Agarwood—The Fragrant Molecules of a Wounded Tree

Abstract

Agarwood, popularly known as oudh or gaharu, is a fragrant resinous wood of high commercial value, traded worldwide and primarily used for its distinctive fragrance in incense, perfumes, and medicine. This fragrant wood is created when Aquilaria trees are wounded and infected by fungi, producing resin as a defense mechanism. The depletion of natural agarwood caused by overharvesting amidst increasing demand has caused this fragrant defensive resin of endangered Aquilaria to become a rare and valuable commodity. Given that instances of natural infection are quite low, artificial induction, including biological inoculation, is being conducted to induce agarwood formation. A long-term investigation could unravel insights contributing toward Aquilaria being sustainably cultivated. This review will look at the different methods of induction, including physical, chemical, and biological, and compare the production, yield, and quality of such treatments with naturally formed agarwood. Pharmaceutical properties and medicinal benefits of fragrance-associated compounds such as chromones and terpenoids are also discussed.

Identification of O-Methyltransferases Potentially Contributing to the Structural Diversity of 2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromones in Agarwood

“…The parameters were used as follows: positive-ion mode; ESI voltage, 1.54 kV; nebulizing gas, N 2 ; flow rate, 1.5 mL/ min; drying gas, N 2 ; pressure, 100 MPa; curve dissolvent tube temperature, 200 °C; block heater temperature, 200 °C; and collisioninduced dissociation (CID) energy, 70%. The TOF mass scan range was operated from m/z 100 to 1000 for MS 1 , and the range of MS 2 was m/z 50 to 800 Da.…”

Agarwood oil quality identification using artificial neural network modelling for five grades

“…Agarwood, in particular, is extremely valuable as a non-timber forest resource due to its substantial demand. It plays a pivotal role in traditional medicine, contributes to the production of fragrant products and is used in religious and cultural ceremonies and festivals across many nations and faiths [1], [4]- [6]. 2255 Agarwood oil has gained universal and Malaysian acclaim for its diverse and valuable applications, particularly in the realms of fragrances, incense, perfumes, ceremonial practices, medicinal uses and as symbols of premium goods [7]- [10].…”

Comprehensive Comparisons between Grafted Kynam Agarwood and Normal Agarwood on Traits, Composition, and In Vitro Activation of AMPK

“…Those stimuli from natural or artificial sources (knife, fire, fungus, etc.) put the Aquilaria tree in a state of stress and cause it to produce a special defensive mechanism to secrete resin [ 3 ]. The majority of available agarwood in the market is from four species, including Aquilaria malaccensis Lam, Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte, Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.)…”

“…Natural agarwood has been used as incense and medicine for spiritual healing and physical healing. The therapeutic effects of agarwood are closely related to its quality with high quality agarwood containing higher concentrations of resins [ 3 , 5 ]. Agarwood has been included in every edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (Volume 1) (Ch.P) [ 6 ].…”