Sun December 6, 2020
God while you pray every time you wake up when you sleep or thanksgiving him the food he gives in his name, the so-called has created something to be used to worship him and for ceremonial activities. A tree that is 1 kilogram of first-grade agarwood could cost $100,000. This is more than the market price of a precious stone like Gold. It was amazing, for thousands of years, agarwood has been known as "The Wood of the Gods." This would become one of the most expensive raw materials today. However, for this tree to generate any agarwood, it must first suit for contaminating with mold.
How the infection process work and what makes it so precious?
Aquilaria malaccensis comes from the rainforests of southeast Asia. Inside Aquilaria trees is pale and odorless. However, in the wild, the damage to the tree by external forces, such as grazing of animals, affects then produces the growth of a particular type of fungal infection inside the plant named Phialophora parasitica.
Phialophora parasitica is a serious fungal disease-causing dieback sign on trees.
"The Aquilaria's defense to this attack is to produce a stress-induced aromatic resin called aloes, which is dark and moist. Over several years, the aloes slowly embed into the heartwood to create agarwood."
Many skilled woodsmen, in the first look of Aquilaria tree they can foresee if it has agarwood inside.
"Some insects like the ants bore into the tree trunk, resulting in a wound and carrying in the microorganisms, bacteria, fungus spores inside the trunk of the tree. The ant secretes a fluid that harms the tree, and then the tree utilizes its sap to wrap the wounds, which will turn into agarwood for some time."
After agarwood is harvested, it needs to be segregated from the mother tree. There is a task that takes some hours this is to resin-infused chips and carved out using our hand. These oud chips are naturally used as incense, which could make fragrant into clothes or garments as perfume.
When burning the wood, the smoke appears and then the aroma secretes the typical scent of agarwood. After a few minutes, it will slowly embark on the sweet smell. It can last up to three to five hours likely.
Moreover, natural agarwood is relatively rare but these people still prefer to use it anyway. However, in reality, is that the quality of artificial to natural agarwood is not inevitably inferior. Natural agarwood is very expensive to the extent that it can be more times greater than artificial agarwood. The truth is that artificial agarwood is known to be a human-made crop, so it presumes to have lower prices.
Furthermore, the global market for agarwood is estimated to be $32 billion worth. The oud chips that have popular high demand increased in the price also the rate of harvesting and artificial production.
What is agarwood?
This agarwood occurrence in trees called resinous heartwood or having a pitch or tar are related to the genus Aquilaria (Thymelaeceae family).
Agarwood has a light or pale color sign that it is healthy. However, when it is infected by the disease, infection occurs and creates a response to the invasion that results in a very dark and aromatic resin known as oleoresin. Also, the rich dark resin is expensive which agarwood essential oil is extracted. The older the resin-the more expensive it becomes.
Aquilaria grows in subtropical forests and it is considered a fast-growing tree. The population growth starts from South Asia’s Himalayan foothills, throughout Southeast Asia. It also lives in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. It grows a few meters above sea level to about 1000 meters. The height reaches 500 meters tall.
Aquilaria requires a wide range of soils. Seedlings need a shaded area and enough water to grow rapidly, then, later on, yield flowers and seeds at early four years old.
Custom
The “Wood of the Gods” has been bought and sell and highly yearned for thousands of years. The resinous wood all over the countries had various usage such as:
used as incense
medicinal purposes
essential oil
perfume component
Religious use - (Faith healers in the Middle East use it at curative ceremonies), (Japanese pilgrims donate flowers and agarwood oil to Shinto-Buddhist temples), and (Vietnamese religious groups are obliged to bring agarwood to ceremonies at their temples in Mekong Delta communities.)
Price
The value of first-grade Agarwood is extremely high. A wide collection of products of various grades is available on the market, ranging with geographical location and culture. Prices vary from a few dollars for low quality to over thirty thousand US dollars for the top-quality oil.
Aquilaria crassna is registered as a critically threatened to the extinction of species in Vietnam also Aquilaria malaccensis is listed as unprotected species by the World Conservation Union.
In the Philippines, the first-class agarwood, or what locally called lapnisan is traded at PHP750,000 per kilogram or $15,000 to $16,000.
Extinction
Resin-producing trees are endangered all across Southeast Asia. The main driving force that turns this expensive tree to extinction was unsustainable harvesting in their natural habitat. It resulted in the near-extinction of this tree genus everywhere.
"Trade and harvesting restrictions will be virtually impossible to implement and enforce if no alternative is developed to forest-based harvesting. Besides, both in the short and long-term, a natural resource needs to be maintained to supply present and future."
However, for the Philippine Government, the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) officials warned those planning to conduct illegal harvest of agarwood "Lapnisan and Lanete trees." Charges for violation of the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines and Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act will be enforced for the one who gets caught.
Alternatives
“Is it possible to synthesize agarwood and agarwood oil?”
The answer is no.
Agarwood cannot be synthesized. However, chemical substitutes are available for perfume. Although the cost is cheap and constitutes the least profitable end in the market it is still the best alternative for conservation of the tree.
The chemical ingredients that produce the scent of agarwood products are called sesquiterpenes a 15-carbon chain compound that can be principally synthesized.
"However, these are very complicated structures that are extremely expensive to synthesize."
ABOUT AGARWOOD
"Agarwood has an influential role in many religious traditions all over the world. It has been revered for millennia for its fragrance in religious ceremonies and its incense burned at the burial of Jesus Christ."
Furthermore, agarwood has an abundant history in terms of medicinal use in many cultures. It has been used for many centuries by those unknown physicians in some countries like Tibet, India, China, and the Arab world in some physical and mental conditions.
Source:
https://therainforestproject.net/what-is-agarwood/
https://www.plantationsinternational.com/what-is-agarwood/
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1081546
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