Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) is a tree native to Western Australia. It is a rapidly depleting timber commodity with an ever-increasing global market.
Sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) is a tree native to Western Australia. It is a rapidly depleting timber commodity with an ever-increasing global market.
Intimately tied to Asian cultures for thousands of years, sandalwood is best known for its use in joss sticks, which are burned as incense in Buddhist and Hindu religious ceremonies. Sandalwood oil, contained in the heartwood, is highly sought after by the perfume industry due to its subtle fragrance and unique fixative properties. From antiseptics and cancer preventatives, to wine barrels and woodcarving, the uses for sandalwood make it one of Western Australia’s most lucrative renewable resources. With demand from China alone growing at 60 percent a year and the world market growing at 5 percent, the forecast is bright for commercial growers to supplement the finite supply of native sandalwood with plantation grown timber.
Continual harvesting gradually depleted the available wood in India and Indonesia. At present there is only enough wood harvested in India to supply their own domestic markets. Although sandalwood grows in parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands, the natural stands are rapidly disappearing and there is not nearly enough to satisfy the enormous worldwide demand. That is why Western Australia’s sandalwood now supplies around 60 percent of the world-traded market in this valuable timber.
Sandalwood has held a religious significance within the Hindu and Buddhist communities for thousands of years. The most significant use for Australian sandalwood is for the production of joss sticks (incense). There are close to a billion incense sticks burnt each day throughout Asia.
Taiwan is currently the largest importer of Australian sandalwood, with demand exceeding 2000 tonnes per year.
The value of sandalwood lies in its unique fragrance. The oil is extracted for use in high quality perfumes and aromatherapy products. Sandalwood oil is today still an integral part of some of the world’s favourite perfumes including “Obsession” by Calvin Klein and “Opium” by Yves St Laurent. Its natural fragrance and fixative properties make it an ideal ingredient for soaps, shampoos, lotions, bath oils and many other preparations.
Sandalwood oil is an essential oil and is used on its own and in blends with other oils for application onto the skin and inhalation.
Sandalwood oil has many antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties which are being increasingly brought to bear against a number of disease causing organisms and conditions. It is currently used in treating Herpes, acne, thrush, tinea, ringworm and body odour, Golden Staph, many forms of streptococcus, infections of the urinary tract, TB, cystitis, gonorrhea, psoriasis, premenstrual pain, rheumatic and joint pain, sunburn.
It is also used as a diuretic, an expectorant in the treatment of bronchitis and coughs and is a powerful antiseptic. Recent research by the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in Vienna has found that application of sandalwood used as massage oil caused significant reduction in systolic blood pressure, hypertension and heart rate.
