The buying spree tallies with a Japanese breakthrough in pharmaceutical sector in 1994. The buyer had failed to mention that a compound extracted from red sanders timber could be marketed as a drug for protection form radiation and ultraviolet rays.

The drug, marketed by a multinational pharmaceutical company, reportedly costs over $100 per 50 ml tube. It is in much demand, especially byScandinavian races haunted by melanin-deficiency. The marketing campaign of the drug is pivoted on the increasing risks ushered by ozone depletion and skin cancer, said sources in Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) who hosted the International Conference on Conservation of Tropical Species, Communities and Ecosystems.

K Subramaniam, who presented a paper "Red Sander: A vanishing wealth in South India", said that the over exploitation of this species in the country was due to export to Japan over the years. The alarming depletion of red sander is a propelling factor to include this species under the Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species, he had said.

Red sander, known to botanists as Prerocarpus santalinus Linn, is a decidous tree endemic to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. For centuries, Ayurveda has made use of the grated paste of red sanders as a protection for skin as it provides resistence and for removing scars of small pox. TBGRI sources said that therepresentatives of a Japanese company who visited the TBGRI to negotiate for Arogyapacha (Trichopus zeylanicus) - the only patented species endemic to the country - had shown interest in the redsander trees in the Institute premises. With Andhra Pradesh government clamping a ban on the export of red sanders, the Japanese were desperate enough to breakdown their musical instruments, they said.