Gyrinops walla: The Recently Discovered Agarwood-Producing Species in Sri Lanka
This chapter describes the morphology, distribution, wood anatomy, and variations of agarwood resin contents and resin content of Gyrinops walla endemic to Sri Lanka. We revealed for the first time, this species, which populates the lower elevations of th
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Gyrinops walla: The Recently Discovered Agarwood-Producing Species in Sri Lanka S.M.C.U.P. Subasinghe and D.S. Hettiarachchi
Abstract This chapter describes the morphology, distribution, wood anatomy, and variations of agarwood resin contents and resin content of Gyrinops walla endemic to Sri Lanka. We revealed for the first time, this species, which populates the lower elevations of the wet zone of Sri Lanka in 2012. More importantly, the recently identified species possesses agarwood-producing ability, similar to other species in the Thymelaeaceae family. Before this scientific discovery, G. walla was considered a least valuable species due to the very low stem density. Not much is known about this forgotten species; we intend to unleash its full potential as a new economic commodity to this country.
6.1
Introduction
Gyrinops walla is a tree endemic to Sri Lanka. Due to the minimal timber value and very low stem density, the villagers used to remove this tree from their homesteads; therefore it could only be observed in forests and along live fences. However, in 2012, this species became one of the most commonly discussed topics due to its ability to produce agarwood and the high selling prices associated with it published in the media. During that time, many smuggling efforts were caught by the authorities. Parallel to these activities, we conducted research on G. walla’s resin-producing ability (Subasinghe et al. 2012; Subasinghe and Hettiarachchi 2013). As far as our knowledge goes, these were inaugural reports on the species ability to form agarwood. Earlier scientific publications on G. walla describe its geographical distribution (Hou 1960) and chemical constituents in the leaves (Schun et al. 1986), which are different from that of agarwood.
S.M.C.U.P. Subasinghe (*) Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, CO 10250, Sri Lanka e-mail: [email protected] D.S. Hettiarachchi Wescorp Agarwood, Wescorp Group of Companies, 26, Coulson Way, Canning Vale, WA 6155, Australia © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 R. Mohamed (ed.), Agarwood, Tropical Forestry, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0833-7_6
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S.M.C.U.P. Subasinghe and D.S. Hettiarachchi
Furthermore, we proved the resins produced in G. walla are chemically similar to that of the commercially agarwood-producing species growing in Southeast Asia. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of several sesquiterpene compounds like agarofuran, vetispirane/agarospirol, prezizane, guaiane, eremophilane, and eudesmane/selinane (Subasinghe and Hettiarachchi 2013). We also conducted a study on seed germination, which saw a rapid decline in germination ability after the seeds fell to the ground. In addition, we are currently conducting agarwood resin formation studies using different fungal species following conventional treatment methods such as those adopted by Southeast Asian countries on Aquilaria species. In this chapter, we review the present scientific knowledge on G. walla including its distribution
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