Sandalwood

Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for use. Sandalwood is the second-most expensive wood in the world, after African blackwood. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past century.

Species and sources

The genus Santalum has more than 19 species. Various species of sandalwood grow in different parts of the world, with the largest concentration in India. Other significant sources include Australia and Hawaii. Some species, such as S. album, can be found in dry regions of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia, Hawaii, and other Pacific Islands.

Uses

Sandalwood oil has a distinctive soft, warm, smooth, creamy, and milky precious-wood scent. It imparts a long-lasting, woody base to perfumes from the oriental, woody, fougère, and chypre families, as well as a fixative to floral and citrus fragrances. When used in smaller proportions in a perfume, it acts as a fixative, enhancing the longevity of other, more volatile, materials in the composite. Sandalwood is also a key ingredient in the "floriental" (floral-ambery) fragrance family – when combined with white florals such as jasmine, ylang ylang, gardenia, plumeria, orange blossom, tuberose, etc.

Sandalwood is often used for carving for temples and homes in India, and it is still used for making traditional fans in China. In Korea, sandalwood is a common ingredient in incense used by Buddhist temples and other places of worship. Sandalwood oil has been widely used in folk medicine for treatment of common colds, bronchitis, skin disorders, heart ailments, general weakness, fever, infection of the urinary tract, inflammation of the mouth and pharynx, liver and gallbladder complaints and other maladies.

Conservation status

Due to over-harvesting, the wild population of S. album has been threatened. The Indian government has banned the export of the species to reduce the threat, and as a result, various plantation efforts are in progress in several countries.

See also

• Santalum album
• Santalum spicatum
• Santalum paniculatum
• Santalum freycinetianum
• Santalum ellipticum

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