FRANKINCENSE - Dec 15, 2011

A Festive Oil

Boswellia carterii  Frankincense, essential oil has a woody, spicy, haunting smell, a little bit camphoric, but very pleasant. It is pale yellow-green in colour.

Origin

Frankincense is an ancient tree found in the deserts of India

Supply sources

Frankincense trees require an arid climate where moisture is provided by morning mist. Further, frankincense trees require a limestone-rich soil and are mostly found growing on rocky hillsides and cliffs, or in the dried riverbeds below.

Harvesting

Most resin is obtained by making deliberate incisions into the bark of the tree. The milky liquid that exudes hardens on exposure to air into droplets or "tears" which are then easily detached by the collector. Occasionally, some tears are produced by accidental injury or from splits which occur in the stems or branches of the tree.

Details of the tapping, particularly the time of year it is undertaken, its duration and the interval between individual tappings, vary according to the species and the customs in the area of production. In Somalia, there are usually two periods when B. sacra (B. carteri) is tapped, each lasting 3-4 months and involving successive tappings at approximately 15-day intervals. B. frereana is tapped over a single 8-9 month period with a longer, but variable, tapping interval. In both cases the timing of the tapping periods depends on the onset and extent of the rains.

Tapping involves removing small areas of bark from the tree, sometimes using a specially designed tool, otherwise an ordinary axe. New tapping points are made at the same place as old ones after removing hardened resin from the previous cut. If the tapping interval is short then a light scratching of the wood is usually sufficient to cause the resin to flow again.

Sorting and grading of the resin, referred to earlier, is the only form of primary processing undertaken, although this is usually done by the local merchant to whom it is sold rather than the collector.

Extraction Method (Essential Oils)

It is extracted using steam distillation process from the oleo gum resin.

Oils are obtained from the crude resins by steam distillation and are then normally used whole for flavouring and fragrance applications.

As an alternative to production of essential oil, all three resins may be extracted with organic solvents to furnish either a "resinoid" or an "absolute".

The resinoid is prepared by extraction of the crude resin with a hydrocarbon solvent. Evaporation of the solvent yields a dark, viscous mass with somewhat plastic consistency. It should contain all the available essential oil from the crude material, although low-grade resinoids can be produced from resins which have previously been distilled.

Strictly, an absolute should be prepared by alcohol extraction of the resinoid. In the case of olibanum, myrrh and opopanax, however, absolutes are usually prepared by direct extraction of the resin with alcohol. Like the resinoids, they may be extracted cold or hot to give products with somewhat different olfactory properties.

Chemical composition

a-pinene, actanol, linalool, octyl acetate, bornyl acetate, incensole and incensyl acetate.

Therapeutic properties

Antiseptic, astringent, carminative, cicatrisant, cytophylactic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, sedative, tonic, uterine, vulnerary and expectorant.

Uses

• Frankincense essential oil soothes and calms the mind, slowing down and deepening breathing.
• Its use is excellent while meditating.
• It also helps to calm anxiety and obsessive states linked to the past.
• On the respiratory tract, it clears the lungs and helps with shortness of breath, asthma, bronchitis, laryngitis, coughs and colds.
• It can be useful to ease heavy periods, is a general tonic to the uterus and has a calming effect during labor.
• It is also most helpful for rheumatism and has a positive impact on the urinary tract.
• Frankincense oil helps in rejuvenating ageing skin, is a skin tonic and is effective with sores, carbuncles, wounds, scars and skin inflammation.

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