A Preliminary Study on Physico-Chemical Evaluation of Agar (Aquilaria Malaccensis) Seed Oil from Three Different Locations

Aquilaria malaccensis Lam. syn. A. agallocha Roxb (Agar) is one of the spe,cies of the genus Aquitania, belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae producing highly priceless agar wood. As a result of a defence mechanism to fend off pathogens, Aquitania species develop agar wood or resin which can be used for incense, perfumery, and traditional medicines. Many studies have reported reduction in natural populations of Aquileia malaccensis due to the overexploitation of the species which become more threatened and enlisted into CITES Appendix-II. In India, natural habitats of Aquilegias malaccensis are found in North-Eastern States. Due to the commercial value of agar wood, the species is widely grown in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The formation of agarwood depends on a natural infection of fungus in the wood and no proven artificial methodology available in India. The trees in the established plantations in South India started producing fruits and seeds were available in plenty and could be collected in huge quantities. There were no reports on its traditional use of seed oil of agarwood. On an average 3 5 year-old plant can produce around 1.5 - 3.0 kg of fruits and each fruit is having 1- 2 seeds, predominantly two seeds. The seed index analysis experiment shows that on an average around 10000 numbers of seeds in 1kg with each seed weight of around 0.09g and with an average oil yield of 20-35%. In this study, a preliminary evaluation of physic-chemical properties of seed oil and its variations among three different locations of India is presented.