An Overview of the Developments in the Propagation of the East Indian Sandalwood, Santalum album L.

Abstract

The East Indian Sandalwood is one of the most highly traded timber, also useful for the extraction of fragrant essential oil possessing medicinal values. Regardless of its vulnerable status, this forest species is now grown in the farmer’s field at a faster pace in India; thanks to policy interventions. However, the requirement of quality planting material can be met only if viable methods are made available for large scale propagation. This review summarises the various methods of propagation studied for S. album, through seeds and vegetative parts by macropropagation and micropropagation techniques, which can be employed for its mass multiplication. Recent studies are also presented along with research advances and underlying issues in the propagation methods. Although limited numbers of sandalwood plants were produced by various researchers, commercialisation of the methods is still a long way. This may be due to major bottlenecks in host compatibility, In vitro rooting and the availability of superior genotypes for clonal propagation.