RECENT ASPECT OF ETHNOBOTANICAL APPLICATION AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF TRADITIONAL INDIAN HERBS SANTALUM ALBUM

The health benefits of Sandal Wood Essential Oil can be attributed to its properties like anti septic, antiinflammatory, anti phlogistic, anti spasmodic, astringent, cicatrisant, carminative, diuretic, disinfectant, emollient, expectorant, hypotensive, memory booster, sedative and tonic.Sandalwood is an evergreen tree that is indigenous to India, the Sandal Oil and paste of Sandal is used in medicines, skin and beauty treatments and numerous industrial products including mouth fresheners, edibles, incense sticks, room fresheners, deodorants, perfumes, soaps, lotions, creams and others. It has some really remarkable medicinal properties.The medical properties reside in the oil, which can be pressed from the wood or extracted with alcohol or water. The antiseptic and disinfectant properties of the oil are similar to those of cubeb oil. The oil is used for bronchitis and for inflammation and infections in mucous tissue. A decoction of the wood may be helpful for indigestion, nephritis, gall stones, gonorrhea, sunstroke, prostatitis, urinary antiseptic for cystitis, urethritis, vaginitis, and fever; externally, for acute dermatitis, herpes zoster, skin problems, especially those of bacterial origin. In traditional medicine, sandalwood oil has been used for a wide variety of conditions, ranging from an antiseptic and astringent to the treatment of headache, stomachache, and urogenital disorders. Sandalwood has been documented to have diuretic and urinary antiseptic properties, but mainly the oil extracted from the wood has been used as a fragrance enhancer. Good clinical studies are lacking in support of the medicinal effects of sandalwood oil.Research has found that sandalwood essential oil improves as it ages.