A REVIEW ON RED SANDAL WOOD - Pterocarpus santalinus
Eastern Ghats of Indian tree species is Pterocarpus santalinus. Its flowers are large, yellow, bisexual and papilionaceous. It has been introduced and planted as a garden and avenue tree in the Andamans, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar.P. santalinus is restricted to Kurnool and Cuddapah districts in Andhra Pradesh and Arcot and Chingelpet districts in Tamil Nadu up to 500 m. Pterocarpus santalinus commonly known as Red Sandalwood belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is also called as Red Sandalwood has natural dye i.e santalin, and it is used as coloring agent in pharmaceutical preparations and foodstuffs. Santalinus is also having the pharmacological property like anti hyperglycaemic activity, antipyret ic, antiinflammatory, anthelmintic, tonic, dysentery, aphrodisiac, diaphoretic, hemorrhage. In ancient time red sandal wood is used for preparing the ornaments.