Sandalwood is the name of different fragrant woods. These woods are 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.
Genuine sandalwoods Santalum album
True sandalwoods are medium-sized hemiparasitic trees of the Genus Santalum. Santalum album is the most notable members of this Genus in India. Several other members of the genus also have fragrant wood and are found across India, Australia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands. Mysore district of Karnataka in India is known globally for Sandalwood and its originality.
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, 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.
Production Sandalwood leafProducing commercially valuable sandalwood with high levels of fragrance oils, requires Santalum trees to be around eight years of age as a minimum, but a preference of fourteen years and above is present. Australia is now the largest producer of Santalum album with a majority being grown around Kununurra, Western Australia.
Unlike most trees, sandalwood is harvested by toppling the entire tree instead of sawing them down at the trunk. This way, valuable wood from the stump and root can also be sold or processed for oil.
Properties of sandalwood oil:
Promotes hydration and moisture, preventing wrinkles
Softens and soothes the skin
Effective in relieving dehydrated skin – making it great for anti-ageing skincare
Relieves itching and inflation of the skin
Acts as an astringent which has great toning effect on the skin
Fights oily skin conditions
Prevents the skin from forming ugly scars and fights dry eczema and skin cancer
Fragrance creates a calming and harmonizing effect
Reduces tension and confusion
Ideal use in depression, hectic daily lifestyles and states of fear, stress, nervousness and anxiety
Usage
Fragrance
Sandalwood essential oil provides perfumes with a striking wood base note. Sandalwood smells somewhat like other wood scents, except it has a bright and fresh edge with few natural analogues. When used in smaller proportions in a perfume, it is an excellent fixative to enhance the head space of other fragrances.
The oil from sandalwood is widely used in the cosmetic industry and is expensive. The true sandalwood is a protected species, and demand for it cannot be met in full. Many species of plants are traded under the name of "sandalwood". Within the genus Santalum alone, there are more than nineteen species that can be called sandalwood. Traders will often accept oil from closely related species, such as various species in the genus Santalum, as well as from unrelated plants such as West Indian Sandalwood (Amyris balsamifera) in the family Rutaceae.
Used for religious worships and ceremonies:
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.
It is said to have been used for embalming the corpses of princes in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the 9th century.
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.
Technology
Due to its low fluorescence and optimal refractive index, sandalwood oil is often employed as an immersion oil within ultraviolet and fluorescence microscopy.
Distillation
Sandalwood is distilled in a four-step process, incorporating boiling, steaming, condensation and separation.
Food
Australian Aborigines ate the seed kernels, nuts, and fruit of local sandalwoods, such as quandong (Santalum acuminatum).
The most well- known product of Sandalwood in India is the Mysore Sandal Soap manufactured and sold by Wipro.
Powered by Blogger.
0 comments:
Post a Comment