Frankincense and Myrrh are aromatic products from trees of the genera Boswellia and Commiphora, respectively. Both genera are in the Burseraceae family, within the order of Sapindales. I talked about other Sapindales in previous leaves (Sapindus in Leaf 16  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/green-mountain-biotech_ailanthone-ailanthus-ailanthone-activity-6971387668899246080-KC8F,Ailanthus in Leaf 18 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/green-mountain-biotech_ailanthone-ailanthus-ailanthone-activity-6971387668899246080-KC8F,Phellodendron in Leaf 20 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanmarder_phellodendron-rutaceae-berberine-activity-6900372788520321024-uyRY).That’s enough taxonomy.

Frankincense and Myrrh are familiar to many because they are frequently mentioned, typically together, in biblical texts and Judaeo-Christian liturgy, primarily as ingredients of the incense burned in the Temple.

This week’s leaf results from the myrrh listed as an ingredient in handmade soap I bought on are cent trip abroad. Follow-up research led me to a comprehensive article by Cao et al, (2019) that focuses on the pharmacological properties of Frankincense and Myrrh.

Myrrh is gelatinoussecretion from bark of Commiphora trees native to the Horn of Africa and Southern Arabia. It is rich in terpenoids, steroids and lignans. Its proven pharmacological activities include anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and analgaesic effects.

Frankincense(aka Olibanum) is resin from Boswellia trees, and also contains a rich assortment of terpenoids, notably pentacyclic terpene derivatives of “boswellic”.These have pharmacological effects on inflammatory cytokines and inhibit neutrophil elastase, lipoxygenase and collagen. It may also have antibacterial, anticancer and antiulcer activities.

Cao et al,(2019) emphasises use of Frankincense/Myrrh as a pair, citing such use in Traditional Chinese Medicine and #Ayurveda. The combination appears to be synergistic, with pharmacological activities of the combination surpassing the activities of the unmixed components.

Frankincense and Myrrh seem to have dermatological effects, acting on cuticle keratins and lipids to increase skin permeability and improving skin blood flow.

Use of synergisticbotanical blends for skin treatments is of particular interest to us at @Green Mountain Biotech, as reflected in our Botaniplex™ product range.

Further reading

Cao, B., Wei, X. C., Xu, X. R., Zhang, H. Z., Luo, C. H., Feng, B., Xu, R. C., Zhao, S. Y., Du, X. J., Han, L., & Zhang, D. K. (2019). Seeing the Unseen of the Combination of Two Natural Resins, Frankincense and Myrrh: Changes in Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Activities. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 24(17), 3076. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24173076