WHITE SANDALWOOD

Other Names:

Ananditam, Bois de Santal Blanc, Bois de Santal Jaune, Chandan, Chandana, East Indian Sandalwood, Huile de Santal Blanc, Oil of Sandalwood, Safed-Chandan, Sandal Tree, Sándalo, Sanderswood, Santal, Santal Blanc, Santal Citrin, Santali Lignum Alb…

White sandalwood is an evergreen tree. The oil from the wood and the wood are used as medicine. Don’t confuse white sandalwood with red sandalwood.

White sandalwood is used for treating the common cold, cough, bronchitis, fever, and sore mouth and throat. It is also used to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs), liverdisease, gallbladder problems, heatstroke, gonorrhea, headache, and conditions of the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).

In food and beverages, white sandalwood is used as a flavoring.

In manufacturing, white sandalwood oil is used as a fragrance in soaps, cosmetics, and perfumes.

 How does it work?

White sandalwood might help prevent the growth of fungus and bacteria. It might reduce spasms. But more information is needed.

What other names is White Sandalwood known by?

Ananditam, Bois de Santal Blanc, Bois de Santal Jaune, Chandan, Chandana, East Indian Sandalwood, Huile de Santal Blanc, Oil of Sandalwood, Safed-Chandan, Sandal Tree, Sándalo, Sanderswood, Santal, Santal Blanc, Santal Citrin, Santali Lignum Albi, Santal Oil, Santalum album, Swet Chandan, Taliaparnam, Tan Xiang, White Sandalwood Oil, White Saunders, Yellow Sandalwood, Yellow Saunders.

What is White Sandalwood?

White sandalwood is an evergreen tree. The oil from the wood and the wood are used as medicine.

Sandalwood Essential Oil, MYSORE SANDALWOOD OIL

Introduction: Sandalwood oil is perhaps best known in the west as a sweet, warm, rich and woody essential oil used as is for a body fragrance, and as an ingredient in fragrant products such as incense, perfumes, aftershaves and other cosmetics. But the story of sandalwood, the divine essence, goes much further. Sandalwood has been a part of the religious and spiritual traditions of India since prehistory and has been effectively used in traditional medicine for thousands of years.

Sandalwood oil is in high demand today and the resource is dwindling. This has lead to several unfavorable results: 1) sandalwood oil is one of the most-often adulterated essential oils; 2) the cost of sandalwood oil is rising dramatically (about 25% per year); 3) due to the value of sandalwood oil, the trees are being illegally cut, leading to the waste of this precious resource as trees that are too young are cut, or trees are cut but the roots are left to rot (the roots are the most valuable part of the tree from which to extract the oil). Additionally, this illegal poaching has lead to several murders of forestry officials and other crimes indicative of the black market; 4) the resource is becoming scarce. The current production of sandalwood trees is not enough to meet the demand of consumers. The trees are difficult to propagate and must grow for at least 30 years to become suitable for harvesting. The forestry departments in India are regulating the amount of material that is cut and sold, but there are many demands for other use of the land – for example, cattle grazing, the need for wood to keep people employed, etc.

The situation regarding sandalwood trees is getting worse and this divine wood and the oil from it are becoming more and more precious. In the west, we need to look for ways to responsively use this resource and to reduce our dependence on it. We should be looking for substitute oils, using less in our formulas, and regarding sandalwood oil as something very rare to be used on special occasions.

The Sandalwood Tree: Sandalwood products are obtained from the sandalwood tree (Santalum album), which is a member of the Santalaceae family. It is known as white sandalwood, Mysore sandalwood, East Indian sandalwood, sandal, Chandan (Hindi), and tan xiang (Mandarin). The white sandalwood is an evergreen tree which grows to 50 feet and naturally occurs in Eastern India in the states of Mysore, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnatika. It grows in dry and rocky environments and reproduces by suckers and by seeds. The environmental conditions required by this tree are rather strict and not completely understood. Due to a combination of the environmental requirements and the necessity of living off a host plant, Sandalwood is not easy to propagate. Even so, it has long been cultivated in other Southeast Asian locations, including Indonesia where some good quality Sandalwood essential oil is produced.

Sandalwood is a parasitic tree and obtains nutrients from several other plant species. While there are other species of sandalwood, including red sandalwood, Australian sandalwood (S. spicatum) and New Caledonian Sandalwood (S. austrocaledonicum), these are quite different from true Santalum album and have very different properties and fragrances. There is another tree that yields an essential oil which is sometimes called West Indian sandalwood or amyris (Amyris balsamifera) – it is from Haiti and other islands in the West Indies and is not related to true sandalwood. It is, however, sometimes used as a sandalwood substitute, especially in products such as sandalwood soap, where using the true sandalwood would be too expensive.