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:''This article is about the resinous heartwood from Aquilaria trees. For the trees which produce agarwood, see Aquilaria.''
'Agarwood' or just 'Agar' (from the Malay ''gaharu'') is the resinous heartwood from Aquilaria trees, large evergreens native to southeast Asia. The trees occasionally become infected with a parasite mould and begin to produce an aromatic resin in response to this attack. As the fungus grows, the tree produces a very rich, dark resin within the heartwood. It is this precious resinous wood that is treasured around the world. The resin is commonly called Gaharu, Jinko, Aloeswood, Agarwood or Oud and is valued in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, thus it is used for incense and perfumes.
One of the reasons for the relative rarity and high cost of agarwood is the depletion of the wild resource.^[1] Since 1995 ''Aquilaria malaccensis'', the primary source, has been listed in Appendix II by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.^[2] In 2004 all ''Aquilaria'' species were listed in Appendix II; however, a number of countries have outstanding reservations regarding that listing.

Contents

History

Etymology

Formation

Trade and use

Odour profile

Notes

External links

History

Malaysia gaharu production based in Muar, Johor

The odour of agarwood is complex and pleasing, with few or no similar natural analogues. As a result, agarwood and its essential oil gained great cultural and religious significance in ancient civilizations around the world. In as early as the 3rd century, the chronicle ''Nan zhou yi wu zhi'' (Strange things from the South) 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.
Starting in 1580 after Nguyen Hoang 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 (Khi Nam in Vietnamese), Tram Huong (very similar but slightly harder and slightly less rare), and agarwood proper. A pound of Calambac bought in Hoi An for 15 taels could be sold in Nagasaki for 600 taels. The Nguyen Lords soon established a Royal Monopoly over the sale of Calambac. This monopoly helped fund the Nguyen state finances during the early years of the Nguyen rule.^[3]

Etymology

Agarwood is known under many names in different cultures:

★ It is known as ''Chén-xīang'' () in Chinese and ''Jin-koh'' () in Japanese, both meaning "sinking incense" and alluding to its high density.

★ Both agarwood and its resin distillate/extracts are known as ''Oud'' in Arabic (literally ''wood'') and used to describe agarwood in nations and areas of Islamic faith. Western perfumers may also use agarwood essential oil under the name "oud" or "oude".

★ In Europe it was referred to as ''Lignum aquila'' (eagle-wood) or ''Agilawood'', because of the similarity in sound of ''agila'' to ''gaharu''

★ Another name is ''Lignum aloes'' or Aloeswood. This is potentially confusing, since a genus ''Aloe'' exists (unrelated), which has medicinal uses, . However, the 'Aloes' of the Old Testament (Num. 24:6; Ps. 45:8; Prov. 7:17; and Cant. 4:14) and of the Hebrew Bible (''ahalim'' in Hebrew) are believed to be agarwood from ''Aquilaria malaccensis''.

★ The Indonesian and Malay name is "gaharu".

★ In New Guinea it is called "ghara".

★ In Vietnamese, it is known as trầm hương.^[4]

★ In Hindi (India), it is known as "agar".

★ In Laos it is known as "Mai Ketsana".

Formation

There are fifteen species in of the ''Aquilaria'' genus and eight are known to
produce agarwood.^[5] In theory agarwood can be produced from all members; however, until recently it was primarily produced from ''A. malaccensis''. ''A. agallocha'' and ''A. secundaria'' are synonyms for ''A. malaccensis''. ''A. crassna'' and ''A. sinensis'' are the other two members of the genus that are usually harvested.
Formation of agarwood occurs in the trunk and roots of trees that have been infected by a parasitc ascomycetous mould, ''Phaeoacremonium parasitica''^[6], a dematiaceous (dark-walled) fungus. As a response, the tree produces a resin high in volatile organic compounds that aids in suppressing or retarding the fungal growth. 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 dark brown or black. In natural forest only about 7% of the trees are infected by the fungus. A common method in artificial forestry is to inoculate all the trees with the fungus.
High quality resin comes from a tree's natural immune response to a fungal attack. It is commonly known as agarwood #1 (first quality). An inferior resin is created using forced methods where aquilaria trees are deliberately wounded, leaving them more susceptible to a fungal attack. This is commonly called agarwood #2.

Trade and use

Gaharu production in Muar, Johor state, Malaysia

A gaharu manufacturing base in Parit Keroma, Muar, Johor state, (Malaysia): under En Sulaiman Doss Mohammed Khan supervision

Singapore serves as an important trading centre for agarwood products, because of its location and it economic position in Southeast Asia.
Agarwood is used in Arab countries (especially in the Persian Gulf) as incense. In Japan, it is used in ''Kōdō'' or "incense ceremony" along with Sandalwood. Agarwood (Aloeswood) was used by the Ancient Egyptians for embalming dead bodies. Agarwood extract is rarely used in western perfumery due to its prohibitive price.
Due to its rarity and the high demand for it, agarwood and agarwood extracts bring high prices. Indiscriminate cutting of trees of the relevant species in the hope of finding agarwood has resulted in depletion of wild trees. One species has been CITES-listed. Projects are currently underway in some countries in southeast Asia to infect cultivated ''Aquilaria'' trees artificially to produce agarwood in a sustainable manner.
In the past, Malaysia (formerly Malaya) was a popular spot for traders to seek perfumes. The native perfumes produced from real woods and petals from Malaya successfully attracted traders from all over the world, especially from Portugal and Britain. However, the popularity of agarwood in Malaysia faded after the colonization of Malacca.
Today, gaharu (Malay word for agarwood) is becoming more popular in Malaysia. This is due to a movement by En Sulaiman Bin Doss Mohammed Khan, originating in Muar Johor, to create awareness of the precious sources of agarwood in Malaysia. This kind of awareness is vital as Malaysia is rich in agarwood, deep in the jungles, mainly in Terengganu and Pahang. The government of Malaysia recently financed some agencies to continue research and development of gaharu. The goal is also to increase the trade of agarwood in Malaysia to levels such as those during the Malacca Sultanate centuries ago.

Odour profile

diversify usage of gaharu in perfume production

A natural perfume oil obtained by CO₂ extraction from agarwood retains the odour of "true" agarwood: a cepes (mushroom) and carrot seed accord, which can be roughly approximated by combining ambergris, jasmine, earth and wood notes. Lightly infected wood, sometimes cultivated, produces an inferior oil with a vetiver / sandalwood / patchouli character.

Notes

1. Broad, S. (1995) "Agarwood harvesting in Vietnam" ''TRAFFIC Bulletin'' 15:96
2. CITES (25 April 2005) "Notification to the Parties" No. 2005/0025
3. Li, Tana (1998) ''Nguỹên Cochinchina: southern Vietnam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries'' Southeast Asia Program Publications, Ithaca, NY, p. 79 ISBN 0-87727-722-2
4. Thứ Hai (9 April 2006) "Kỳ nam và Trầm hương" Tuổi Trẻ Online
5. Ng, L.T., Chang Y.S. and Kadir, A.A. (1997) "A review on agar (gaharu) producing Aquilaria species" ''Journal of Tropical Forest Products'' 2(2): pp. 272-285
6. formerly ''Phialophora parasitica'' Crous, P. W. ''et al.'' (1996) "Phaeoacremonium gen. nov. associated with wilt and decline diseases of woody hosts and human infections." ''Mycologia'' 88(5): pp. 786–796

External links

★ [1], photographs of the resin, agarwood and aquilaria

★ Article by David Oller & Kyozaburo Nakata

★ Interesting article that describes the challenge of sourcing agarwood.

★ Hong Kong herbarium factsheet of ''Aquilaria sinensis''

★ "Sustainable Agarwood Production in Aquilaria Trees" at the University of Minnesota

★ Rainforest project

★ CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna]]