vanilla and musk" and amber. As a result, agarwood and its essential oil gained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world. Over 3,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used agarwood incense in their funeral rites. It was described as a fragrant product as early as 1400 BCE in the Vedas of India.
In the Hebrew Bible, "trees of lign aloes" are mentioned in The Book of Numbers 24:6 and a perfume compounded of aloeswood, myrrh, and cassia is described in Psalms 45.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus’s body is prepared for burial by binding it in linen wrappings with seventy-five pounds of aloes and myrrh.
Dioscorides in his book De materia medica described several medical qualities of agarwood and mentioned its use as an incense. Even though Dioscorides describes agarwood as having an astringent and bitter taste, it was used to freshen the breath when chewed or as a decoction held in the mouth. He also writes that a root extract was used to treat stomach complaints and dysentery as well as pains of the lungs and liver. Agarwood's use as a medicinal product was also recorded in the Sahih Muslim, which dates back to approximately the ninth century, and in the Ayurvedic medicinal text the Susruta Samhita.
As early as the third century CE in ancient Viet Nam, the Chinese chronicle Nan zhou yi wu zhi written by Wa Zhen of the Eastern Wu Dynasty mentioned agarwood produced in the Rinan commandery, now Central Vietnam, and how people collected it in the mountains.
During the sixth century CE in Japan, in the recordings of the Nihon Shoki the second oldest book of classical Japanese history, mention is made of a large piece of fragrant wood identified as agarwood. The source for this piece of wood is claimed to be from Pursat, Cambodia. The famous piece of wood still remains in Japan today and is showcased less than 10 times per century at the Nara National Museum.
File:RanJyaTai Shosoin.JPG|thumb|Ranjatai, 8th century, currently held by the Shōsōin, Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan
Agarwood is highly revered in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk religion.
Starting in 1580 after Nguyễn Hoàng took control over the central provinces of modern Vietnam, he encouraged trade with other countries, specifically China and Japan. Agarwood was exported in three varieties: Calambac, trầm hương, and agarwood proper. A pound of Calambac bought in Hội An for 15 taels could be sold in Nagasaki for 600 taels. The Nguyễn Lords soon established a Royal Monopoly over the sale of Calambac. This monopoly helped fund the Nguyễn state finances during the early years of the Nguyen rule.
Accounts of international trade in agarwood date back as early as the thirteenth century, with India being one of the earliest sources of agarwood for foreign markets.
Xuanzang's travelogues and the Harshacharita, written in seventh century AD in Northern India, mentions use of agarwood products such as 'Xasipat' and 'aloe-oil' in ancient Assam. The tradition of making writing materials from its bark still exists in Assam. It is still used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine where it goes by the name of Chén Xiāng - 沉香 - Literally meaning 'sinking fragrance'. Its earliest recorded mention is from the Miscellaneous Records of Famous Physicians, 名医别录, Ming Yi Bie Lu, ascribed to the author Táo Hǒng-Jǐng c.420-589.

Etymology

The word Agar ultimately comes from one of the Dravidian languages, probably from Tamil அகில்.

Vernacular names

Agarwood is known under many names in different cultures:
  • Another name is Lignum aloes or Aloeswood, unrelated to the familiar genus, Aloe. Also from akil, via Hebrew and Greek.
  • In Assamese it is called xasi.
  • In Bengali, it is commonly known by the same Sanskrit name as Aguru. The agarwood is known as agor gach and the agarwood oil as agor ator .
  • In Odia, it is called agara.
  • In Malayalam, it is called akil.
  • In Cambodia, it is called chann crassna. The fragrance from this wood is called khloem chann or khloem chann crassna. khloem is 'hard wood' and chann crassna is the tree species Aquilaria crassna in the Khmer language.
  • In Hindi it is known as agar, which is derived originally from the Sanskrit aguru.
  • In Sinhala Agarwood producing Gyrinops walla tree is known as "Walla Patta".
  • In Tamil it is called aghil though what was referred in ancient Tamil literature could well be Excoecaria agallocha.
  • In Telugu and Kannada, it is known by the same Sanskrit name as Aguru.
  • It is known as Chénxiāng in Chinese, Chimhyang in Korean, Jinkō in Japanese, and trầm hương in Vietnamese; all meaning "deep scent" and alluding to its intense scent. In Japan, there are several grades of Jinkō, the highest of which is known as Kyara. In Vietnam, ancient texts also refer to the use of agarwood in relation to travelling Buddhist monks.
  • In Tibetan it is known as ཨ་ག་རུ་. There are several varieties used in Tibetan Medicine: unique eaglewood, yellow eaglewood: ཨ་ག་རུ་སེར་པོ་, white eaglewood: ཨར་སྐྱ་, and black eaglewood: ཨར་ནག་.\
  • Both agarwood and its resin distillate/extracts are known as oud in Arabic and used to describe agarwood in Arab countries. Western perfumers also often use agarwood essential oil under the name "oud" or "oudh".
  • In English speaking Europe it was referred to as Lignum aquila or Agilawood, from similarity to Tamil-Malayalam aghil.
  • In Indonesian and Malay, it is called gaharu.
  • In The Philippines, it is known as Lapnisan.
  • In Papua New Guinea it is called "ghara" or eagle wood.
  • In Thai it is known as mai kritsana.
  • In Laos it is known as mai ketsana.
  • In Myanmar, it is known as Thit Mhwae.

    Formation

Production mode

There are seventeen species in the genus Aquilaria, large evergreens native to southeast Asia and south asia, of which nine are known to produce agar wood. Agarwood can in theory be produced from all members, but until recently it was primarily produced from A. malaccensis. A. crassna and A. sinensis are the other two members of the genus that are commonly harvested. The gyrinops tree can also produce agarwood.
Image:condensers.jpg|thumb|right|Steam distillation process used to extract agarwood essential oils
Long term Agar wood forms in the trunk and roots of trees that have been penetrated by an Ambrosia beetle insect the Dinoplatypus chevrolati first discovered by Stephan Alexander Peter, feeding on wood and oily resin. The tree may then be infected by a mould, and in response it produces a salutary self-defence material to conceal damages or infections. 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 yellow, orange, red, dark brown or black. In natural forests, only about 7 out of 100 Aquilaria trees of the same species are infected and produce aloes/agar wood. A common method in planted forestry is to inoculate trees with the fungus. It produces a "damage sap" and is referred to as "fake" aloes/agar wood.
Oud oil can be distilled from agar wood using steam; the total yield of oil for 70 kg of wood will not exceed 20 ml.