Sandalwood oil is an essential oil obtained from the steam distillation of chips and billets cut from the heartwood of various species of sandalwood trees, mainly Santalum album (Indian sandalwood) [1] and Santalum spicatum (Australian sandalwood). [2]
Sandalwood oil is used in perfumes, cosmetics, sacred unguents, and as a mild food flavouring. [1]
Sandalwood oil contains more than 90% sesquiterpenic alcohols of which 50–60% is the tricyclic α-santalol. β-Santalol comprises 20–25%. [2] [3]
The composition of the oil will depend on the species, region grown, age of tree, [2] and possibly the season of harvest and details of the extraction process used.
Current International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for S. album oil are 41–55% α-santalol and 16–24% β–santalol (ISO 3518: 2002E). [4]
Due to its highly coveted fragrance, the essential oil produced from sandalwood is often used in aromatherapy, and is also added to soaps and cosmetics. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of both somatic and mental disorders, including common colds, bronchitis, fever, urinary tract infections, and inflammation. [5] A study investigating the effects of inhalation of East Indian sandalwood oil and its main compound, α-santalol, on human physiological parameters found that the compounds elevated pulse rate, skin conductance, and systolic blood pressure. [5]
There is also religious significance associated with sandalwood oil and it is used in many different religions around the world, including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism.[ citation needed ]
The oil is distilled from the wood of the entire tree including stump and roots. [6] Australian sandalwood (S. spicatum) is unique in that the white sapwood does not require removal before distilling the oil, while Indian Sandalwood (S. album) does require removal of the sapwood prior to distillation. [7]
Sandalwood oil is used extensively for its woody-floral scent. It pairs well with other wood or floral scents such as violet, rose, tuberose, clove, and oakmoss. [8] But since the wood is so rare and expensive, cosmetic companies use synthetic substitutes of similar structure and scent.
There are several synthetic odorants with odor similar to sandalwood oil, used as lower-cost alternatives for perfumes, emollients, and skin cleaning agents. Common synthetic substitutes include Bacdanlol, Brahmanol, Ebanol, Firsantol, Sandalore, and Sandaxol. [9]
Two of these, Sandalore and Brahmanol, have been found to be agonists of the cutaneous olfactory receptor OR2AT4, with potential therapeutic benefits for wound healing. Natural sandalwood oil, and other synthetic sandalwood odorants, did not have the same effect. [10] [11]
There hasn't been extensive research conducted on the safety of sandalwood oil. But because there haven't been any significant adverse effects documented in scientific literature, it continues to be used cosmetically and in food. A few studies were found to identify sandalwood oil's potential toxic effects, but it was determined to be safe at the present levels that the oil is used in food as flavorings.
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Perfumes can be defined as substances that emit and diffuse a pleasant and fragrant odor. They consist of manmade mixtures of aromatic chemicals and essential oils. The 1939 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Leopold Ružička stated in 1945 that "right from the earliest days of scientific chemistry up to the present time, perfumes have substantially contributed to the development of organic chemistry as regards methods, systematic classification, and theory."
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, some species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past.
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism.
Santalum is a genus of woody flowering plants in the Santalaceae family, the best known and commercially valuable of which is the Indian sandalwood tree, S. album. Members of the genus are trees or shrubs. Most are root parasites which photosynthesize their own food, but tap the roots of other species for water and inorganic nutrients. Several species, most notably S. album, produce highly aromatic wood, used for scents and perfumes and for herbal medicine. About 25 known species range across the Indomalayan, Australasian, and Oceanian realms, from India through Malesia to the Pacific Islands, as far as Hawaiʻi and the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of South America.
An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently volatile for transmission via the air to the olfactory system in the upper part of the nose. As examples, various fragrant fruits have diverse aroma compounds, particularly strawberries which are commercially cultivated to have appealing aromas, and contain several hundred aroma compounds.
Nutmeg oil is a volatile essential oil from nutmeg. The oil is colorless or light yellow and smells and tastes of nutmeg. It contains numerous components of interest to the oleochemical industry. The essential oil consists of approximately 90% terpene hydrocarbons. Prominent components are sabinene, α-pinene, β-pinene, and limonene. A major oxygen-containing component is terpinen-4-ol. The oil also contains small amounts of various phenolic compounds and aromatic ethers, e.g. myristicin, elemicin, safrole, and methyl eugenol. The phenolic fraction is considered main contributor to the characteristic nutmeg odor. However, in spite of the low oil content, the characteristic composition of nutmeg oil makes it a valuable product for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Therefore, an improved process for its extraction would be of industrial interest.
Fragrance oils, also known as aroma oils, aromatic oils, and flavor oils, are blended synthetic aroma compounds or natural essential oils that are diluted with a carrier like propylene glycol, vegetable oil, or mineral oil.
The ionones, from greek ἴον ion "violet", are a series of closely related chemical substances that are part of a group of compounds known as rose ketones, which also includes damascones and damascenones. Ionones are aroma compounds found in a variety of essential oils, including rose oil. β-Ionone is a significant contributor to the aroma of roses, despite its relatively low concentration, and is an important fragrance chemical used in perfumery. The ionones are derived from the degradation of carotenoids.
Rose oil is the essential oil extracted from the petals of various types of rose. Rose ottos are extracted through steam distillation, while rose absolutes are obtained through solvent extraction, the absolute being used more commonly in perfumery. The production technique originated in Greater Iran. Even with their high price and the advent of organic synthesis, rose oils are still perhaps the most widely used essential oil in perfumery.
Aromachology is the study of the influence of odors on human behavior and to examine the relationship between feelings and emotions. Those who practice aromachology are aromachologists. Aromachologists analyze emotions such as relaxation, exhilaration, sensuality, happiness and well-being brought about by odors stimulating the olfactory pathways in the brain and, in particular, the limbic system. Different wearers are thought to have unique physiological and psychological responses to scents, especially those not manufactured synthetically but based on real scents. The word "aromachology" is derived from "aroma" and "physio-psychology", the latter being the study of aroma. This term was coined in 1989 by what is now the Sense of Smell Institute (SSI), a division of The Fragrance Foundation. The SSI defines aromachology as "a concept based on systematic, scientific data collected under controlled conditions". The term is defined as the scientifically observable influence of smell on emotions and moods. Consumers use aromachology to alleviate time pressures, for relaxation or stimulation and as a component of other activities that generate a feeling of well-being.
Myrcene, or β-myrcene, is a monoterpene. A colorless oil, it occurs widely in essential oils. It is produced mainly semi-synthetically from Myrcia, from which it gets its name. It is an intermediate in the production of several fragrances. An less-common isomeric form, having one of the three alkene units in a different position, is α-myrcene.
β-Pinene is a monoterpene, an organic compound found in plants. It is the less abundant of the two isomers of pinene, the other being α-pinene. It is a colorless liquid soluble in alcohol, but not water. It has a woody-green pine-like smell.
Cannabis flower essential oil, also known as hemp essential oil, is an essential oil obtained by steam distillation from the flowers, panicles, stem, and upper leaves of the hemp plant. Hemp essential oil is distinct from hemp seed oil and hash oil: the former is a vegetable oil that is cold-pressed from the seeds of low-THC varieties of hemp, the latter is a THC-rich extract of dried female hemp flowers (marijuana) or resin (hashish).
Santalum album is a small tropical tree, and the traditional source of sandalwood oil. It is native to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Western Australia. It is commonly known as the true sandalwood, white sandalwood, or Indian sandalwood. It was one of the plants exploited by Austronesian arboriculture and it was introduced by Austronesian sailors to East Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia during the ancient spice trade, becoming naturalized in South India by at least 1300 BCE. It was greatly valued for its fragrance, and is considered sacred in some religions like Hinduism. The high value of the species has caused over-exploitation, to the point where the wild population is vulnerable to extinction. Indian sandalwood still commands high prices for its essential oil owing to its high alpha santalol content, but the lack of sizable trees has essentially eliminated its former use for fine woodworking. The plant is long-lived, but harvest is only viable after many years.
β-Santalol is an organic compound that is classified as a sesquiterpene. It comprises about 20% of the oil of sandalwood, the major component being α-santalol. In 2002, about 60 tons of sandalwood oil were produced by steam distillation of the heartwood of Santalum album.
α-Santalol (alpha-santalol) is an organic compound that is classified as a sesquiterpene. It comprises about 55% of the oil of sandalwood, another less abundant component being β-santalol. As of 2002, about 60 tons of sandalwood oil are produced annually by steam distillation of the heartwood of Santalum album. It is a valued component for perfumes.
An odor or odour is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive via their olfactory system. While smell can refer to pleasant and unpleasant odors, the terms scent, aroma, and fragrance are usually reserved for pleasant-smelling odors and are frequently used in the food and cosmetic industry to describe floral scents or to refer to perfumes.
Isobornyl cyclohexanol is an organic compound used primarily as a fragrance because of its aroma which is similar to sandalwood oil. Its chemical structure is closely related to that of both α-santalol and β-santalol, which are the primary constituents of sandalwood oil.
Sandalore is a synthetic sandalwood odorant with odor in some ways similar to sandalwood and consequently used in perfumes, emollients, and skin cleaning agents. Sandalore, and the similar brahmanol, have been identified as agonists of the cutaneous olfactory receptor OR2AT4, and found to induce strong Ca2+ signals in cultured human keratinocytes. The long-term stimulation of keratinocytes with sandalore positively affected cell proliferation and migration, and regeneration of keratinocyte monolayers in an in vitro wound scratch assay (i.e., sandalore stimulation also enhanced epidermal "wound healing" in human skin organ cultures). Natural sandalwood oil and other synthetic sandalwood odorants did not have the same effect.
Mysore Sandalwood Oil is a trademarked perfume oil extracted from the Santalum album variety of sandalwood tree in the Mysore district of Karnataka, India.
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