Agar Wood, Agarwood

Aquilaria crassna

Physical Characteristics

Aquilaria crassna is an evergreen Tree growing to 20 m (65ft) by 15 m (49ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Distribution

Southeast Asia - Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam.

Habitats

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Antiasthmatic Antidiarrhoeal Cancer Diuretic Hypoglycaemic Kidney Stomachic Tonic The root has medicinal uses[338]. Agarwood, or the resin contained in it, is stomachic and tranquillizing [310]. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat a wide range of mental illnesses, it is a remedy for nervous disorders such as neurosis, obsessive behaviour and exhaustion and is believed to drive evil spirits away[404]. It is also used to treat asthma, chest congestion, colic, diarrhoea, diuretic, kidney problems, nausea, thyroid cancer, and lung tumours[310, 404]. The wood of this species is one of the three ingredients of a popular Thai rejuvenation and blood tonic known as 'TriSuraPhon'. The other two ingredients are the wood of Cimmamomum parthenoxylon and the bark of Cinnamomum bejolghota. The tonic is said to have a wide range of beneficial effects upon the general health, the individual components having been credited with diverse beneficial properties including antioxidant, anti-ischemic, antimicrobial, anticancer, hypoglycaemic, and hypolipidemic[1377]. Trials have shown that this tonic can help to normalize lipid levels in overweight individuals, also reducing highly atherogenic LDLC levels and increasing beneficial HDL-C levels[1377].

Known Hazards

None known