Santalum Album
Family : Santalaceae
Common Name : Chandan
Hindi Name : kadukhajur, Ghora nim
Tamil Name : Chandanam
Telugu Name : Chandanamu
Kannada : Agarugandha, bavanna, bhadrasri, Chandala
Synonym : Melia composita
Tree Characteristics :
Sandalwood is an evergreen tree, growing up to 4-9 m tall. The trees have a long life, and may live up to one hundred years of age. The tree is variable in habit, usually upright to sprawling, and may intertwine with other species. The plant parasitises the roots of other tree species, but without major detriment to its hosts. The reddish or brown bark can be almost black and is smooth in young trees, becoming cracked with a red reveal. The heartwood is pale green to white as the common name indicates. The oval leaves are thin, oppositely arranged. Smooth surface is shiny and bright green, with a glaucous pale underside. Fruit is produced after three years, viable seeds after five. These seeds are distributed by birds. Sandalwood oil was used traditionally to treat skin diseases, acne, dysentery, gonorrhea, and a number of other conditions.1 In traditional Chinese medicine, sandalwood oil is considered an excellent sedating agent.
Nursery Practice :
Sandal (Santalum alhum Linn.) seeds were pre-conditioned to increase the rate and percentage or germination and bring down the dormancy period, seeds were treated with hot and cold water and subjected to mechanical and chemical scarification. Under chemical Scarification, alcohol and sulphuric acid were used. Results show that the rate percentage of germination increased and dormancy period is brought down by acid scarification.
Germination –
Viability (i.e., seed fertility) is 25 to 40% upto one year – seeds of 28 months gave 6% success. Depulped seeds give better germination per cent. Rats eat away the seeds and so it is usual to roll the seeds in main red lead or in Acorus paste. Germination takes place 1 to 3 months after sowing.
Artificial regeneration may be brought about by
1. Sowing in beds and planting out when 2 or 3 month old. Plant them when 10 cm or 12.5 cm high and have a taproot 15 cm to 20 cm long. Another way is to grow plants in a nursery and plant them out after a year.
2. Stump planting up to 3 years – 2¼ to 3 years old Sandal stumps are better than younger ones from the point of view of storage. Stumps stored in tins with tight lids have sprouted even when stored upto 20 days. Stump – planting has shown as much as 99% success
3. Planting pieces of roots
4. Root suckers
Hosts are suspected to be highly influential in conferring relative resistance, against spike. E.g., Strychnos nuxvomica, Pongamia glabra, Azadirachta indica and Cassiasiamea are stated to give high resistance. Lantana is good but is suspected to harbour an insect vector.
Economic Use:
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Valued for its heartwood which is strongly scented. The wood is used for carving and fancy work. Oil distilled and used in perfumery and medicines for which it is the most valuable wood in India
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The central part of the tree, the heartwood, is the only part of the tree that is used for its fragrance. It is yellow-brown in color, hard with an oily texture and due to its durability, is the perfect material for carving. The outer part of the tree, the sapwood, is unscented. The sapwood is white or yellow in color and is used to make turnery items. The high value of sandalwood has led to attempts at cultivation, this has increased the distribution range of the plant. The ISO Standard for the accepted characteristics of this essential oil is ISO 3518:2002. HPTLC and GC, GC-MS based methods are used for qualitative and quantitative analyses of the volatile essential oil constituents.
