Insect infested agarwood: A newly prized product of agarwood market in Bangladesh

Abstract

Agarwood is a highly prized product in perfumery world. Insect infested wood demands higher price than other exported agarwoods. A comparative analysis was made among three categories of agarwood viz. white wood, screw injected agarwood and insect infested agarwood to evaluate the ether extract and total phenolic contents. The wood samples were collected from Sylhet region of Bangladesh. The ether extract oil contents were 1.80%, 20.49% and 11.08% for white wood, screw injected wood and insect infested wood, respectively. Total phenolic contents were 2.55 mg g⁻¹, 3.6 mg g⁻¹ and 2.97 mg g⁻¹ from white wood, screw injected wood and insect infested wood, respectively. Fungal attack following the insect infestation may have a positive effect on the quality of agar products. Further study is recommended to understand how insect infestation improves the quality of agar product.