Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Sandalwood (Santalum album), of the Santalaceae family. A small hemiparasitic evergreen tree that draws on the roots of neighbouring plants; native range: peninsular India (especially Karnataka and the Deccan) and the Indonesian archipelago; long cultivated and traded across Asia. Globally recognized as chandana / shrikhanda in Sanskrit, safed chandan in Hindi, tan xiang (檀香) in Chinese, sandal (صندل) in Arabic, and white sandalwood, East Indian sandalwood in English. The part used is the heartwood and its distilled essential oil. Close-grained yellowish heartwood, heavy and oily, carrying the soft, sweet, persistent balsamic-woody scent of santalol; the outer sapwood is pale and scentless.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SANDALWOOD
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Sandalwood
- Scientific name
- Santalum album L.
- Family
- Santalaceae
Form
- Part used
- the heartwood and its distilled essential oil
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent (aromatic)
- Ayurveda
- bitter · sweet · astringent
- Western
- aromatic · bitter
- Unani
- bitter · astringent · aromatic
Temperature
TCM: warm
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta)
Western: cool
Unani: cold (& dry, 2nd–3rd degree)
convergence: a genuine split — TCM prizes the warm, qi-moving heartwood for cold chest and belly pain, while Ayurveda, Unani and the West value the same wood as a cooling refrigerant for heat and burning
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Stomach · Lung · Heart
- Western
- kidneys · bladder · lungs · mucous membranes
- Unani
- heart · brain · liver · kidneys
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- moves qi and warms the middle to alleviate pain — for cold qi-stagnation pain of the chest, epigastrium and abdomen; aromatic
- Ayurveda
- sheeta-virya (refrigerant), pitta-shamaka, dahaprashamana (relieves burning) and trishnanigrahana (quells thirst); varnya (complexion), hridya and raktaprasadana — used in fever and burning micturition
- Western
- a urinary antiseptic and demulcent (santalol) for cystitis and urethritis, an expectorant in chronic bronchitis, and a cooling, calming aromatic
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiotonic), muqawwi-e-dimagh (cephalic tonic), musakkin (refrigerant sedative) and daf-e-khafqan (anti-palpitation) — for fever, thirst, headache and burning
Cautions
- Contraindications
- acute inflamed kidney disease (the oil is a renal irritant in large or prolonged doses); yin-deficient heat, for which the warm aromatic (tan xiang) is unsuited
- Toxicity
- the essential oil in excess irritates the kidneys and stomach (nausea, haematuria); adulteration is rife, so genuine Santalum album must be ensured — and note that RED sandalwood is a different plant (Pterocarpus santalinus)
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