The effect of crown pruning and induction of Acremonium sp. on agarwood formation in Gyrinops caudata in West Papua, Indonesia

Auri A, Faridah E, Sumardi, Hardiwinoto S. 2021. The effect of crown pruning and induction of Acremonium sp. on agarwood formation in Gyrinops caudata in West Papua, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 2604-2611. Agarwood-producing trees have been planted by the community, but have currently not produced agarwood resin. This research examines the crown pruning effect and fungi inoculation effectivity on the formation of agarwood resin in Gyrinops caudata. The environmental modification was also ascertained based on the real environmental situation in natural forests. Furthermore, it was assumed that environmental conditions significantly influenced the growth, G. caudata tree association, and fungi infection. This method involved the tree crown cover modification. Tree crown was categorized into three different classes, i.e. dense crown (no pruning); moderate (pruning 25%), and sparse (pruning 50%). The results showed that inoculating fungi of Acremonium sp. to infection coverage area after three months produced the best results, due to Fcount 79.671. However, crown prunings obtained through heavy, moderate and non-pruning did not show any effect on stem infection spread. In the sixth month, it was observed that the fungi inoculation factor of Acremonium sp. had a significant effect on infection spread formation by Fcount of 168.894. The change in wood internal tissue also had a highly significant effect as depicted by Fcount 461.516. The fragrance level treatment also showed a considerable effect with Fcount 290.385.

Same useful fixative from resin in Vietnam

Today, fixatives from natural raw materials are gradually replacing fixatives synthesized from chemicals. The arm of this research is the study of same useful resin in Vietnam for fixative substance in blending fragrance. We obtained Benzoin resin from Styrax tonkenensis Pierre plant in Ha Giang province, Canarium resin from Canarium Album L. in Dak Nong district, Dak Lak province, and Agarwood pulp of Aquilaria crassna plant in Binh Thuan province Vietnam. The material used in the experiment for the natural fragrance was taken from the project of Vietnam essential oils and related natural products. The method of this process is resin extraction by volatile solvents. The resin is dissolved in alcohol 96% and the distilled alcohol is removed to obtain absolute. The method of assessment of product quality in this study is using the olfactory to assess the odour of samples over time. Benzoin resin, Canarium resin, and Agarwood resin of Vietnam are useful fixatives in blending fragrance. The fixative ability of Benzoin resin absolute is not equal to the ability of Agarwood resin absolute but better than the ability of Canarium resin absolute. Through research and experiment, we can see Benzoin resin, Canarium resin and Agarwood resin are precious. They can be used as a good fixative in aromatherapy. This is a natural resin, a kind of resource available in Vietnam. Therefore, it is recommended for further research, exploitation, and effective use of this resource.

Production of Agarwood Resin in Aquilaria beccariana Using Inducement Technology

Agarwood is a type of resin impregnated wood produced from the wounded Aquilaria trees. This agarwood gives a pleasant fragrant when it is burned. It becomes high-priced and increase demanded in the world due to the depletion of wild agarwood in the forest caused by illegal poaching activities. Agarwood resin can only be produced by injuring caused by lightning or wounded by animals under natural conditions. However, the natural process of resin accumulation is uncertain and time-consuming. Therefore, we developed an agarwood inducement technique that served as the alternative way to induce the agarwood formation in a short time. Three inducement techniques, including the injecting method, knocking method and combination of injecting & knocking method were applied to induce resin formation. In this study, we evaluated the technique for producing agarwood in species Aquilaria beccariana, which is native and only can be found in Borneo Malaysia. For A. beccariana trees treated with the inducement technique, resin formed and spread throughout the cell in the trunk. The evaluation results showed that the agarwood yield per tree reached around 5 to 7 kilogram. Furthermore, this agarwood derived from the induction was found to have a similar quality with the wild agarwood. This indicates the inducement technology had successfully produced agarwood resin in A. beccariana with a grade similar to the wild agarwood.

A REVIEW: AQUILARIA SPECIES AS POTENTIAL OF PHARMACOLOGICAL

One of the plants that is rich in benefits is from the genus Aquilaria spp. which is known to be able to produce agarwood resin. This genus includes 47 species, of which the four main species are Aquilaria malaccensis, Aquilaria subintegra, Aquilaria crassna and Aquilaria sinensis. Aquilaria species are known to have a wide spectrum of pharmacological activity and have been reported in many studies, including activity, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, AChE inhibitor (Acetylcholinesterase), anti-proliferative, and antidiabetic. The aim of this review is to expand information on the pharmacological activity of various Aquilaria species that can support future studies in the medical field of medicine.

A Novel Agarwood Resin Inducement Method Using Mycotoxins of Selected Fungal Species

Agarwood is a dark, fragrant, valuable resinous wood produced in Aquilaria and Gyrinops tree species in the family Thymelaeaceae to protect internal tissues from microbial infections. Aspergillus niger and Fusarium solani are well known to induce agarwood resin formation. This study demonstrated for the first time that agarwood resin formation can be induced by the mycotoxins of A. niger and F. solani. Different volumes of mycotoxins extracted from the ASP-U strain (USJCC-0059) of A. niger and the FUS-U strain (USJCC-0060) of F. solani were inoculated into A. crassna trees at 1 m intervals. The impacts of the inoculations were observed through resin content and constituent analysis at 7 months after inoculation. Resin production due to the mycotoxins of ASP-U and FUS-U was restricted to ±20 cm and ±60 cm, respectively, from the inoculation point. Color of the resinous agarwood varied from yellowish-brown to black. The differences in resin content formation due to the different inoculant volumes of ASP-U and FUS-U were statistically significant, and the average resin contents varied from 0.89%-4.44% and 1.24%-9.20%, respectively. GC-MS analysis detected 27 constituents responsible for the characteristic aroma of agarwood resin. Among them, phenyl butanone, agarofuran, agarospirol, β-caryophyllene, alloaromadendrene oxide and (-)guaiene-1(10),11-diene-15-ol were found in all extracts. These are common in commercially available agarwood induced by fungal species. Hence, we demonstrated that the mycotoxins of specific fungal strains can be used for agarwood production. Therefore, chemically synthesized mycotoxins can be used at commercial-scale, eliminating the difficulties of maintaining live fungal cultures for agarwood production.

Kualitas Gaharu Aquilaria sp. dengan Pemberian Bioinokulan Fermentasi Batang Pisang yang Terkena Penyakit Layu Fusarium

(Article History: Received February 1, 2021; Revised March 8, 2021; Accepted April 7, 2021) ABSTRAK Upaya produksi gaharu budidaya umumnya menggunakan inokulan dari jenis Fusarium sp., namun mahalnya inokulan biakan murni menjadi faktor pembatas untuk produksi gaharu budidaya. Bioinokulan dapat menjadi solusi bagi petani gaharu karena dibuat dari bahan yang mengandung mikroorganisme patogen dan tidak membutuhkan proses pembiakan murni. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi jenis-jenis mikroorganisme dan konsentrasi bioinokulan yang tepat digunakan untuk menghasilkan kualitas gaharu yang baik serta mengetahui kualitas gaharu yang dihasilkan dengan menggunakan bioinokulan dari fermentasi batang pisang yang terkena penyakit layu fusarium. Metode penelitian lapangan dengan melakukan inokulasi bioinokulan dari fermentasi batang pisang yang terkena penyakit layu fusarium pada pohon Aquilaria sp. Setiap konsentrasi diinokulasikan pada pohon yang berbeda. Pada ketinggian 30 cm dari permukaan tanah, pohon dibuat lubang sebanyak 5 buah secara vertikal dengan menggunakan bor dengan jarak antar lubang 50 cm. Inokulan diinokulasikan melalui lubang yang telah dibuat dengan metode infus. Hasil penelitian diperoleh tiga jenis mikroorganisme yang terdapat pada bioinokulan yaitu kelompok genus Aspergillus, Fusarium dan Saccharomyces. Perlakuan dengan konsentrasi bioinokulan 140 ml memberikan hasil yang terbaik terhadap bobot kayu gaharu, warna, aroma dan kadar resin gaharu yang dihasilkan. Berdasarkan penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa kualitas gaharu yang dihasilkan setelah 4 bulan inokulasi menghasilkan mutu gaharu kelas kemedangan. Kata Kunci: Aquilaria sp., Bioinokulan, Fusarium sp., Gaharu, Inokulasi ABSTRACT Efforts to produce cultivated agarwood generally use inoculants of the type Fusarium sp. however the high cost of pure culture inoculants is a limiting factor for cultivated agarwood production. Bioinoculants can be a solution for agarwood farmers because they are made from materials containing pathogenic microorganisms and do not require a pure breeding process. The research aims to determine the kind of microorganisms and the proper concentration of bioinoculants to produce good quality agarwood and determine the quality of aloes produced by using bioinoculants from fermented banana stem affected by fusarium wilt disease. The method of field research was by conducting inoculation of bioinoculants from the fermentation of banana stems affected by fusarium wilt on Aquilaria sp. Each concentration was inoculated on a different tree. At a height of 30 cm from the ground, 5 holes are made vertically using a drill with a distance of 50 cm between the holes. The inoculant is inoculated through the hole that has been made by the infusion method. The results showed that there were three types of microorganisms found in bioinoculants, namely the Aspergillus, Fusarium and Saccharomyces genus groups. Treatment with a concentration of 140 ml of bioinoculant gave the best results on the weight of agarwood, color, aroma and content of the resulting agarwood resin. Based on this research, it can be concluded that the quality of aloes produced after 4 months of inoculation resulted in the quality of agarwood in the kemedangan class.Keywords: Agarwood, Aquilaria sp., Bioinoculants, Fusarium sp., Inoculation

Evaluation of a Method of Separating Agarwood Absolute from Aquilaria crassna Pulp by Soxhlet and Soaking for Fixative Substance in Blending Fragrance

Agarwood resin is a precious material that has been widely used in industry and life. The aim of this study is the evaluation of a method of separating Aquilaria crassna wood pulp with ethanol by Soxhlet and solvent immersion method for fixative substance in blending fragrance. Agarwood pulp of Aquilaria crassna tree is grown in Binh Thuan province, Vietnam. Our research team has extracted the Agarwood absolute F.1 and F.2 from Aquilaria crassna by Soxhlet extraction and soaking method. The fragrance is diluted 10 times by odorless solvent diethyl phthalate (DEP), then use paper and olfactory of the nose to evaluate the aroma. The yield of absolute Agarwood extracted by the method of Soxhlet is 5.56% weight. The yield of Agarwood absolute extracted by the method of soaking is 4.58% weight. Agarwood absolute F.1 is a fixative substance, which is capable of storing fragrance better than Agarwood absolute F.2. The scent of fragrance Fr.F.2 using Agarwood absolute F.2 is more like a natural scent than fragrance Fr.F.1 with fixative F.1. Separating Agarwood absolute F.1 from Aquilaria crassna pulp by Soxhlet provided yield and fixative capabilities higher than separating Agarwood absolute F.2 from Aquilaria crassna pulp by soaking. The scent of fragrance Fr.F.2 using Agarwood absolute F.2 is more like a natural scent than fragrance Fr.F.1 with Agarwood absolute F.1.

Study on Soil Properties towards Formation of High Quality Agarwood Resin in Aquilaria crassna

Agarwood has been used for its fragrance and medicinal properties in Asian culture for centuries. In recent years, agarwood gains its popularity in the west due to its usage in perfume formulation. Unfortunately its supply not meets the augmentation market demand. This is mostly because of depleting nature agarwood reservoir and lack of induction technique that can produce agarwood consistently in the plantation. In this study, we look into a case where artificial inducing technique successfully produced high quality agarwood. To assure its quality, agarwood chip was analysed by Gas Chromatography for its chemical profiles. Discovered compounds were identified as sesquiterpene group which also had been characterized as major agarwood compound listed on previous studies. Few compounds that are detected such as δ-cadinene (0.20%), jinkoh-eremol (22.09%), epi-α-cadinol (4.74%), agarospirol (3.75%) and others. Soil condition that contributes into this agarwood formation; soil analysis on physical properties, chemical properties and nutrients content of the soil have been analyzed. Based on the findings, soil condition is an important factor to successfully induced high quality agarwood.

Effect of Different Chemical Formulation on Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis) Resin Weight

Agarwood is described as fragrance, smelling wood that is usually derived from the trunk of genus Aquilaria The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate four chemical-based inoculants to induce karas tree to form agarwood resin. Four chemical inoculants were applied into 6 years old karas tree (Aquilaria malaccensis) plantations in Slim River, Perak, Malaysia using dripping techniques. The inoculant used were labelled as A, B, C and D. Commercial inoculant was also used for comparison purposes and labelled as K while a healthy tree, act as control was labelled as N. After four months of inoculation, these samples were cut down and discoloured tissue samples were collected. Solvent extraction method using dichloromethane (DCM) was carried out to obtain the resin crude extract from plant tissues of the samples. All chemical formulation used were succesfully stimulated sample trees to produce resin. Inoculant B produced the highest crude extract recovery (5.49%) compared to inoculant C (4.78%) followed by A (4.32%), D (2.98%), K (1.07%) and N (0.13%). From this study, inoculant B showed the highest yield of resin. Hence, result from current study has the potential to contribute in enhancing new types of inoculant production for the agarwood industries in Malaysia.