Molecules 2013, 18, 3086-3106; doi:10.3390/molecules18033086 OPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules Article Whole-tree Agarwood-Inducing Technique: An Efficient Novel Technique for Producing High-Quality Agarwood in Cultivated Aquilaria sinensis Trees Yangyang Liu 1,†, Huaiqiong Chen 1,†, Yun Yang 1,†, Zheng Zhang 1,2, Jianhe Wei 1,2,*, Hui Meng 1, Weiping Chen 1, Jindong Feng 1, Bingchun Gan 1, Xuyu Chen 1, Zhihui Gao 2, Junqin Huang 2, Bo Chen 1 and Hongjiang Chen 1 1 Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Resources Conservation and Development of Southern Medicine, Hainan Branch, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Wanning 571533, China 2 National Engineering Laboratory for Breeding of Endangered Medicinal Materials, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Malianwabei Road, Beijing 10093, China † These authors contributed equally to this work. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel./Fax: +86-010-62818841. Received: 30 November 2012; in revised form: 22 January 2013 / Accepted: 26 February 2013 / Published: 7 March 2013 Abstract: Agarwood is the fragrant resin-infused wood derived from the wounded trees of Aquilaria species. It is a valuable non-timber forest product used in fragrances and as medicine. Reforestation for Aquilaria trees in combination with artificial agarwood-inducing methods serves as a way to supply agarwood and conserve of wild Aquilaria stock. However, the existing agarwood-inducing methods produce poor-quality agarwood at low yield. Our study evaluated a novel technique for producing agarwood in cultivated Aquilaria trees, called the whole-tree agarwood-inducing technique (Agar-Wit).