Sandalwood Oil - Potential Cure for Warts

The hot, north west of Australia seems to be in the middle of a potential new medical breakthrough.

A US company has demonstrated that sandalwood oil, might be a possible cure for warts.  Warts - which most people have somewhere on the body including the genitals, are caused by a virus.  Early trial results indicate that sandalwood oil, applied topically, over a period of a few days, seems to cause the wart to blacken and drop off, with the sandalwood oil apparently moving into the body and removing the virus in the bloodstream such that the warts go away ........not to return.

Much more trial work is needed before any commercial development is approved, but it could rapidly increase the demand for sandalwood oil from current uses - mainly perfumery and similar areas into the medical area. With potential demand increasing quite dramatically.

It is also an area where the oil, rather than any extracts would be used, because of the complexity of the product and a tricky issue to actually identify any very specific molecule as the active agent.  It might  be syngeristic effects anyway, involving a few or many compounds in the oil - and there about 300 of them present.

Sandalwood oil is now produced in and around Kununurra, and production is also being extended to the Katherine area of the NT.  Growing the tree commercially is a tricky project as it is a hemi-parasite requiring both nursery production followed by growth in the field.  A nursery is shown in the photo.  Sandalwood is grown in association with several host plants both in the nursery and in the field, and these vary in different parts of the world where it is produced.  As well as indian sandalwood in the north west, some native sandalwood is also harvested in temperate areas of WA.

It could be a very interesting development, and potentially a considerable profitable industry for the north west region of Australia.