What is Agarwood

Tree species capable of producing agarwood

Agarwood enjoys the name of”the King of all Incenses”. Considered the most valuable type of timber on earth, it’s really a very rare all-natural resource. The wealthy and refined odor of agarwood chiefly derives from aloewood oil (or even agarwood resin). From the view of present botany, four families of trees have been proven to produce agarwood, specifically Thymelaeaceae, Burseraceae, Lauraceae and Euphorbiaceae. In response to certain conditions, like in face of strikes of natural powers or from human beings, which may leads in wounds and bacterial disease, the trunks of those tropical trees will create resin to get self-treatment, suppression of this spread of wounds and other effects of self-protection. The very long procedure, across tens to tens of thousands of years, where the wood and resin fibers incorporate and transform to resinous agarwood carrying out a exceptional odor is called”incense formation” or even”agarwood formation”.

In the perspective of present botany, four families of trees have been well known effective at generating agarwood.

Burseraceae: Trees from the Burseraceae family that may form agarwood mostly increase in central South America.

Lauraceae: Trees from the Lauraceae family that may form agarwood mostly increase in central South America.

Euphorbiaceae: Trees from the Euphorbiaceae family that may form agarwood are primarily distributed in the tropics.

Uses of Agarwood

Religious Programs: Agarwood is highly Appreciated and Utilized as offerings by Buddhists, Taoists, Catholics, Christians and Islams.

It’s used as medication in the older customs in China, Islam, India, Tibet and South East Asia.

Artistic Programs: The nice odor and rarity of agarwood makes it a valuable sculpting material. Big and intact agarwood bits for producing sculptures are tough to discover. Relevant artworks are rather modest in numbers. Furniture made from large parts of complete agarwood is barely seen on the marketplace.

Conservation of Agarwood

Incense and aloes, also called agarwood, has obtained the exact same esteem since the start of civilization. It is permanent! “Permanency” is an abstract notion beyond space and time. Permanent objects and intellect has to survive the test of time and background; they endure for the whole humanity’s common appetite in pursuit of joy and religion, bringing about physical and psychological pleasure accomplished via the sublimation of virtues. Fulfilling all such standards, the incense civilization is a noble and refined culture.

Since the start of the history of incense civilization, people have mastered the modulation, extraction and medicinal usage of incense. For example, that the Arabs and Indians were specialists in extracting blossom oil and balm; the early Egyptians invented cologne manufacturing; the Chinese employed a number of spices and incense as medication in treatments and regimens. The hereditary wisdom of incense civilization has carried throughout the ages, from production to production, and this continuity has benefited humanity. Incense civilization has developed along with the history of human culture. Exotic ancestors from other faiths and ethnic backgrounds have been utilizing the most prized incenses for worshiping Heaven and Earth, paying respect to ancestors, communication and venerating the deities, all for investigating the continuation of existence and the puzzle of permanency.

Religious ceremonial incense and implements vessels with cultural characteristics, ingenious utensils for incense appreciation in addition to containers for elegant perfumes and essential oils are crafted all around the world — all these are significant carriers of their permanent tradition of incense tradition. Crafts, ornaments and furniture carved from rare blossom materials like agarwood have passed with this classic cultural heritage within an quaintly tasteful method.

The cultures and wisdom of humankind have to be continuing, and we all ought to be accountable for carrying forward and maintaining these cultural treasures from generation to generation, letting the incense culture as well as the deep nature it represents to thrive at the permanency of human civilization.

Factors for agarwood formation

Consolidating the Expertise from the Present and past in Addition to information found in Oriental herbal classics, five Variables Such as agarwood formation have been identified, Specifically”raw formation”,”ripe formation”,”removal”,”insect Assault” and”fungal Disease”:

“Raw formation“: When wounds are manufactured or branches are broken as a result of destruction by natural forces such as windstorms and thunder, animal scrapes or logging by trees, men will create resin to cure its wounds, through which agarwood is going to be generated. The more the procedure, the greater the grade of the scented wood.

“Ripe formation”: During a lengthy time period, the timber fibers will combine with all the resin and creep into exceptional dark and hard agarwood which leads to water. Meanwhile, the lifetime of this agarwood shrub is brought to a finish.

“Removal“: whenever the injured parts of trees come off because of disease in big and tiny pieces, they might comprise clusters of resin, which will mix with the wood textures, forming agarwood.

“Insect attack“: Trees which are bitten and attacked by parasitic pests can create resin for self-protection and recovery, and agarwood is going to be shaped as a outcome.

“Fungal infection“: In the first phase of fungal disease, the quantity of resin formed is tiny. But, prolonged disease will exude premium excellent agarwood.

Factors for agarwood formation

Consolidating the Expertise from the Present and past in Addition to information found in Oriental herbal classics, five Variables Such as agarwood formation have been identified, Specifically”raw formation”,”ripe formation”,”removal”,”insect Assault” and”fungal Disease”:

“Raw formation“: When wounds are manufactured or branches are broken as a result of destruction by natural forces such as windstorms and thunder, animal scrapes or logging by trees, men will create resin to cure its wounds, through which agarwood is going to be generated. The more the procedure, the greater the grade of the scented wood.

“Ripe formation”: During a lengthy time period, the timber fibers will combine with all the resin and creep into exceptional dark and hard agarwood which leads to water. Meanwhile, the lifetime of this agarwood shrub is brought to a finish.

“Removal“: whenever the injured parts of trees come off because of disease in big and tiny pieces, they might comprise clusters of resin, which will mix with the wood textures, forming agarwood.

“Insect attack“: Trees which are bitten and attacked by parasitic pests can create resin for self-protection and recovery, and agarwood is going to be shaped as a outcome.

“Fungal infection“: In the first phase of fungal disease, the quantity of resin formed is tiny. But, prolonged disease will exude premium excellent agarwood.

Agarwood appreciation

The accumulated rich wisdom and experience in analyzing agarwood have been listed books for future reference within the very long history of growth of incense program in China. Chinese incense classics comprises rich and thorough info concerning the areas of origin, looks and evaluation of agarwood. Nanfan Xianglu (Records of Nanfan Incense) in the Song Dynasty details different facets for analyzing agarwood ranging from the areas of origin, quality, variables such as creation, colors and textures to sinking condition. Its opinions on the colors and textures of agarwood are that”The black and hard would be the best, followed with the yellow”.

Additionally,”odor, quality, form and color” also provide the foundation for enjoying agarwood. “Fragrance” clearly refers to the odor, whose quality is of foremost significance since agarwood is a blossom item. A fantastic odor is pure yet abundant and permeating; it’s far-reaching and lasting with fragile changes when burnt. Seeing”quality”, it is dependent upon the state of the aromatic resin kept in a object of agarwood which provides the wood odor; hence agarwood with abundant and superior resin material receives a higher position. “Shape” and”color” are criteria for evaluation taking under account the form, colouring, grain in addition to the supply of resin at an object of agarwood. The ancients analyzed agarwood through competitions and disagreements, evincing that contrasts based on actual items and buildup of experience are the only methods of determining its quality.

Agarwood from various places and related grading systems

The creation of agarwood is credited to a intricate web of ecological variables such as the species of this shrub, climate, and soil, effects of bacterial stimulation, location of creation, length of formation in addition to size and shape. Because of variations in goal criteria, the evaluation and evaluation of agarwood is a profound and broad subject of study. Until now, a thorough and globally accepted set of criteria for grading and assessing agarwood has yet to emerge. Consequently, evaluation still counts on the expertise and knowledge of seasoned members of the market, and versions in grading methods can happen even in precisely the exact same area, as an instance, between the degrees of wholesaling and retailing. The criteria for scoring agarwood differ among states:

Malaysia: Largely divided into twelve inches, such as both grades”Dual Super”,”Super”,”A”,”B”,”C” and”D”, where”A” and”B” are divided into 2 sub-grades,”C” is divided into four sub-grades and”D” is divided into 2 sub-grades.