Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Artificial production of agarwood oil in Aquilaria sp. by fungi: a review

  • Published:
Phytochemistry Reviews Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The resinous part called agarwood of genus Aquilaria Lam has been exploited as a source of incense by mankind since time immemorial besides its medicinal properties. In global market purest oud/agarwood oil enjoys an exorbitant price tag owing to its mystical fragrance. This has led to over-exploitation of Aquilaria sp. at worldwide level. All the Aquilaria sp. are protected under CITES since 2002. Agarwood production is considered to have a pathological relation, secreted actively in response to foreign body infection as a means of defense mechanism in Aquilaria sp. In order to fulfill the demand for sustainable production of agarwood, chemical, physical and biological methods of inducing artificial infection for agarwood enhancement/production have been formulated. In addition, artificial inoculation of fungi has been used to induce agarwood in Aquilaria trees. In this review, we have discussed the success and limitations of various methods employed for agarwood stimulation and provided the analysis of investigation conducted by various researchers to ascertain the contributory role of fungi (endophytic–pathogenic–epiphytic) on agar formation and chemical composition of oil from artificially infected agarwood. Based on available literature, Xylaria sp., Lasiodiplodia sp., Colletotrichum sp. and Botryosphaeria sp. are promising fungal isolates which deserved to be further studied and scaled up to a commercial level for production of agarwood oil.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdin J (2014) The agar wood industry: yet to utilize in Bangladesh. Int J Econ Manag Sci 3:163. doi:10.4172/2162-6359.1000163 

  • Akter S, Islam MT, Zulkefeli M, Khan SI (2013) Agarwood production-a multidisciplinary field to be explored in Bangladesh. Int J Pharma Life Sci 2(1):22–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous (2007) Forestry Commission GIFNFC. Chemicals from trees. http://treechemicals.csl.gov.uk/review/extraction.cfm. Cited14 July 2007

  • Beniwal BS (1989) Silvical characteristics of Aquilaria agallocha Roxb. Indian For 115(1):17–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharyya B (1952) On the formation and development of agaru in Aquilaria agallocha. Sci Cult 18:240–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Bose SR (1938) The nature of ‘Agaru’ formation. Sci Cult 4:89–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen XY (2012) The optimization of evaluation system of the quality of agarwood, sandalwood and the application in evaluating the quality of agarwood from different artificial inducing methods. PhD thesis. Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangdong, China

  • Chen H, Yang Y, Xue J, Wei J, Zhang Z, Chen H (2011) Comparison of compositions and antimicrobial activities of essential oils from chemically stimulated agarwood, wild agarwood and healthy Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg trees. Molecules 16(6):4884–4896

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen HQ, Wei JH, Yang JS, Zhang Z, Yang Y, Gao ZH, Gong B (2012) Chemical constituents of agarwood originating from the endemic genus Aquilaria plants. Chem Biodivers 9(2):236–250

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chowdhary K, Kaushik N, Coloma AG, Raimundo CM (2012) Endophytic fungi and their metabolites isolated from Indian medicinal plant. Phytochem Rev 11(4):467–485

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • CITES (2004) In: Proceedings of thirteenth meeting of the conference of the parties, Bangkok

  • Cowan MM (1999) Plant products as antimicrobial agents. Clin Microbiol Rev 12(4):564–582

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cui JL, Guo SX, Xiao PG (2011) Antitumor and antimicrobial activities of endophytic fungi from medicinal parts of Aquilaria sinensis. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B 12(5):385–392

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cui J, Guo S, Fu S, Xiao P, Wang M (2013) Effects of inoculating fungi on agilawood formation in Aquilaria sinensis. Chin Sci Bull 58(26):3280–3287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dahham SS, Majid AMSA, Saghir SM, Al suede FS (2014) Antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of Aquilaria crassna. Int J Adv Sci Technol 2(3):196–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai HF, Liu J, Han Z, Zeng YB, Wang H, Mei WL (2010) Two new 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones from Chinese eaglewood. J Asian Nat Prod Res 12(2):134–137

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dash M, Patra JK, Panda PP (2008) Phytochemical and antimicrobial screening of extracts of Aquilaria agallocha Roxb. Afri J Biotechnol 7(20):3531–3534

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deodhar MA, Pipalia NH, Karmankar SM (2002) Biotransformation of terpenoids: reductive ability of Paecilomyces variotii. J Med Arom Plant Sci 24(1):1–5

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feng J, Yang XW, Wang RF (2011) Bio-assay guided isolation and identification of α-glucosidase inhibitors from the leaves of Aquilaria sinensis. Phytochemistry 72(2):242–247

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gazis R, Miadlikowska J, Lutzoni F, Arnold AE, Chaverri P (2012) Culture-based study of endophytes associated with rubber trees in Peru reveals a new class of Pezizomycotina: Xylonomycetes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 65(1):294–304

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gong L, Guo S (2009) Endophytic fungi from Dracaena cambodiana and Aquilaria sinensis and their antimicrobial activity. Afri J Biotechnol 8(5):731–736

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman RN, Kiraly Z, Wood KR (1986) The biochemistry and physiology of plant disease. University of Missouri Press, Columbia

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunasekera SP, Kinghorn AD, Cordell GA, Farnsworth NR (1981) Plant anticancer agents XIX. Constituents of Aquilaria malaccensis. J Nat Prod 44(5):569–572

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hashim YZHY, Phirdaous A, Azura A (2014) Screening of anticancer activity from agarwood essential oil. Pharmacogn Res 6(3):191

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang JQ, Wei JH, Zhang Z, Yang Y, LiuY Y, Meng H, Zhang JL (2013) Historical records and modern studies on agarwood production method and overall agarwood production method. China J Chin Mater Med 38(3):302–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Ito M, Okimoto KI, Yagura T, Honda G, Kiuchi F, Shimada Y (2005) Induction of sesquiterpenoid production by methyl jasmonate in Aquilaria sinensis cell suspension culture. J Essen Oil Res 17(2):175–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jalaluddin M (1977) A useful pathological condition agarwood. Econ Bot 31:222–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kakino M, Sugiyama T, Kunieda H, Tazawa S, Maruyama H (2012) Agarwood (Aquilaria  crassna) extracts decrease high-protein high-fat diet-induced intestinal putrefaction  toxins in mice. Pharma Analy Acta 3:152. doi:10.4172/2153-2435.1000152 

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaushik N (2015) Integrated approach for characterization, conservation, and value addition of agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis) using biotechnological approaches” report submitted to Department of Biotechnology, India, July 2015

  • Kharwar RN, Mishra A, Gond SK, Stierle A, Stierle D (2011) Anticancer compounds derived from fungal endophytes: their importance and future challenges. Nat Prod Rep 28(7):1208–1228

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim YC, Lee EH, Lee YM, Kim HK, Song BK, Lee EJ, Kim HM (1997) Effect of the aqueous extract of Aquilaria agallocha stems on the immediate hypersensitivity reactions. J Ethnopharmacol Pharmacol 58(1):31–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S, Kaushik N (2013) Endophytic fungi isolated from oil-seed crop Jatropha curcas produces oil and exhibit antifungal activity. PLoS ONE 8(2):e56202

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kumeta Y, Ito M (2010) Characterization of δ-guaiene synthases from cultured cells of Aquilaria, responsible for the formation of the sesquiterpenes in agarwood. Plant Physiol 154(4):1998–2007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Li DL, Chen YC, Tao MH, Li HH, Zhang WM (2012a) Two new octahydro naphthalene derivatives from Trichoderma spirale, an endophytic fungus derived from Aquilaria sinensis. Helv Chim Acta 95(5):805–809

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li HY, Shen M, Zhou ZP, Li T, Wei YL, Lin LB (2012b) Diversity and cold adaptation of endophytic fungi from five dominant plant species collected from the Baima Snow Mountain, Southwest China. Fungal Divers 54(1):79–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li D, Chen Y, Pan Q, Tao M, Zhang W (2014) A new eudesmane sesquiterpene from Nigrospora oryzae, an endophytic fungus of Aquilaria sinensis. Rec Nat Prod 8:330–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Chen H, Yang Y, Zhang Z, Wei J, Meng H, Gao Z (2013) Whole-tree agarwood-inducing technique: an efficient novel technique for producing high-quality agarwood in cultivated Aquilaria sinensis trees. Molecules 18(3):3086–3106

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mohamed R, Jong PL, Zali MS (2010) Fungal diversity in wounded stems of Aquilaria malaccensis. Fungal Divers 43(1):67–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohamed R, Jong PL, Kamziah AK (2014) Fungal inoculation induces agarwood in young Aquilaria malaccensis trees in the nursery. J For Res 25(1):201–204

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naef R (2011) The volatile and semi-volatile constituents of agarwood, the infected heartwood of Aquilaria species: a review. Flavour Fragr J 26(2):73–87

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nobuchi T, Siripatanadilok S (1991) Preliminary observation of Aquilaria crassna wood associated with the formation of aloeswood. Bull Kyoto Univ For 63:226–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Novriyanti E (2008) Role of extractive substances in formation agarwood Aquilaria crassna by Pierre ex Lecomte and Aquilaria microcarpa Baill. Ph.D. Thesis The Graduate School of Bogor Agricultural University. Bogor, Indonesia

  • Novriyanti E, Santosa E, Syafii W, Turjaman M, Sitepu IR (2010) Anti-fungal activity of wood extract of Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte against agarwood-inducing fungi, Fusarium solani. Indones J For Res 7(2):155–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okudera Y, Ito M (2009) Production of agarwood fragrant constituents in Aquilaria calli and cell suspension cultures. Plant Biotechnol 26(3):307–315

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okugawa H, Ueda R, Matsumoto K, Kawanishi K, Kato A (1993) Effects of agarwood extracts on the central nervous system in mice. Planta Med 59(1):32–36

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oldfield S, Lusty C, Mackinven A (1998) The world list of threatened trees. World Conservation Press, WCMC, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng CS, Osman MF, Bahari N, Zakaria R, Rahim KA (2015) Agarwood inducement technology: a method for producing oil grade agarwood in cultivated Aquilaria malaccensis Lamk. J Agrobiotechnol 6:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Persoon GA (2007) Agarwood: the life of a wounded tree. IIAS Newsl 45:24–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Pojanagaroon S, Kaewrak C (2003) Mechanical methods to stimulate aloes wood formation in Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex H. Lec. (Kritsana) trees. In: III WOCMAP congress on medicinal and aromatic plants—vol 2: conservation, cultivation and sustainable use of medicinal, vol 676, pp 161–166

  • Premalatha K, Kalra A (2013) Molecular phylogenetic identification of endophytic fungi isolated from resinous and healthy wood of Aquilaria malaccensis, a red listed and highly exploited medicinal tree. Fungal Ecol 6(3):205–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qi SY, He ML, Lin LD, Zhang CH, Hu LJ, Zhang HZ (2005) Production of 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones in cell suspension cultures of Aquilaria sinensis. Plant Cell, Tissue Organ Cult 83(2):217–221

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rahayu G (2008) Increasing fragrance and terpenoid production in Aquilaria crassna by multi-application of methyl-jasmonate comparing to single induction of Acremonium sp. Paper was presented in international conference on microbiology and biotechnology, Jakarta, 11–12 Nov 2008

  • Rahayu G, Putridan Juliarni AL (2007) Acremonium and methyl-jasmonate induce terpenoid formation in agarwood tree (Aquilaria crassna). In: Makalahdi presenta sikandalam 3rd Asian conference on crop protection, Jogyakarta, 22–24 Aug 2007

  • Rahman H, Vakati K, Eswaraiah MC (2012) In-vivo and in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of Aquilaria agallocha oil. Int J Basic Med Sci Pharm 2(1):2049–4963

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao KR, Dayal R (1992) The secondary xylem of Aquilaria agallocha (Thymelaeaceae) and the formation of’agar. IAWA J 13(2):163–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saikia P, Khan ML (2012) Agar (Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.) a promising crop in the homegardens of Upper Assam, northeastern India. J Trop Agric 50(1–2):8–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Santoso E, Irianto RSB, Turjaman M, Sitepu IR (2011) Gaharu-producing tree induction technology. Development of gaharu production technology, p 31

  • Sattayasai J, Bantadkit J, Aromdee C, Lattmann E, Airarat W (2012) Antipyretic, analgesic and anti-oxidative activities of Aquilaria crassna leaves extract in rodents. J Ayurveda Integr Med 3(4):175

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Situmorang J (2005) Mechanical plant seed development eaglewood through tissue culture. SEAMEO-Biotrop 2005. Bogor

  • Soehartono T, Newton AC (2000) Conservation and sustainable use of tropical trees in the genus Aquilaria I. Status and distribution in Indonesia. Biol Conserv 96(1):83–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subehan UJ, Ueda JY, Fujino H, Attamimi F, Kadota S (2005) A field survey of agarwood in Indonesia. J Tradit Med 22(4):244–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Suryanarayanan TS, Thirunavukkarasu N, Govindarajulu MB, Sasse F, Jansen R, Murali TS (2009) Fungal endophytes and bioprospecting. Fungal Biol Rev 23:9–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabata Y, Widjaja E, Mulyaningsih T, Parman I, Wiriadinata H, Mandang YI, Itoh T (2003) Structural survey and artificial induction of aloeswood. Wood Res 90:10–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamuli P, Boruah P (2002) Changes in free amino acids in agarwood plant under pathological condition. Geobios 29(4):241–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamuli P, Boruah P, Nath SC, Samanta R (2000) Fungi from disease agarwood tree (Aquilaria agallocha Roxb): two new records. Adv For Res India 22:182–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamuli P, Boruah P, Nath SC, Leclercq P (2005) Essential oil of eaglewood tree: a product of pathogenesis. J Essent Oil Res 17:601–604

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tao MH, Yan J, Wei XY, Li DL, Zhang WM, Tan JW (2011) A novel sesquiterpene alcohol from Fimetariella rabenhorstii, an endophytic fungus of Aquilaria sinensis. Nat Prod Commun 6(6):763–766

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tian JJ, Gao XX, Zhang WM, Wang L, Qu LH (2013) Molecular identification of endophytic fungi from Aquilaria sinensis and artificial agarwood induced by pinholes-infusion technique. Afr J Biotechnol 12(21):3115–3131

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasu NK (2011) Asia regional workshop on agarwood “management of wild and plantation source agarwood” Bangka Tengah, Bangka Island Indonesia, India, 22–24 Nov 2011

  • Wang Y, Dai CC, Cao JL, Xu DS (2012) Comparison of the effects of fungal endophyte Gilmaniella sp. and its elicitor on Atractylodes lancea plantlets. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 28:575–584

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei JH, Zhang Z, Yang Y, Meng H, Gao ZH, Chen WP, Feng JD, Chen HQ (2012) An agarwood induction agent and its preparation method. Patent CN101731282B

  • Wilson JJ, Kitto M (2012) Aquilaria malaccensis Lam., a Red-listed and highly exploited tree species in the Assamese home garden. Curr Sci 102(4):546

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu ZC, Li DL, Chen YC, Zhang WM (2010) A new isofuranonaphthalenone and benzopyrans from the endophytic fungus Nodulisporium sp. A4 from Aquilaria sinensis. Helv Chim Acta 93(5):920–924

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XL, Liu YY, Wei JH, Yang Y, Zhang Z, Huang JQ, Chen HQ, Liu YJ (2012) Production of high-quality agarwood in Aquilaria sinensis trees via whole-tree agarwood-induction technology. Chin Chem Lett 23(6):727–730

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, Han XM, Wei JH, Xue J, Yang Y, Liang L, Li XJ, Guo QM, Xu YH, Gao ZH (2014) Compositions and antifungal activities of essential oils from agarwood of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg induced by Lasiodiplodia theobromae (Pat.) Griffon & Maubl. J Braz Chem Soc 25:20–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao J, Davis LC, Verpoorte R (2005) Elicitor signal transduction leading to production of plant secondary metabolites. Biotechnol Adv 23:283–333

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou M, Wang H, Kou J, Yu B (2008) Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg. Leaves extract. J Ethnopharmacol 117(2):345–350

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India for research Grant No. BT/PR1505/NDB/38/223/2011 for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Darbari Seth Block, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003, India

    Hemraj Chhipa, Kanika Chowdhary & Nutan Kaushik

Authors
  1. Hemraj Chhipa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kanika Chowdhary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nutan Kaushik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nutan Kaushik.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chhipa, H., Chowdhary, K. & Kaushik, N. Artificial production of agarwood oil in Aquilaria sp. by fungi: a review. Phytochem Rev 16, 835–860 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-017-9492-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-017-9492-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation