India Sandalwood Chips

LATIN NAME: SANTALUM ALBUM

COMMON NAME: Indian Sandalwood, Sandalwood

The Santalum album, or Indian sandalwood, is one of the most valuable and fragrant of the tropical trees, and its dense, yellow-brown, fragrant heartwood and its long history of use in the perfumery, the incense and the carvings have made it a tree of the tropical forests and the luxury trade across the regions of the South Asia and the Southeast Asia. It grows as a small to medium-sized, evergreen, semi-parasitic tree of the sandalwood family, reaching up to fifteen metres or more, with the smooth, dark-brown bark and the dense, rounded crown bearing opposite, glossy, grey-green, oval leaves, and bearing, in the warm months, the small, purple, four-petalled flowers in the clusters, followed by the small, round, dark-purple, fleshy fruits. It is a species of the flowering tree, native to the tropical forests of the South Asia and the Southeast Asia, while it has been valued for its fragrant heartwood for thousands of years and is now rare in the wild due to the over-logging, and it is known as the Indian sandalwood or the sandalwood.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The Indian sandalwood has a real and distinguished place in research. It has been studied in the chemistry and the perfumery science, since the Santalum album produces the fragrant, essential oil which contains the alpha-santalol and the beta-santalol, and the researchers have examined the heartwood, the oil, their constituents and their composition, while the study of the fragrant trees and the perfumery has drawn attention in the international natural-products and perfumery press. The tree has also been studied in the forestry and the conservation, since the Indian sandalwood is a rare and valuable tree of the tropical forests and its populations are affected by the over-logging and the habitat loss, and the researchers have examined its conservation, its cultivation and its protection, while the study of the rare tropical trees has been of continuing interest. The species has also been studied in the biology, since it is a semi-parasitic tree which attaches to the roots of the other trees, and the researchers have examined its parasitism and its ecology, while the dense, fragrant heartwood and the grey-green leaves of the Indian sandalwood have been of interest to the botanists and the perfumers. For a tree of such fragrance, the Santalum album has a rich and distinguished record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

To grow the Indian Sandalwood from seed, the Indian sandalwood is a small to medium-sized, evergreen tree of the tropical forests, bearing the glossy, grey-green leaves and the small, purple flowers, followed by the dark-purple fruits. Its fruits are a food for the birds and the wildlife, and its dense, evergreen crown gives a fine presence in the tropical forest and the large garden, while its fragrant, dense heartwood is one of the most valuable materials in the perfumery and the incense. Its economic value is real but complex: the Indian sandalwood is prized for its fragrant heartwood and its essential oil used in the perfumery and the incense, and its value has drawn attention in the international perfumery and conservation press, while the rarity and the high value have made it a tree of conservation concern, and the tree is best appreciated as a subject of study and a rare ornamental for the tropical garden. To raise the Indian sandalwood, sow the seeds in pots of moist, open soil in a warm, bright place, keep them gently watered, and grow the little trees on in the warmth.

sow the seeds in pots of moist, open soil in a warm, bright place, keep the young sandalwood gently watered, and grow the little trees on in the warmth.

This sandalwood chips are well cut and good size, equal length of 7cm long x 0.5 cm or 1 cm thickness. The scenst of this sandalwood is so excellent. It has scents that is woody, sweet, floral and yet delicate. Sandalwood is currently in serious shortage and very expensive and considered to have the highest quality.      Sandalwood is yielded by trees in the genus Santalum, which are often used for the essential oil it contains. The wood is heavy and yellow in color as well as fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods it retains its fragrance for decades. The sandalwood fragrance is very distinctive and is used in countless applications. Sandalwood has been valued and treasured for many years for its fragrance, carving, medical and religious qualities. Sandalwood is highly sought after for its sensual aphrodisiac qualities, as a relaxing d\sedative and its antiseptic puritying powers. The most important uses of sandalwood are to sedate the nervous system, subduing nervousness, anxiety and insomnia. Researches found that it relaxes brain waves & increases the productionof white blood cells to help the body rid itself of infection.Sandalwood is a well known aphrodisiac that reduces fears & makes an individual both physically & emotionally more open to a physical relationship.   Sandalwood is also considered in alternative medicine to bring one closer with the divine. Sandalwood essential oil, which is very expensive in its pure form, is used primarily for Ayurvedic purposes, and treating anxiety. (source: Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia's) The genuine sandalwoods are medium-sized hemiparasitic trees of the genus Santalum. The most notable members of this group are Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) and Australian/Papua New Gunea sandalwood (Santalum spicatum). Several other members of the genus species also have fragrant wood and are found across India, Australia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands. Santalum album, or Indian sandalwood, is currently a threatened species and consequently very expensive. It is indigenous to South India, and grows in the Western Ghats and a few other mountain ranges like the Kalrayan and Shevaroyan Hills. Although all sandalwood trees in India and Nepal are government-owned and their harvest is strictly controlled, many trees are illegally cut down and smuggled out of the country. Sandalwood essential oil prices have risen up to $1,000–1,500 per kg in the last 5 years. Some countries regard the sandal oil trade as ecologically harmful because it encourages the overharvesting of sandalwood trees. Sandalwood from the Mysore region of Karnataka (formerly Carnatic), Southern India is widely considered to be of the highest quality available. New plantations have been set up with international aid in Tamilnadu in order to gain the economic benefits of sandalwood production. Today, in Kununurra in Western Australia, Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) is being grown on a very large scale. Huge plantations surround this picturesque little town. Santalum ellipticum, S. freycinetianum, and S. paniculatum, the Hawaiian sandalwoods (?iliahi), were also used and considered of high quality. These three species were intensively exploited for only a brief period (approximately 1790–1825) before the supply of trees ran out. Although S. freycinetianum and S. paniculatum are relatively common today, they have never regained their former abundance or size, and S. ellipticum remains rare[1][2]. Santalum spicatum (Australian sandalwood) is used by some aromatherapists and perfumers. The concentration of constituent chemicals in its essential oil – hence, its aroma – differs considerably from those of other Santalum species. In the 1840s, sandalwood was Western Australia’s biggest export earner. Oil was distilled for the first time in 1875, and by the turn of the century there was intermittent production of Australian sandalwood oil. Religious use Hinduism Sandalwood paste is integral to rituals and ceremonies, to mark religious utensils and to decorate the icons of the deities. It is also distributed thereafter to devotees, who apply it to the forehead or the neck and chest. Preparation of the paste is considered a duty fit only for the pure, and is therefore entrusted in temples and during ceremonies only to priests. The paste is prepared by grinding pieces of the wood by hand upon granite slabs shaped for the purpose. With slow addition of water a thick paste results, which is mixed with saffron or other such pigments to make Chandan. Sandalwood is considered in alternative medicine to bring one closer to the divine. Sandalwood essential oil, which is very expensive in its pure form, is used primarily for Ayurvedic purposes and treating anxiety. Buddhism Sandalwood is considered to be of the padma (lotus) group and attributed to Amitabha Buddha. Sandalwood scent is believed to transform one's desires and maintain a person's alertness while in meditation. Sandalwood is also one of the more popular scents used for incense used when offering incense to the Buddha. Chinese and Japanese Religions Sandalwood, along with agarwood, is the most commonly used incense material by the Chinese and Japanese in worship and various ceremonies. It is also used extensively in Indian incense, religiously or otherwise. It is said to have been used for embalming the corpses of princes in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the 9th century. Zoroastrianism Zoroastrians offer sandalwood twigs to the firekeeping priests who offer the sandalwood to the fire which keep the fire burning. Sandalwood is offered to all of the three grades of fire in the Fire temple, including the Atash Dadgahs. Sandalwood is not offered to the divo, a homemade lamp. Often, money is offered to the mobad along with the sandalwood. Sandalwood is called sukhar in the Zoroastrian community. The sandalwood in the fire temple is often more expensive to buy than at a Zoroastrian store. It is often a source of income for the fire temple. Medicine Sandalwood essential oil was popular in medicine up to 1920-1930, mostly as an urogenital (internal) and skin (external) antiseptic. Its main component beta-santalol (~90%) has antimicrobial properties. It is used in aromatherapy and to prepare soaps. Due to this antimicrobial activity, it can be used to clear skin from blackheads and spots, but it must always be properly diluted with a carrier oil. Because of its strength, sandalwood oil should never be applied to the skin without being diluted in a carrier oil.