Наг чампа

A number of flower species in India are known as champa or champak. Magnolia champaca was formerly classified as Michelia champaca. Magnolia champaca is mostly used to prepare the nag champa scent, while Plumeria or Mesua ferrea may be used for scents termed champa and sometimes nag champa. When frangipani is used, the fragrance is usually referred to simply as champa.

What goes into nag champa

Ingredients vary with the manufacturer, though generally they include sandalwood and magnolia. Magnolia is related to star anise, which gives the scent a little spice. Nag champa is also described as an incense containing a fragrance combining plumeria and sandalwood. Most champa incenses also incorporate other tree resins, such as halmaddi and benzoin resin, as well as other floral ingredients, including champaca, geranium and vanilla, to produce a more intense, plumeria-like aroma.

Champaca and frangipani

The champak tree, Magnolia champaca, is a large evergreen tree of the family Magnoliaceae. Its strongly fragrant flowers range from cream to yellow-orange and bloom from June to September. In South Asia its flowers are used mainly in worship ceremonies and are also worn in the hair by girls and women as a natural perfume.

Nagkesar

Mesua ferrea, called nagkesar in Hindi, is a tree with large, fragrant white flowers.

Sandalwood

Of the sandalwood tree Santalum album, the heartwood is the only part used for its fragrance. Its oil consists of about 80% α-santalol and β-santalol, which are sesquiterpenes, mostly the former. The first extraction of this essential oil took place in Mysore, India, in 1917.

Halmaddi

Halmaddi is the name in India of the Ailanthus triphysa tree, and its resin, also called halmaddi, may be used in incense. When the bark is cut, the tree exudes a sticky resin that becomes brittle on drying. Because of its fixative properties, the resin may be used as an ingredient in incense sticks. Fresh halmaddi is a viscous semi-liquid that hardens to a brittle solid as it evaporates and ages. Some incense makers mix it with honey to keep it pliable.

Indian incense

India is the world's main incense producing country. About 5,000 incense companies in India take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approximately 200,000 women working part-time at home. Incense sticks, called agarbatti, are the main form of incense in India: a paste is rolled around a bamboo stick, and the scent is added either by rolling the stick in a masala powder of ground ingredients or by dipping it in a perfume liquid.

Related: Amberwood · Andiroba · Bakhoor · Balsamic Notes · Benzoin Resinoid · Benzyl Benzoate · Benzyl Salicylate · Birch Tar