Verification of products sold as Gaharu

In Malaysia gaharu in the most authentic form should come from Aquilaria tree only. For other timbers like ramin which also produces resinous product almost similar to gaharu it should be called as pseudo-gaharu. Also, timbers like kayu malam, mertas and medang are the non-authentic gaharu woods alleged to be authentic by irresponsible gaharu merchants. Therefore, to ascertain that a product is an authentic gaharu, the wood should be identified by a trained personnel. In Malaysia, this service is rendered by the Wood Anatomist at the Wood Anatomy Laboratory, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Kepong Malaysia.