Balsam

For other uses, see Balsam (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with balsa.

Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap), which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Hebrew bosem בֹּשֶׂם, "spice", "perfume") owes its name to the biblical Balm of Gilead.

Balsamum tolutanum, Myroxylon balsamum
Myroxylon, the source of Balsam of Peru and Balsam of Tolu, is a genus of tree grown in Central America and South America. Pictured Myroxylon peruiferum.

Chemistry

Balsam is a solution of plant-specific resins in plant-specific solvents (essential oils). Such resins can include resin acids, esters, or alcohols. The exudate is a mobile to highly viscous liquid and often contains crystallized resin particles. Over time and as a result of other influences the exudate loses its liquidizing components or gets chemically converted into a solid material (i.e. by autoxidation).[1]

Some authors require balsams to contain benzoic or cinnamic acid or their esters.[2][3] Plant resins are sometimes classified according to other plant constituents in the mixture, for example as:[2]

Usually, animal secretions (musk, shellac, beeswax) are excluded from this definition.

List of balsams

Safety

Some balsams, such as Balsam of Peru, may be associated with allergies. In particular, Euphorbia latex ("wolf's milk") is strongly irritant and cytotoxic.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Klemens Fiebach; Dieter Grimm (2007), "Resins, Natural", Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (7th ed.), Wiley, p. 2
  2. 1 2 Andrew Pengelly (2004), "Essential oils and resins", The constituents of medicinal plants (2nd ed.), Allen & Unwin, p. 102
  3. ↑  "Balsam". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). 1911.
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