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Types of Raw Incense
Published in Kerry Hughes, The Incense Bible, 2014
Agarwood is a strange and much sought after incense that is produced as a defense mechanism in the wood of a tree that has been harmed or infected by a fungus. Excess resin production results in response to the fungal attack, and the incense is a special combination of the fungus and the defense resin, which produces a specific range of scents. Therefore, the raw incense product looks like slices of wood that have dark striations due to the resin and fungal association. Usually the darker the piece of agarwood, the higher the quality, indicating more resin production. However, there has been some adulteration in quality in Asia by treatment of the wood with dyes to produce a dark color, and glues or other materials to make the wood heavier. In Japan it acquired the name jinkoh, meaning “sinking wood,” because of its resin-laden quality that causes the wood to sink. Only the better quality jinkoh, or agarwood, sinks when immersed in water (Robert Blanchette, personal communication, February 2004; Venkataramanan et al., 1985).
Larvicidal and pupicidal evaluation of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Aquilaria sinensis and Pogostemon cablin essential oils against dengue and zika viruses vector Aedes albopictus mosquito and its histopathological analysis
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2018
Hassan Ga’al, Hatem Fouad, Guofeng Mao, Jiaxin Tian, Mo Jianchu
In recent years, nanoparticles have emerged as potential pesticides, and currently, both plants and microbes are being used to fabricate metal nanoparticles [5,9]. The synthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts is rapid, low cost, eco-friendly and a single-step method for biosynthesis process [10]. Essential oils (EOs) are the aromatic oily liquids present in the secretary cavities and glandular hair cells of the plant parts [11]. These oily extracts of plants are becoming increasingly popular as natural products to be used for a variety of purposes including complementary medicine and natural therapeutics, insect repellents, antimicrobial agents and food preservation [12]. The plant genus of Aquilaria (Thymelaeceae) is comprised of approximately 15 species distributed across the rain forests of Southeast Asia [13]. Aquilaria sinensis, the main plant resource in China for agarwood, is chiefly distributed in South China, and is widely cultivated in Hainan and Guangzhou provinces, with the planting area estimated to be covering more than 700 acres [14]. The agarwood plays a role in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and a large amount of it is also being consumed by distillation to obtain an essential oil [15]. On the other hand, Pogostemonis Herba is the aerial part of dried Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) and it also plays a vital role in TCM for the treatment of various problems such as to remove dampness, relieve sunstroke, stop vomiting and increase appetite [16]. Patchouli oil is the essential oil of pogostemonis Herba, and it has been widely used by traditional Chinese physicians to treat a wide array of medical conditions such as common cold, nausea, diarrhoea, headache and fever since time memorial. Pogostone is the major chemical constituent of Pogostemonis Herba, and it is largely responsible for the intensive aromatic odour of the essential oil of this herb [17].
Sesquiterpenoids and 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones respectively acting as α-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitors from agarwood of an Aquilaria plant
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2019
Li Yang, Yi-Ling Yang, Wen-Hua Dong, Wei Li, Pei Wang, Xue Cao, Jing-Zhe Yuan, Hui-Qin Chen, Wen-Li Mei, Hao-Fu Dai
The agarwood was purchased from Bangkok, Thailand in August 2014 and its original plant was identified as a species of the genus Aquilaria by gene sequence analysis of the ITS region. A voucher specimen (201408SLLK) was retained at the Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.