Results of Agarwood Inducement in the Stems of Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte Growing in the Farmers’ Plantations, Trat Province

Abstract

This study aims to investigate a result of agarwood inducement in the stems of Aquilaria crassna growing in the farmers’ plantations, Trat province. Four different techniques of agarwood inducement were selected to determine the amount of agarwood occurring in the stems of A.crassna. Then, the agarwood woodchips were separated from sound wood to obtain the agarwood oil using three different distillation methods. The result has shown that the agarwood inducement technique 4 is the best method to induce agarwood formation in the stems of 12-year-old A. crassna trees. The technique appeared to make holes around tree trunks and inserted one bamboo stick which had been painted with a secret recipe of substances in each hole. The agarwood was formed in 16 months and shown the highest amount in weight compared to the other inducement techniques. When the agarwood woodchips were distilled by using the method of distillation III (steam distillation unit: copper pot with stainless steel condenser tube horizontally placed in water tank), the largest volume of agarwood oil was obtained and with good quality in term of scent and durability. Estimation of obtained agarwood oil price was 4,200 Baht/Tora.