Boswellia papyrifera

Short description: Species of African plant commonly used for incense

Typical habitat (Giba River gorge in Ethiopia) with, at left, a flowering Boswellia papyrifera tree

Boswellia papyrifera

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Plantae
Clade:  | Tracheophytes
Clade:  | Angiosperms
Clade:  | Eudicots
Clade:  | Rosids
Order:  | Sapindales
Family:  | Burseraceae
Genus:  | Boswellia
Species:  |

B. papyrifera

Binomial name
Boswellia papyrifera

(Delile ex Caill.) Hochst., 1843

Synonyms[1]

* Amyris papyrifera Delile ex Caill.
* Boswellia occidentalis Engl.

Boswellia papyrifera, also known as the Sudanese frankincense,[2] is a species of flowering plant and frankincense that is native to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. The tree is cultivated in Ethiopia because of its valuable resin. The incense smoke is characterized by a fresh lemon-pine scent,[3] and is therefore highly esteemed. In Ethiopia where it is called itan zaf,[4] it comes in semi-translucent yellow tears. The gum resin of Boswellia papyrifera coming from Ethiopia, Sudan and E. Africa is believed to be the main source of frankincense of antiquity.[5]

## Chemical constituents

In studies conducted on the chemical properties of the oleo-gum resin of B. papyrifera, it was shown to contain a high concentration of octyl acetate (57.1–65.7%) and N-octanol (3.4–8.8%), the former accounting for its citric note. The species also contain diterpenes and nortriterpenes; the methanol extracts specifically consisting of the following diterpenes: incensole, incensyl acetate and verticilla-4(20),7,11-triene). It also contained the following triterpenes: β-amyrin, α-amyrin, β-amyrenone, and α-amyrenone. The oleogum resin also contained nortriterpenes (24-noroleana-3,12-diene and 24-norursa-3,12-diene) and α-boswellic acid.[6]

## References

1. ↑ {{citation | mode = cs1 | title = Boswellia papyrifera | work = Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) | url = | publisher = [[Organization:Agricultural Research ServAgricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) | access-date = 24 September 2014 }}
2. ↑ Äthiopischer Weihrauch (Ethiopian incense)
3. ↑ "Ethiopian Oils and Resins". http://www.floracopeia.com/about/ethiopia-oils-and-resins/.
4. ↑ Agroforestry in Ethiopia , bottom of p. 3.
5. ↑ Tucker, Arthur O. (October 1986). "Frankincense and myrrh". Economic Botany 40 (4): 425–433. doi:10.1007/BF02859654.
6. ↑ Bekana, D.; Kebede, T.; Assefa, M.; Kassa, H. (2014). "Comparative Phytochemical Analyses of Resins of Boswellia Species (B. papyrifera (Del.) Hochst., B. neglecta S. Moore, and B. rivae Engl.) from Northwestern, Southern, and Southeastern Ethiopia". ISRN Analytical Chemistry 2014: 1–9. doi:10.1155/2014/374678.

Wikidata ☰ Q2367386 entry

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boswellia papyrifera. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Biology:Boswellia_papyrifera&oldid=1012360"