Laoski oud

Aquilaria crassna is a species of the Thymelaeaceae family, native to Southeast Asia. The tree reacts to damage by insects or fungi by producing an intensely fragrant, dense and dark-coloured resinous wood. The tree produces the resin in response to infection by a parasitic mold, Phaeoacremonium parasitica. The resin raises the mass and density of the affected wood and changes its colour from a pale beige to yellow, orange, red, dark brown or black. The genus Aquilaria has seventeen species, of which nine are known to produce agarwood; A. crassna and A. sinensis are, besides A. malaccensis, the species commonly harvested.

The composition of agarwood oil is exceedingly complex, with more than 150 chemical compounds identified. At least 70 of these are terpenoids in the form of sesquiterpenes and chromones, and no monoterpenes have been detected at all. Among the chromones of agarwood, 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones are currently the most commonly isolated type. Chromones are characteristic components of agarwood. Diepoxy-tetrahydro-2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones have been obtained from A. crassna. Four new bi-2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone derivatives, crassins A–D, and six previously undescribed ester-bonded dimeric compounds, aquilacrassnins A–F, come from the EtOAc extract of agarwood originating from A. crassna. Other common classes of compounds include agarofurans, cadinanes, eudesmanes, valencanes and eremophilanes, guaianes, prezizanes and vetispiranes. The exact balance of these materials varies with the age and species of the tree as well as the details of the oil extraction process. The aromatic qualities of agarwood are influenced by the species, geographic location, the branch, trunk or root origin, the time since infection, and the methods of harvesting and processing.

More than 99% of traded Aquilaria crassna comes from plantations, because of the significant decline of wild populations of this critically endangered species. In 2004, all Aquilaria species were listed in CITES Appendix II, although a number of countries have outstanding reservations about the listing. Laos is among the top exporters of agarwood chips and powder, which make up over 80% of the global agarwood trade. Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia export large volumes of A. malaccensis and A. crassna, and import agarwood from Laos and Cambodia for re-export to markets in the Middle East and East Asia.

Agarwood has thousands of years of known use and is valued across Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Chinese cultures.

Explore all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Related: Agarwood Oil · Agarwood Oud · Australian Oud · Cambodian Oud · Chinese Oud · Indian Oud · Indonesian Oud · Malaysian Oud