From forest gold to bottled fragrance, UTM gives agarwood new life

In October 2023, researchers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's Innovation Centre in Agritechnology for Advanced Bioprocessing (ICA) began exploring the potential of agarwood species, Aquilaria malaccensis, to create a commercially viable perfume called Fragrad. Dr Norliza Abdul Latiff, the research officer at ICA UTM Pagoh Campus, explained that the inspiration for the fragrance project stemmed from her own fascination with the wood's aroma during her research.

The Fragrad perfume project was backed by ICA director Prof Dr Hesham Ali El-Enshasy and was funded through a UTM research grant. A team of 13 experts was assembled to develop the formula. After a year of refinement, the product was successfully launched in 2024. The perfume comes in four distinct variations - SheGrad, HeGrad, Teja, and Tuah - designed to cater to various consumer tastes.

The fragrance production process is meticulous and takes between three weeks to two months, depending on the grade and formulation. Approximately 25% of each formula consists of agarwood essence sourced from local suppliers. The remaining ingredients are blended to create the final product. All Fragrad fragrances utilize agarwood essence, helping establish a value chain linking university research with the industry and expanding agarwood's potential as a high-value downstream product.

However, sourcing high-quality agarwood essence remains a significant challenge due to the scarcity of the raw material. ICA UTM aims to introduce at least one new agarwood-based product per year, as part of their efforts to commercialise research outcomes. So far, nearly 300 bottles of Fragrad have been produced, with a goal of reaching over 600 bottles by the end of the three-year commercialisation period from 2024 to 2027.