All about Sandalwood Essential Oil | Origin, Benefits & Chemical Composition

Sandalwood essential oil comes from the heartwood of a specific tree found in Southeast Asia and India. It has a unique, long-lasting fragrance and is valued for its spiritual significance, therapeutic uses, and anti-inflammatory properties.

The oil’s main components (over 90%), alpha-santalol and beta-santalol, give it antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it useful for skin care and stress management.

However, due to the tree’s endangered status, the sustainability and ethics of sourcing the oil are major concerns.

What is Sandalwood Essential Oil?

Sandalwood Essential Oil is extracted from the aromatic wood of the Santalum album tree, native to South India. The oil is obtained through a careful distillation process of the tree’s heartwood, which yields a rich oil containing santalol. This compound is responsible for the oil’s distinct scent and potential health benefits.

To produce the oil, the nonfragrant sapwood is manually removed, and then the remaining wood is steam distilled.

This careful process is what makes it so rare and expensive.

Origin

Sandalwood essential oil comes from the heartwood of the Santalum tree, which must be at least 15 years old before the oil can be extracted. This process often requires cutting down the entire tree.

Sandalwood trees are farmed mainly in Australia, where farmers are careful to harvest them in a way that is good for the environment.

Oil is renowned for its calming effects and is frequently used in Ayurvedic medicine. One of its key compounds, alpha-santalol, helps promote relaxation, while another compound, alpha-bisabolol, is known for its skin-healing and anti-aging properties.

Sandalwood has great cultural significance. Its smell is often used in Hindu rituals to show the presence of God. 

Extraction process

The scent of sandalwood oil comes from the center of the tree, where the dark inner core, called heartwood, has most of the fragrant oil. 

At the factories, the logs are sorted, with pure heartwood being the most valuable type, as it has the most oil and is easiest to extract when it forms a circle at the log’s center. Workers remove the non-fragrant sapwood by hand, break the heartwood into chips, and grind it into powder for distillation. This ensures only the most fragrant parts are kept.

To extract the oil, steam is injected into stills, capturing the sandalwood’s sweet, woodsy aroma. This extracted oil is valuable for its health benefits and unique, long-lasting scent, making it perfect for perfume production.

Chemical Composition and Properties of Sandalwood Essential Oil?

The main ingredients in Sandalwood essential oil are sesquiterpenic alcohols, specifically alpha-Santalol and beta-Santalol, which make up 70-85% of the oil.

These compounds give the oil its unique scent and are thought to have various health benefits.

However, the amounts of these compounds can differ based on the type of Sandalwood, where it’s grown, and how the oil is extracted and distilled.

What are Santalols?

Santalols are the main ingredients that give sandalwood oil its distinctive smell and therapeutic benefits.

They come in two forms: alpha-santalol and beta-santalol.

These compounds have unique structures that greatly affect how sandalwood products smell and behave.

Alpha-santalol

Alpha-santalol is the main part of sandalwood essential oil. Its chemical formula is C15H24O. This substance is responsible for the unique and long-lasting smell of sandalwood and also beneficial because of its chemical structure.

Property	Detail	Importance
Chemical Formula	C15H24O	Shows the molecule’s makeup
Regulatory Info	Labels warn of possible allergic reactions	Helps keep people safe
Usage	Used in perfumes and medicine	Useful in many ways

Beta-santalol

Beta-santalol makes up about 20% of sandalwood essential oil. It’s a type of sesquiterpene organic compound.

Companies are now working on ways to produce beta-santalol sustainably, due to the increasing demand for sandalwood oil in many industries.

This shows how important this compound is.

What are the Aromatherapy Uses of Sandalwood Essential Oil?

Sandalwood essential oil is used in aromatherapy because of its unique benefits. It helps people relax and think clearly. The oil also has antioxidant properties that can reduce inflammation and help with skin problems.

When it’s released into the air, it can create a sense of calm and reduce anxiety and stress. It can also improve focus and concentration by increasing alertness.

When applied to the skin, the oil can clean and nourish it, and also help with hair and scalp health. Its grounding properties make it a popular choice for meditation, as it can promote a sense of peace and calm.

We can also use it in baths and massages to rejuvenate the body and mind. 

Sandalwood essential oil in high-end perfumes

Sandalwood essential oil is a key ingredient in high-end perfumes, much like how Cedarwood Essential Oil is valued for its deep, earthy notes in fragrances. Luxury brands, like Carriere Freres, Byredo, and Bella Freud, use oil in their products because of its high quality, added depth and makes the unique scent last longer.

Because trees grow slowly and oil takes a lot of work to produce, it’s expensive, costing between $3,000 and $8,000 per liter. As an alternative, we do see  some companies using synthetic type instead.

Health and Wellness Benefits

Sandalwood essential oil has many benefits for our health and wellness. It is rich in antioxidants and can reduce inflammation, helping to improve overall well-being. Its calming effects make it perfect for meditation and stress relief, much like the soothing properties of Pine Essential Oil.

Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Properties

Sandalwood oil has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that help alleviate various health conditions. It counters oxidative stress and reduces the formation of free radicals, which damage cells.

As an anti-inflammatory agent, it suppresses chemicals that cause inflammation, making it effective in treating skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis.

Key Benefits of Sandalwood Oil:

1. Neutralizes Free Radicals from damaging cells.
2. It blocks certain chemicals that cause inflammation.
3. Helps skin cells grow, improving the skin’s barrier function and wound healing.

Improving Meditation and Stress Relief

Sandalwood Essential Oil has a big impact on managing stress and improving meditation. The oil’s chemical makeup, which includes alpha-santalol and beta-santalol, gives it strong stress-relieving properties. It can also make meditation experiences feel more calm and intense.

Practical uses in daily wellness routines

The oil has therapeutic properties that make it useful for managing stress and promoting emotional healing. It can help you relax, reduce anxiety, and improve focus. This makes it great for meditation and overall mental well-being.

This oil is great for your skin by providing moisture, reducing inflammation and with antibacterial properties, effective for conditions like acne, psoriasis, and dermatitis. 

With its antiseptic properties, it can be natural remedy for small wounds and infections. This is why it’s often used in natural cleaning products and hand sanitizers.

Sandalwood oil has a unique and long-lasting scent, which is why it’s used in the fragrance industry as a base note in expensive perfumes.

What are the Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing Practices for Sandalwood Essential Oil?

Sandalwood essential oil comes with unique sustainability and sourcing challenges. Sandalwood trees take over 15 years to mature, making them vulnerable to illegal harvesting and environmental damage. The oil’s high demand and limited supply also lead to price volatility.

Some key concerns and solutions include:

• Trees harvested too early can harm the environment and market stability.
• Responsible sourcing involves obtaining sandalwood in a way that ensures fair treatment of local communities and sustainable harvesting practices.
• Companies are using eco-friendly distillation methods and reducing their carbon footprint.
• Collaborations between companies and local communities are becoming essential to ensure supply chain sustainability and responsibly sourced products.

What Impacts on the Quality and availability of sandalwood oil?

Sandalwood oil is becoming harder to find in good quality. This is because some sellers are not honest about what they are selling, prices are different everywhere, and the chemical makeup of the oil can vary. 

The quality and availability are affected by many factors such as characteristics of the tree, market conditions, and regulations.

Factor	Impact
Characteristics of the sandalwood tree	Affect the quality and chemical composition of sandalwood oil
Market conditions	Affect the price and availability of sandalwood oil
Regulations	Guide the quality assessment and consumer awareness of sandalwood oil

There are standards in place, such as ISO 3518, that guide the production and sale of sandalwood oil. However, a study found that many products don’t meet these standards. Some websites even sell oils from non-traditional sandalwood species.

It’s important for us as consumers to be educated and aware of the quality of the products we buy.