Santalum album album (Santalaceae)

Indian sandalwood is a medium-sized hemi-parasitic tree found in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. The Indian sandalwood is a threatened species. It is indigenous to South India, and grows in the Western Ghats and a few other mountain ranges like the Kalrayan and Shevaroy Hills. Sandalwood is an age-old article of commerce cultivated, traded and utilized in traditional rituals, as a fragrance article, medicine, for its essential oil and high-prized exquisite-smelling timber. Due to its fine and delicate aroma, the long waiting period before it can be harvested, huge market demand and the high price it commands, sandalwood has been recklessly exploited to the point of veritable extinction.

S. album has been the primary source of sandalwood and the derived oil. The use of S. album in India is noted in literature for over 2,000 years. It has use as wood and oil in religious practices. It also features as a construction material in temples and elsewhere. In traditional medicine, sandalwood has been used for thousands of years as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, astringent, diuretic, disinfectant, emollient, expectant, hypotensive and sedative agent.

Cosmetic use

Sandalwood oil is an essential oil obtained from the steam distillation of chips and billets cut from the heartwood of the sandalwood tree. Sandalwood oil is used widely as a base note and fixative in modern perfumery and cosmetic production. The oil is highly valued for its deep woody aroma. It is a base note that helps to hold the scent of other lighter oils that tend to dissipate quickly. Sandalwood is central to the making of traditional attars in India. It is used as an ingredient in fragrant products such as incense, perfumes, aftershaves and other cosmetics. Sandalwood oil is used in perfumes, cosmetics and sacred unguents.

Sandalwood oil contains more than 90% sesquiterpenic alcohols of which 50% to 60% is the tricyclic α-santalol. β-santalol comprises 20% to 25%.