Pterocarpus Sandalwood

Legumes - FABACEAE (LEGUMINOSAE). Parts used: heartwood cleared of sapwood. Pharmacy name: red sandalwood - Santali lignum rubri (formerly: Lignum Santali rubrum).

Botanical description. Both in the wild and in cultivation, this slender evergreen tree is common in India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. It reaches a height of more than 8 m and has compound pinnate leaves with 10 cm individual leaflets.

The yellow butterfly flowers are riddled with red veins. Collection and preparation. The raw material, which is only dark red heartwood, is obtained by removing the light sapwood from felled trees. The material is sold in the form of large blocks or logs and then crushed.

The raw material has a silky-glossy appearance, no odor (sometimes when rubbed you can detect a faint aromatic odor), tasteless and crumbles easily.

Active ingredients. The most important component of Pterocarpus sandalwood is the fine-crystalline red pigment sandalin. In addition to it, there are other pigments and related colorless substances, although they cannot be called active substances in the proper sense of the word.

Healing action and application. I believe that Pterocarpus sandalwood does not have any healing effect, and the German National Health Service is of the same opinion, considering that the latter has not been proven. Nevertheless, until recently it was in every pharmacy. It was used because of its beautiful red color as a decorative additive to many teas, especially to the so-called blood purifying ones.

In addition, it was credited with a very weak diuretic effect. Now that teas have become very popular again, Pterocarpus sandalwood is back in use, as nice looking tea blends are in greater demand than “colorless” ones. This may not make sense, but a tea lover can safely use red sandalwood: it cannot cause any harm, especially since it is used only as an additive.

So, anyone who finds small pieces of wood, silky-glossy and blood-red in any tea mixture, can only rejoice at this.

Side effects. From all of the above, it goes without saying that there is no reason to fear side effects.

Side effects. True sandalwood (Santalum album L.), with a strong, pleasant odor, is not botanically related to Pterocarpus sandalwood. This plant belongs to the Santalaceae family and is native to the Indo-Malayan region. It uses only heartwood, which contains an essential oil that smells like roses and is used in the perfume industry.

Despite its mild disinfectant effect on the kidneys and ureters, this oil has no medical value.