tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33719015072582271912024-03-05T00:43:52.582-08:00Gyrinops walla (Walla patta)Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-33306814684257649062017-11-16T07:13:00.003-08:002017-11-16T07:13:55.681-08:00Can fungi and related microorganisms induce agarwood formation?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Abstract</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Presented at the 20th International Forestry and Environmental Symposium</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">November 2015</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Imalka Hitihamu, Upul Subasinghe, Preeni Fernando</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Gyrinops walla</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Gaertn is the only
agarwood forming species naturally growing in Sri Lanka. This species, belongs
to the family Thymalaeaceae is commonly growing in the low country wet zone of
Sri Lanka where the annual rainfall is high. Being very valuable due to the pleasant
aroma, agarwood resin is extensively used in cosmetic manufacturing, cultural
and religious activities. It is produced as a result of a self-defense
mechanism towards any stress caused by several factors which can be physical,
chemical and biological. However, use of fungal species to artificially
induce agarwood resin formation in <i>Aquilaria </i>species is common
in the Southeast Asian region. The present study aimed to explore the
possibility of inducing agarwood formation in <i>G. walla </i>trees
using Actinomycetes species.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">
<o:p></o:p>
</span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Actinomycetes
species were isolated from fresh agarwood resinous tissues of <i>G. walla</i> and
associated soils by culturing them in the laboratory. In order to do that, the
Actinomycetes species growing with other fungal species in the culture plates
were identified using their colony characteristics, reproductive structures and
then pure cultures were prepared. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Two g of Actinomycetes with solid agar medium was inoculated into
non-agarwood formed <i><span style="background: white;">G. walla</span></i><span style="background: white;"> trees under aseptic conditions. </span>Observations
were made for the agarwood resins in the stem tissues at 10 cm intervals above
and below the inoculated points at monthly intervals. Discolouration of the
stem tissues was recorded in the field. Resin contents (w/w%) were determined
by solvent extraction and the constituents were analysed using GC-MS technique.
Stem tissue discolouration varying from yellow to black was observed form the
first month after the inoculation. Resin contents varied from 0.03% to 1.66%
and high resin contents were observed in dark coloured tissues usually
extracted closer to the inoculation points. Moreover, 12<b> </b>constituents
were identified which were also common to the agarwood resins extracted from
the <i>Aquilaria </i>species. This study is the first attempt in Sri
Lanka investigating the potential of Actinomycetes species as inducing agents
of agarwood formation and results reveal that Actinomycetes species are
effective microorganisms in production or agarwood resins in <i>G. walla</i></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-28951460597213205342017-11-16T05:23:00.000-08:002017-11-16T05:23:05.422-08:00Extraction of agarwood resins from Walla patta<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Agarwood resin, considered to be the most valuable plant product has been kept as a secret in most of the time by the distillers at homestead and industry levels in southeast Asian countries where the Aquilaria trees are grown. After the discovery of the presence of agarwood resins in Walla patta naturally growing in Sri Lanka, the Forest Management Group of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, headed by Dr. Upul Subasinghe started trials on agarwood resin extractions to support the industry and homestead level distillers that are expected to be formed in near future. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The trials were conducted using a locally manufactured mini-distillation facility with varying water:agarwood ratio, distillation time and the particle size. The results proven that all the selected parameters above have significant impacts on both the oil content and quality which was tested by using GC-MS and GC-FID methods.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now those results are being further tested using an imported agarwood distillation facililty of medium-scale from Thailand to identify the best energy type and the resin quality improvement methods.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjek0mljVhskwvKOpVpX0W19cUeoQvUiK0YsLVBgS6DfyQ6X2brWA54F8wluIsFBxAao0pMnnBv0ENbmOy-e3XSf0lASFYY5Pb8evwa7VKfG5XhnHnHvpDST5VJgAKeh9oEkyT4WxIRFfY/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjek0mljVhskwvKOpVpX0W19cUeoQvUiK0YsLVBgS6DfyQ6X2brWA54F8wluIsFBxAao0pMnnBv0ENbmOy-e3XSf0lASFYY5Pb8evwa7VKfG5XhnHnHvpDST5VJgAKeh9oEkyT4WxIRFfY/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Financial assistance for this project was rendered by the National Research Council and Sadaharitha Plantations Limited via Public-Private-Partnership Programme.</span>Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-24240888812419882022014-03-14T09:50:00.003-07:002014-03-14T09:52:26.449-07:00Walla patta seed germination trials - A success after many attempts<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After two unsuccessful attempts, Dr. Upul Subasinghe and his team managed to germinate Walla patta seeds under the nursery conditions. The initial attempts were failed due to the use of poor quality seeds collected from the mother trees and medium used which was not very much supportive for the germination of the seeds. Although still the germination rate is below 10%, the last attempt was considered as successful because these results lead to the next set of trials of germination rate enhancement. The germinated seedlings were transferred to the poly-pots of seedling medium and were kept inside the nursery. With the upcoming rains, those seedlings will be used for plantation established and different planting models will be tested in those trials.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following pictures show the germination beds and the seedlings raised. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEuvXe5egLCYzN96bAgXuMGGdkg6lmpfzz6EO0gk58L11VJC4DNL5eHQBVwaPYLvX8fxEacMhjAf5O1HLCaCex3XZJ4Y18xikX0jRKqhZYzNbZgg8By3rgCkU4HlgCnovqwolcEAO0Bo/s1600/DSC_0282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEuvXe5egLCYzN96bAgXuMGGdkg6lmpfzz6EO0gk58L11VJC4DNL5eHQBVwaPYLvX8fxEacMhjAf5O1HLCaCex3XZJ4Y18xikX0jRKqhZYzNbZgg8By3rgCkU4HlgCnovqwolcEAO0Bo/s1600/DSC_0282.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1tnNeJFVWgiJucZcDh1CFtcX5GHQcAsIlsXbVW27vGgNXEbsEPSngXSMEkDIkHVoyT9KQneevRJBaoOnXrr8gSi5gS6KrtbfcPh4M9RrhGbEVJAvR-7pE1RZ-2KjI6tOMM4B8lYYugU/s1600/DSC_0931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1tnNeJFVWgiJucZcDh1CFtcX5GHQcAsIlsXbVW27vGgNXEbsEPSngXSMEkDIkHVoyT9KQneevRJBaoOnXrr8gSi5gS6KrtbfcPh4M9RrhGbEVJAvR-7pE1RZ-2KjI6tOMM4B8lYYugU/s1600/DSC_0931.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-64624221481740977582013-09-13T06:24:00.002-07:002013-09-13T06:26:59.846-07:00Taking Walla patta to the international communinty<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Upul Subasinghe and his research team managed to take Walla patta (<i>Gyrinops walla</i>) to the international community through some scientific publications on the research findings. Up to now, two full papers were published in two reputed scientific journals and those can be viewed by the following links.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Title: "Agarwood type resin from <i>Gyrinops walla:</i> A new discovery"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/JTFE/article/view/594"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/JTFE/article/view/594</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Title "Agarwood resin production and resin quality of <i>Gyrinops walla</i>"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ijas/articles/agarwood-resin-production-and-resin-quality-of-gyrinops-walla-gaertn"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ijas/articles/agarwood-resin-production-and-resin-quality-of-gyrinops-walla-gaertn</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to that Dr. Subasinghe presented a paper on "Agarwood resin production of <i>Gyrinops walla</i>" at the International Scientific Symposium held in the University Putra Malaysia from 4 to 7 September 2013. The abstract of that presentation is given below.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Gyrinops
walla,</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> a member of the agarwood family
Thymelaeaceae is recorded in the wet zone of Sri Lanka has not been previously
studied to identify its ability of producing agarwood. Therefore the present
study was the first ever to conduct to identify the production of agarwood resins
in <i>G. walla </i>and its resin quality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three distinctive areas of the low country
wet zone of Sri Lanka were selected for this study and 22 <i>G. walla</i> trees were used for sample collection. Since there were no
artificial resin induction methods applied earlier, all selected trees had
natural wounds occurred sometime before the sample collection due to natural injuries.
The dark coloured tissues of the affected areas were collected without felling
the trees and the resins were extracted by a solvent extraction method. The
diameter and height of the sampled trees were measured and the geographical
positions were also recorded. The extracted resins were further analysed by
using gas chromatography technique to identify the different compounds and to compare
those compounds with that of selected <i>Aquilaria
</i>species. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihuwChcAji8P3AAL12b4jSYJsdJ-h2BM8Uo5_dxiLX30oF3LJku9qpYXkI0kJeCKq9Hh-2A11afjD1M5jfxpOxcUWRMRTVjgJqNiG2rmYCc_qXymTopr87TJTN8odtnRYn_8TpeZ1lFY/s1600/DSC_0288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihuwChcAji8P3AAL12b4jSYJsdJ-h2BM8Uo5_dxiLX30oF3LJku9qpYXkI0kJeCKq9Hh-2A11afjD1M5jfxpOxcUWRMRTVjgJqNiG2rmYCc_qXymTopr87TJTN8odtnRYn_8TpeZ1lFY/s320/DSC_0288.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Subasinghe presenting his research findings at the Malaysian Symposium</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-53034025851097444232013-06-06T11:00:00.002-07:002013-06-06T11:02:25.618-07:0014,000 kg of smuggled Walla patta caught in Sri Lanka worth of US$ 1.6 Million - The value is a lieIn last may, all Sri Lanka media had a hit news in catching 14,000 kg of smuggled Walla patta<i> </i>scientifically known as <i>Gyrinops walla </i>by the Police and the Special Task Force. The price was given as US$ 1.6 million. According to the images showed in the electronic media, those tree samples appeared to be white, which means, there was no or very little agarwood formed in the trees. According to the experiments conducted by Dr. Upul Subasinghe and his team from 2010, about 95% wild-grown Walla patta trees do not produce Agarwood resins. Even if the resin is formed, it is due to natural reasons and therefore it does not evenly spread in the stem.<br />
<br />
On the 31st of the same month, China Custom's Department has caught 8.145 kg of Agarwood formed in <i>Aquilaria sinensis </i>trees and the images shown below contain the real "Black Colour" Agarwood. According to the China Custom's sources, those Agarwood pieces are Class II in quality and even not Class I.<br />
<br />
Therefore the person or persons valued the smuggled Sri Lankan Walla patta trees as US$ 1,143 per kilo has made another crime by lying to the public and showing the lack of knowledge in the trade. Further, this type of irresponsible behaviour leads to destroy the valuable Walla patta resource in Sri Lanka.<br />
<br />
The Agarwood resins have to be artificially formed in the correct size of trees and in the next 6 to 12 month of time, Dr. Upul Subasinghe and his team will be able to come up with the best methods of forming resins in Walla patta under the research grant awarded to them worth about US$ 93,000 by the Government and the Private Sector.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5DTs9VfHH7c8qG82FISvT0kyk2jMSD0C_taSLoMSWQjLOThZc5BcJ1l91Oif32bdWXWZR82g7kETojnus6lGQlP_9PrEh8ny6Pl4dxFgW5L3DS_qxjGQPapeOe-fAlXtitq9qnp8Lo5M/s1600/%E6%B2%89%E9%A6%992.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5DTs9VfHH7c8qG82FISvT0kyk2jMSD0C_taSLoMSWQjLOThZc5BcJ1l91Oif32bdWXWZR82g7kETojnus6lGQlP_9PrEh8ny6Pl4dxFgW5L3DS_qxjGQPapeOe-fAlXtitq9qnp8Lo5M/s320/%E6%B2%89%E9%A6%992.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_AGP0lrEZwnDBkjh6BQKiP1_kjqd28xRZuNqvF6vy8PBx5aIX92FP53t-_O0801AF-DwLa0K8u_AU9s_O70_Fhzt8HEdJUCFAXsNLxMBbo0GYZMGLCn59JHblOJpxf1LNPorkFwtQHw/s1600/%E6%B2%89%E9%A6%993.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_AGP0lrEZwnDBkjh6BQKiP1_kjqd28xRZuNqvF6vy8PBx5aIX92FP53t-_O0801AF-DwLa0K8u_AU9s_O70_Fhzt8HEdJUCFAXsNLxMBbo0GYZMGLCn59JHblOJpxf1LNPorkFwtQHw/s320/%E6%B2%89%E9%A6%993.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-54133911209708826232013-05-30T23:34:00.000-07:002013-05-30T23:38:03.482-07:00Dr. Upul Subasinghe was awarded SLR 11.6 million to conduct further research on Walla pattaUnder the Public-Private-Partnership Programme of the National Research Council (NRC) of Sri Lanka, it has awarded SLR 11.6 million Dr. Upul Subasinghe for conducting further research on Walla patta (<i>Gyrinops walla</i>). Sadaharitha Plantations Limited jointly funds this three year research programme with the NRC.<br />
<br />
The Public-Private-Partnership programme is a result of the budget proposals over the past few years to strengthen the economy by scientific and technological findings. Moreover, the present proposal, which was among the 6 selected ones for funding by the NRC over 60 applications, is in line with the Green Economy concept of the Sri Lanka Government.<br />
<br />
It is expected to obtain the following information by conducting the proposed research project .<br />
1. The seed germination methods<br />
2. Most effective agarwood resin induction methods<br />
3. Agarwood quantity and quality variations with tree size, age and climatic conditions<br />
4. Optimum resin extraction methods<br />
<br />
The findings will definitely contribute to the national economy of Sri Lanka by providing silvicultrual, chemical and technological information that are required for large and medium scale Walla patta plantation development in the country. In addition, the results will benefit the villagers living in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka by providing the correct information on planting methods, resin formation and harvesting times of this precious tree currently exploited without having a proper knowledge on its value.<br />
<br />
<br />Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-27235397161121190732013-05-18T10:27:00.001-07:002013-05-18T10:40:48.863-07:00Ministry of Economic Development accepted the name Sri Lankan Agar for Walla PattaDue to the proven high Agarwood resinous value of the Walla patta (<i>Gyrinops walla</i>) trees, Dr. Upul Subasinghe who is a committee member of popularising Walla patta tree cultivation among villagers and other relevant bodies, suggested the name "Sri Lankan Agar" for this species in order to make a Brand Name in the international market. The Ministry accepted the name based on the reasons provided by Dr. Subasinghe and decided to use the name Sri Lankan Agar from now on.<br />
<br />
According to the results over three year research, Dr. Subasinghe believes the quality of Sri Lankan Agar matches with the other Agarwood products coming to the international market from the South Asian countries. Therefore the Agarwood production of Walla patta, if properly developed, can be used to earn a significant foreign income contributing to the poverty alleviation of the rural community in the low country wet zone.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7GCq_0yToixy4qu2lbp2WpI1URsgZjI9RlK_33DtLaUWYVExHSC4i5BE0Kv1P6biNlZ1J-f4xaSrBzaSVmCRTnzzrO-RaM4roxIw_tAC6vft52v4gEUP9jQpRJoxqALCVVdla0VLAKE/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7GCq_0yToixy4qu2lbp2WpI1URsgZjI9RlK_33DtLaUWYVExHSC4i5BE0Kv1P6biNlZ1J-f4xaSrBzaSVmCRTnzzrO-RaM4roxIw_tAC6vft52v4gEUP9jQpRJoxqALCVVdla0VLAKE/s320/DSC_0017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-44514725498624600892013-02-18T20:17:00.001-08:002013-03-04T10:13:04.548-08:00Misleading figures about walla on news: Please be awareCatching the smugglers of walla patta (<i>Gyrinops walla</i>) has become a frequent event in Sri Lanka and it has been given a huge publicity by both electronic and printed media. Even today, there was a news on Divaina (Island) paper about arresting a person carrying 28 kg of walla tree stems in Bibila area of the country. However, the facts given in most of such media articles are very much misleading and forcing the poor people to cut the trees for nothing.<br />
<br />
Different media mentioned the price of walla kilogram with very lucrative prices. Today's news mentioned it as Rs. 80,000 (about USD 650). This figure can be true for the walla stems with full of Agarwood resins. For my two and half years research on all aspects of this species, I can guarantee that no walla trees can be found with full of resins in Sri Lanka. In the news, it may be a collection of many trees. However, due to the nature of resin formation, it has to be impossible to collect the "right trees" in large scale.<br />
<br />
What valuable is the resin or the stem tissues with resin compounds and not just the walla trees. Please note that, walla trees do not naturally produce the resins in the stem. There are methods of enhancing the agarwood resin formation in walla trees and I am working on such methods at the moment. In addition, with the Ministry of Economic Development, the Sri Lanka government is stepping forward to promote growing this species in homegardens and as plantations under scientific guidelines for commercial use. Therefore I would like to make an appeal from the public to preserve the trees growing in the wild and homegardens and not to be mislead by the media.Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-66787456364382916792012-12-16T07:01:00.000-08:002012-12-28T09:31:19.605-08:00First every study on Agarwood resin quality of Walla pattaThe first ever research publication to compere the Agarwood production ability and Agarwood quality of Gyrinops walla (Walla patta) was done by Dr. Upul Subasinghe and his colleague Mr. Dhanushka Hettiarachchi in the Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment in October 2011. The full article is available in the following link.<br />
<br />
http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/JTFE/article/view/594/158<br />
<br />
The abstract is given below<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Agarwood is an expensive resinous product extracted from some members of <i>Aquilaria</i> and <i>Gyrinops</i> species of the family Thymalaeaceae. Agarwood essential oil is a highly valued perfumery product in modern cosmetics and traditional Attar. Agarwood extraction from the above species and product manufacturing are done in India and Southeast Asian countries. However, over harvesting, low natural regeneration, and legal restrictions at present, have limited the supply of this product.<i> Gyrinops walla</i> is recorded in the wet zone of Sri Lanka, and it had been very rarely recorded in extreme Southwest India. However, recent reports of the abundance of <i>G. walla </i>in India are hard to find. Studies were not conducted in the past for <i>G. walla</i> on its ability of agarwood resin production and the quality of that resin. This study is the first to identify the agarwood resin formation and the quality of <i>G. walla</i> which can be used as a substitute for that of <i>Aquilaria</i> and other species of <i>Gyrinops</i>. Resinous tissues were extracted from six <i>G. walla</i> trees for the present study from two different areas, i.e., Labugama and Yagirala of the wet zone of Sri Lanka. The resins were solvent extracted in the laboratory and the resin quality was tested using gas chromatography analysis. The results indicated an extreme similarity of the compounds of <i>G. walla</i> resin with that of commercially available agarwood resins. However, further studies should be conducted to identify <i>G. walla </i>distribution and formation of agarwood.</span><span style="font-size: 13px;"> </span></span>Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3371901507258227191.post-66135703962513311032012-12-16T06:25:00.002-08:002012-12-18T07:01:01.906-08:00Gyrinops walla (walla patta): Myths and reality in the Sri Lanka context <i>Gyrinops walla</i> is a plant member of Family Thymalaeaceae which is known as the Agarwood family in the commercial world. Agarwood is a highly valuable fragrance compound produced as a result of a defense mechanism of certain members of the Agarwood Family. Some species of <i>Aquilaria, Gonystylus, Aetoxylon</i> and<i> Gyrinops</i> are capable of producing Agarwood inside their stems. Although Agarwood has been known to the world before about 2,000 years, commercial extraction in high scale started recently. In parallel to that scientific research has also been started in many countries to identify the plant distribution in the world, Agarwood resin extraction methods and induction methods. The best quality Agarwood is now produced in the countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand etc. The traditional market existed for the products in Middle East, China, Thailand etc and now it is becoming very popular in US and Europe.<br />
<br />
Among the species mentioned above, <i>Gyrinops walla</i> locally known as Walla patta grows only in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka as a medium high tree. Traditionally the bark of this species was used as a binding material and apart from that, the tree had no known value. However, knowing the Agarwood producing abilities of other members of this Family, Dr. Upul Subasinghe, a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura of Sri Lanka thought about the Agarwood producing ability of Walla patta. He started researching on this species with his colleagues from late 2010 and was able to compare the compounds of Walla patta agarwood with other commercially available agarwood. Further to that, he managed to gather available research and market information of commercially available agarwood species.<br />
<br />
However, it was amazing to know that Walla patta smuggling has been practiced in Sri Lanka for a long time. That may have happened even prior to the research started by Dr. Upul Subasinghe. This has then attracted the Sri Lanka media and many articles have been published in recent on the need of research, law and regulations. The following two links direct to such two articles published in Daily News and Sunday Times newspapers in Sri Lanka<br />
<br />
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/121209/news/lankas-perfume-goldmine-23702.html<br />
<br />
http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/12/15/news20.asp<br />
<br />
In his interview, Dr. Upul Subasinghe has clearly stated to the Sunday Times that there are similar compounds between <i>Gyrinops</i> and commercially available Agarwood. He further mentioned that there is a need to conduct further research using high quality equipment. However, it has to be emphasised that the final value and the quality are decided by the buyers since the product is used for fragrance and perfume manufacturing.<br />
<br />
It should be known that all Walla patta trees do not contain Agarwood which is formed due to a defense mechanism in stop entering the intruders in to the stems. Certain experts mentioned in recent newspaper articles that the defense mechanism and the Agarwood formation inducing microbial species should be identified via research. However, Dr. Subasinghe emphasised that the research are needed to identify the Agarwood formation methods and Agarwood resin qualities of Walla patta. In addition to that it must be emphasised that every Walla patta tree grows naturally does not produce Agarwood resins. Therefore just by knowing the per kilo value of Agarwood as USD 200.00 or above, it does not mean the entire Walla patta tree stem costs that much. In reality the Agarwood resin production is about 1% of the stem (w/w) or even below. Therefore the extractable Agarwood amount from a Walla patta tree which contains Agarwood is very low. According to a study conducted in 2006 at the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science of the University of Sri Jayewardenpura by Dr. Upul Subasinghe and Indunie Welivita, the dry weight of an average size Walla patta tree is about 36.43 kg. The reason is the very low timber density of this species, i.e., 345 kg per cubic metre.<br />
<br />Dr. Upul Subasinghehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04082700331268438937noreply@blogger.com0