Myrospermum toluiferum / Tolubalsam / Leguminosae (Pea family)
Information
This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption
or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this
website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended
for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be
interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product.
The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food
and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose,
treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this
product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in
the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's
risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and
interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for
any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we
deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain
omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the
documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make
any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these
plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition.
Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular
purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose
may be lacking.
Description
This is a large tree native to the forests of South America, and especially to Peru. The resin has many medicinal properties, and has an absolutely beautiful fragrance and a pleasant, sweet, aromatic, resinous taste -becoming soft again when chewed- with an odour resembling Vanilla or Benzoin. It is especially fragrant when the balsam is finely powdered and burned on charcoal in very small amounts.
Scent
Tolubalsam has a pleasant vanilla-like odor, and a sweetish aromatic taste. The Balsam of Tolu is preferred over Peru Balsam. When a small portion of it is burned, it fills a room with an agreeable aroma, and promotes expectoration. A milder fragrance is given to the atmosphere by adding a few grams to a quart of boiling water.
Aromatic Properties
It is soluble in alcohol, ether, and essential oils.
Contents
About 80 per cent amorphous resin, with cinnamic acid, a volatile oil, and a little vanillin, benzyl benzoate and benzyl cinnamate.
To distinguish it from Balsam of Peru it can be tested with sulphuric acid and water, yielding a grey mass instead of the lovely violet colour of the genuine Peruvian Tolu Balsam.
Synergic Combinations
Palo Santo, Pine, Rosewater
Historical
There is still some obscurity about the origin of the different South American balsam-yielding trees. The appearance of the above variety is said to differ but slightly from the Peruvian, but the method of gathering the balsam is quite different. V-shaped cuts are made in the tree, and the liquid is received into calabash cups placed at an angle; these are emptied into flasks of raw hide, conveyed by donkeys to the depôts, and finally shipped in tin or earthen vessels, which occasionally contain large pieces of red brick.
On arrival the balsam is soft and sticky, but exposure to the air makes it hard and brittle, more like resin, with a crystalline appearance. In colour it is pale, yellowish red or brown. As the balsam solidifies, its odour becomes more feeble, but the quantity of cinnamic acid increases, and it thus becomes valuable to perfumers as a fixative, an ounce added to a pound of volatile perfume making it much more permanent.
Tolu Balsam is frequently adulterated with turpentines, styrax, colophony, etc., and may be tested by heating it in sulphuric acid. If pure, it will yield a cherry-red liquid, and will dissolve without any appearance of sulphurous acid.
Plant Description
It is a tree which grows throughout the forests of South America, especially on the elevated parts near Carthagena, Tolu, and in the Magdalena provinces of Columbia. The balsam is obtained by making incisions into the tree.
References
Balsam of Tolu, A Modern Herbal, by Maud Grieve
Myrospermum Peruiferum. Balsam Peru. The Physiomedical Dispensatory (1869), by William Cook, M.D.
Back
Home
Register
My Order 
