Sandalwood oil

Sandalwood oil is an essential oil obtained from the steam distillation of chips and billets cut from the heartwood of the Sandalwood (Santalum album) tree. Sandalwood oil is used in perfumes, cosmetics, and sacred unguents.[1]

Contents

Main constituents

Sandalwood oil contains more than 90% sesquiterpenic alcohols of which 50-60% is the tricyclic α-santalol. β-Santalol comprises 20-25%.[2]

Traditional uses

Sandalwood essential oil is used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of both somatic and mental disorders. A study investigating the effects of inhalation of East Indian sandalwood oil and its main compound, α-santalol, on human physiological parameters found that the compounds elevated pulse rate, skin conductance, and systolic blood pressure.[3]

Sandalwood oil and α-santalol have been associated with chemopreventive activity in animal models of carcinogenesis.[4][5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kapoor L. D., "Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants," CRC Press, Boca, Raton, FL, 1990.
  2. ^ Krotz A, Helmchen G. Total syntheses, optical rotations and fragrance properties of sandalwood constituents: (-)-(Z)- and (-)-(E)-β-santalol and their enantiomers, ent-β-santalene, Liebigs Ann Chem 1994; 6:601-9.
  3. ^ Heuberger, E; Hongratanaworakit, T; Buchbauer, G (2006). "East Indian Sandalwood and alpha-santalol odor increase physiological and self-rated arousal in humans". Planta medica 72 (9): 792–800. doi:10.1055/s-2006-941544. PMID 16783696. 
  4. ^ Dwivedi C, Ahang Y (1999). "Sandalwood oil prevents skin tumour development in CD1 mice". Eur J Cancer Prev 8 (5): 449–455. doi:10.1097/00008469-199910000-00011. PMID 10548401. 
  5. ^ Dwivedi C, Guan X, Harmsen WL, Voss AL, Goetz-Parten DE, Koopman EM et al. (2003). "Chemopreventive effects of alpha-santalol on skin tumor development in CD-1 and SENCAR mice". Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 12 (2): 151–156. PMID 12582025. 
  6. ^ Benencia F, Courreges MC (1999). "Antiviral activity of sandalwood oil against Herpes simplex viruses-1 and -2". Phyomedicine 6 (2): 119–123. doi:10.1016/S0944-7113(99)80046-4.