A Short Review on White Sandalwood (Santalum album L.)

Abstract

Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) is a valuable tree associated with Indian culture. It is the second most expensive plant in the world. Sandalwood referred to as ―Chandana‖ in Sanskrit and is commercially known as ―East Indian Sandalwood‖ and its essential oil known as ―East Indian Sandalwood Oil‖. The Species is hemiparasitic, having photosynthetic capacity but water, mineral nutrients and organic substances are acquired via the host plant. In Indian tradition, sandalwood trees has a special place and it is used from cradle to cremation. The commercial value of sandalwood tree or oil is very high in the Indian market. There are many varieties of sandalwood, all of which are available in the world wide. The heartwood of the tree is treasured for its aroma and is one of the finest natural materials for carving. Sandalwood oil is used in perfumes, cosmetics, aroma therapy and pharmaceuticals. Sandalwood is an evergreen tree that is indigenous to India, the sandal oil and paste of sandal is used in medicines, skin and beauty treatments and numerous industrial products including mouth fresheners, edibles, incense sticks, room fresheners, deodorants, perfumes, soaps, lotions, creams and others. It has some really remarkable medicinal properties. The medical properties reside in the oil, which can be pressed from the wood or extracted with alcohol or water. The fragrant parts of sandalwood oil constitutes of α and β santalols. The health benefits of Sandal Wood Essential Oil can be attributed to its properties like anti septic, anti-inflammatory, anti phlogistic, anti-spasmodic, astringent, cicatrizing, carminative, diuretic, disinfectant, emollient, expectorant, hypotensive, memory booster, sedative, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, insect repellent property etc., S.album has also gained huge attention towards cosmetic and beauty therapy like curing dark spots, rashes, pimples, acne scars etc. Hence the Santalum album has great potential in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and many other industries in present and future. This review paper mainly focuses on the importance of sandalwood tree, problems associated with its cultivation and the new techniques and approaches which can be implemented to increase the healthy sandalwood plantation and maintain the record of India being in the first position in the export of raw materials of Santalum album. *Corresponding Author: Roshan kumar Yadav Department of Life Science and Biotechnology, Jadavpur University, 188 Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata – 700 032, Mob. No: +91 8511137224, Email: [email protected] Yadav Roshan kumar et al., IJSRR 2019, 8(4), 73-136 IJSRR, 8(4) Oct. – Dec., 2019 Page 74 INTRODUCTION Santalum album L. is a small to medium-sized, evergreen semi parasitic tree of family Santalaceae 1,2 . S. album commonly known as Indian Sandalwood is one of the oldest and precious sources of natural fragrance with immense medicinal and commercial significance 3-5 . The species is recognized due to its fragrance and significant social and economic values 6 . The word sandal has been derived from Chandana (Sanskrit) and Chandan (Persian). It is called Safed Chandan in Hindi, Srigandha, Gandha in Kannada, Sandanam in Tamil, Chandanamu in Telugu. Historical review reveals that sandalwood has been referred to in Indian mythology, folklore and ancient scriptures. It is generally accepted that sandal is indigenous to peninsular India as its history of recorded occurrence dates back to at least 2500 years. Historical review reveals that sandalwood has been referred in Indian mythology, folklore and ancient scriptures. Certain cultures place great significance on its fragrant and medicinal qualities. Its main component is Santalol which has two isomeric forms, α santalol (41-55%) and βsantalol (16-24%), both of which are volatile compounds with a unique aroma and are the primary active components. α-santalol has proved to be a potential chemopreventive agent against UVB-induced skin tumor development in mice 7 , while β-santalol was investigated for its antiviral activity against influenza A/HK (H3N2) virus in MDCK cells 8 . Additionally, purified α-santalol and β-santalol were able to suppress secretion of key cytokine-related factors and proinflammatory arachidonic acid metabolite production in skin cells. Lipopolysaccharides stimulated the release of 26 cytokines and chemokines, 20 of which were substantially suppressed by simultaneous exposure to either of the two sandalwood compounds and to ibuprofen 9. In a study on a cohort of radiotherapy patients, turmericand sandal oilbased cream was effective in preventing radiation-induced dermatitis. The damage is mainly mediated via indirect effects, where the generation of free radicals, resulting from the radiolysis of water, causes damage to macromolecules such as DNA, proteins and lipids 10. SO showed insecticidal activity with LD50 values (μg/fly) of 2.18 and of 5.61 against male and female drosophila flies, respectively 11. In vivo analysis using a rodent model confirmed the anti-plasmodial potential of subcutaneously administered sandalwood oil 12 . It also is an effective repellent against spider mites 13. Other minor molecules are derivatives such as the aldehydes santalal and cyclo-santalal, and traces of santalene, curcumene and bergamotene. Traditionally, sandalwood oil used to treat skin diseases, acne, dysentery, and in number of other conditions. In traditional Chinese medicine, its oil is considered an excellent painkilling agent, alleviate itching and inflammation, cools, calms and cleans the blood. The medicinal properties of sandalwood exist in the oil, which can either be pressed from the wood or extracted with alcohol or Yadav Roshan kumar et al., IJSRR 2019, 8(4), 73-136 IJSRR, 8(4) Oct. – Dec., 2019 Page 75 water. It relieves fever, thirst, burning sensation and stops sweating. It is good for fever or rejuvenates the skin to natural state harmed by overexposure to the sun, and it awakens the intelligence. Besides these, it is used in heart care, anti-dandruff shampoo, anti-wrinkle cream, baby cream, baby powder and chayvanprasha. The heartwood of Sandalwood is also used for making wood crafts and decorative furniture 14 .It has been reported that Sandal seed oil could be reacted with zinc chloride, yielding a dark plastic solid which when dissolved in benzene forms an ideal base for insulation tapes. It reacts with sulphur at 2200C yielding a dark sticky rubber like product, suggesting it to be vulcanizable oil. Resins like colophony and copal could be dissolved in oil at 200 0C producing an orange coloured varnish, which may be used in the manufacture of pigmented enamels. By partial hydrogenation a semidrying oil of utility in soap industry could be obtained. A number of surface active products having excellent foaming capacity and foam suitability products which are commercially valuable as foam boosters, germicides plasticizers emulsifying, thickening and wetting agents and for use in liquid detergents have been reported 15 . The highest yield of sandalwood oil is from roots and lowest from the sap wood. In addition to oil, the wood and its powder are used for religious, cultural and medicinal purpose. Both wood and oil are used in incense, perfumes and in medicine and are of great commercial importance. It is used for making idols, boxes and other curios of exquisite beauty 16 . The sandal is known for its oil which is pronounced as the most famous East Indian sandal wood oil which is produced in large quantity from the heartwood and in small amount from seeds of sandal on distillation is rated very high for its sweet fragrant, persistent, spicy, warm, woody note, tenacious aroma and fixative property and is mainly used in perfumery industries and pharmaceutical industries 17 .The aromatic oil, which is contained in the heartwood, is only produced when the trees reaches a certain maturity. The value of a sandalwood tree is largely determined by the weight of its heartwood and the concentration and composition of the oil contained within it 16 . Determining the rate of heartwood development in sandalwood tree is important, since it will largely determine the length of its commercial rotation. The weight of the heartwood is invariably dependent on the size of the tree. Very little information has been published regarding the growth rate of S. album. It is reported that heartwood and oil formation in sandalwood are yet to be studied in detail 19 . Although S. album is grown in small quantities, India has a virtual monopoly over sandalwood production. Over 90 per cent of India‘s sandalwood is grown in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The present Government policy pertaining to the management of sandalwood goes back to King Tipu Sultan, erstwhile ruler of Mysore. King Tipu Sultan declared sandalwood a royal tree and monopolized the sandalwood trade in 1792. Till 2002, state Yadav Roshan kumar et al., IJSRR 2019, 8(4), 73-136 IJSRR, 8(4) Oct. – Dec., 2019 Page 76 governments, especially Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have had monopoly control over all the sandalwood resources including those in private lands. According to the prevailing rules in the southern States, except Kerala, sandalwood continues to be a royal tree and trade in the wood is the monopoly of the state. In Kerala, however, there is no restriction on storage and transportation. This has given rise to widespread smuggling and illegal trade especially between Karnataka and Kerala. Places such as Karnataka-Kerala-Tamil Nadu border have become havens for illegal trade in sandalwood. Due to extensive illegal cutting of native Sandalwood trees, this species has become vulnerable to extinction 20 . There are two main commercial species of Sandalwood in the world: Australian Sandalwood (Santalumspicatum) and Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album). Annual global demand of Sandalwood was estimated to be 6,000 tons in 2006 19 . To fulfill this demand, Weste