DR Robert Trengove has been prospecting for oil from Shark Bay to Narrogin - sandalwood oil, that is.

Once a thriving industry in Western Australia, the sandalwood oil industry has wound down.

“Until recently, WA sandalwood oil has been considered a poor cousin to Indian production,” explained Dr Trengove.

However, Indian trees are now in short supply and the market for high quality Western Australian sandalwood oil as a base for perfumes and cosmetics is reopening.

Collaborating with Dr Emilio Ghisalberti and PhD student Paul Moretta from the University of WA, Dr Trengove has developed a system to evaluate the quality of sandalwood oil in each individual tree.

This enables researchers to reliably choose particular trees with good oil by quantifying the total yield and analysing the quality of oil composition.

Moreover, this system uses high pressure carbon dioxide extraction techniques to squeeze oil out of the trees, which is an environmentally responsible alternative.

“However, the prospecting has seen oil of a high enough quality to compete with Indian sandalwood oil,” said Dr Trengove.

The new technique is regenerating interest in extracting sandalwood oil in WA, with operations near Albany already exporting overseas.

Dr Trengove hopes to scale up production with this new technique, and build a pilot extraction plant in the near future at Murdoch’s School of Engineering.

The research has been funded by the Department of Conservation and Land Management, and is part of their effort to develop a sustainable sandalwood industry in Western Australia.