When it comes to "agarwood standards," the most frequently cited and most easily misused document in the industry is the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
When it comes to "agarwood standards," the most frequently cited and most easily misused document in the industry is the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
It was originally a **quality standard for medicinal products**, not a grading standard for agarwood collecting. However, because it is the most authoritative statutory technical document in China's agarwood field, understanding it can help you do two things: **first, judge whether a piece of material meets the "medicinal compliance" threshold; second, see through the various marketing rhetorics in the market that invoke standards.**
The 2025 Edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Part I) has been implemented since **October 1, 2025**, and the agarwood monograph is included on pages 199–200. This article breaks it down item by item.
The Pharmacopoeia clearly states:
> This product is **the resin-containing wood of *Aquilaria sinensis* (Lour.) Gilg**, a plant of the Thymelaeaceae family. It can be harvested throughout the year; the resin-containing wood is cut, the non-resin-containing parts are removed, and it is dried in the shade.阴干。
This sentence has three key points:
1. **The tree species is limited to the domestic Aquilaria sinensis**. A large amount of the Sin Cheong system comes from other tree species such as *Aquilaria* spp. and *Gyrinops* spp., **which are generally not compliant sources of medicinal agarwood under the Pharmacopoeia**. 2. **It must be "resin-containing wood"**. Non-resinated white wood, even if the tree species is correct, does not meet the definition. 3. **The harvesting requirement is to "remove the non-resin-containing parts"**. This directly corresponds to the "streaks of black-brown resin alternating with yellowish-white wood" in the Pharmacopoeia's macroscopic description.
### Indicator 1: Macroscopic characteristics
The Pharmacopoeia's macroscopic description of agarwood medicinal material is: irregular blocks, flakes, or helmet-shaped, some small fragments; surface uneven, with knife marks, occasionally holes, visible **streaks of black-brown resin alternating with yellowish-white wood**; the surfaces of holes and depressions mostly appear decayed-wood-like; relatively solid, fracture splintery; fragrant odor, bitter taste.
> Practical value: **"oil alternating with wood" is a hard indicator written into the macroscopic characteristics of the Pharmacopoeia**. This can be used directly for reverse inference—any "agarwood" that is uniformly black throughout with no white wood transition fails even the medicinal material macroscopic test.不了。
### Indicator 2: Identification
It includes three items:
### Indicator 3: Extractives (one of the content baselines)
> Determined by the **hot extraction method** under the alcohol-soluble extractives determination method (General Rule 2201), using ethanol as solvent, **not less than 10.0%**.**。
Meaning: the proportion of substances that can be dissolved by ethanol. This value reflects the "overall level of resinous components" and is a rough screening indicator for judging the degree of resin formation. **The extractives of non-resinated white wood are usually far below this level.**
### Indicator 4: Assay—agarotetrol (the second content baseline)
> Calculated on the dried basis, this product contains **agarotetrol (C₁₇H₁₈O₆) not less than 0.10%**.**。
Key points of detection method:
Agarotetrol is a **characteristic chromone compound** produced after agarwood formation, and is the core quantitative indicator for medicinal agarwood in the Pharmacopoeia.
The most substantial revision in the 2025 edition compared to the 2020 edition is **the addition of a high-performance liquid chromatography characteristic chromatogram**.
Requirement: The characteristic chromatogram of the test solution should show **6 characteristic peaks**, corresponding to the 6 characteristic peaks of the reference medicinal material, among which **peak 1 should have the same retention time as the agarotetrol reference peak**.
Identity of the three key peaks: | Peak position | Component | |---|---| | Peak 1 | Agarotetrol | | Peak 3 | 8-chloro-2-(2-phenylethyl)-5,6,7-trihydroxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrochromone | | Peak 5 | 6,4′-dihydroxy-3′-methoxy-2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone |
**Why is this important?** The content determination only answers "is there enough agarotetrol", while the characteristic chromatogram answers "**does the ratio of this entire set of components resemble true agarwood**". The former can be "spiked" with a single component, while the latter requires multiple components to match simultaneously. It can be said that the characteristic chromatogram raises the threshold for adulteration by an order of magnitude.
It is worth emphasizing: **the 2025 edition did not adjust the medicinal threshold**; the two red lines of alcohol-soluble extract ≥10.0% and agarotetrol ≥0.10% remain unchanged, only the identification accuracy has been improved.
This is a widespread misconception in the industry:
> **The agarotetrol content of qinan(kyara) is generally low, and most do not meet the Pharmacopoeia medicinal threshold of 0.10%, but the extract is often high and the aroma is outstanding.**。**
From this, two conclusions can be drawn:
1. **The Pharmacopoeia agarotetrol indicator cannot be used to judge the grade of qinan(kyara)**. The evaluation system for qinan(kyara) is based on fragrance charm, soft silk, cool charm, and permeability, which is a different logic from medicinal quality control. 2. **Conversely, a piece of material that fails the Pharmacopoeia does not mean it is fake**. It may simply not belong to the Pharmacopoeia botanical source (such as the Singapore series), or it may be a special qinan(kyara) type.
The Pharmacopoeia governs "medicinal use" but cannot govern "collectibles". The other two commonly cited standards in the agarwood field are:
| Standard number | Name | Main function | |---|---|---| | LY/T 2904-2017 | Agarwood (Forestry Industry Standard) | Definitions, terminology, quality requirements | | LY/T 3223-2020 | Agarwood Quality Grading | Grading methods and grade determination |
In addition, there are local standards (such as the Hainan Province Agarwood Quality Grade Local Standard) and group standards (such as the "Natural Original Incense Products" series standards released in recent years). **When purchasing, one should first clarify which set of standards one is looking at**—applying collectible grading standards to medicinal indicators, or using medicinal indicators to deny qinan(kyara), are both misplaced.
**1. When looking at test reports, only look at two lines.**
Also check whether there is a "characteristic chromatogram" item and whether it is marked "all 6 characteristic peaks correspond". A report with two content items plus a characteristic chromatogram is significantly more credible than a report with only a "tree species identification" conclusion.
**2. Sampling for testing must be taken from the right location.** The distribution of agarotetrol is **extremely uneven**—taking only a small piece from the white-wood part will result in a severely low result. The correct approach: sample from multiple points, take only the resinous (agarwood-forming) part, and remove waxed, dyed, and oil-soaked surface layers. Bracelets and carvings require destructive sampling (drilling or shaving powder from the resinous part).
**3. Don't treat one report as a "passport".** Testing is only responsible for the **submitted sample**. Different beads from the same batch may vary greatly in results. For high-value transactions, **item-by-item or multi-point spot testing** is recommended.
**Q: Is agarwood that meets Pharmacopoeia standards necessarily good?** A: Not necessarily. The Pharmacopoeia is a **passing line**, not an **excellence line**. It screens out "non-compliant" material and does not distinguish "good" from "excellent". Collectible value also depends on fragrance charm, resin content, appearance, and origin.
**Q: Online sources say "agarotetrol must be 0.15% to be compliant"—is that correct?** A: The 2025 edition of the Pharmacopoeia stipulates **not less than 0.10%** (calculated on the dried basis). Measured values may differ across testing institutions and submitted samples, but compliance judgment should be based on the provisions in the main text of the Pharmacopoeia. When encountering marketing rhetoric citing specific figures, it is advisable to check back against the original Pharmacopoeia text.
**Q: Can imported agarwood not be used as medicine?** A: The botanical source specified in the 2025 edition of the *Chinese Pharmacopoeia* is *Aquilaria sinensis*. Agarwood of the Sin Chew (Singapore) system mostly comes from other tree species and is generally not a compliant source for pharmacopoeial medicinal agarwood. For medicinal use, please rely on the Pharmacopoeia and the advice of a licensed pharmacist, and do not substitute imported incense material for medicinal material on your own.
**Q: Must all 6 peaks in the characteristic chromatogram appear?** A: The Pharmacopoeia requires that "6 characteristic peaks should be present, and should correspond to the 6 characteristic peaks in the chromatogram of the reference medicinal material". This is an identification item; failing it means **the composition profile does not match the genuine product** and should be regarded as non-compliant.
---
**Related Reading**
*This article is compiled based on the agarwood item in Part I of the 2025 edition of the *Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China*, for study and exchange only; the officially published paper edition shall prevail. For medicinal matters, please consult a licensed pharmacist or physician.*
Explain your specific situation clearly, and we will give corresponding judgments and suggestions—sourcing, personal use, and authentication are all accepted.
Consult on agarwood-related questions