Opoponax

lat. Commiphora Erythraea

Group: Resins and Balsams

Commonly known as: Opoponax, Bisabol-myrrh and Sweet myrrh  

Plant family: Burseraceae

 Genus: Commiphora  

Species: Commiphora Erethraea , C. guidottii , C. kataf, C. holtiziana and C. pseudopaoli.  

Uses: incense, perfume,flavor agent and medicine  

Opoponax or sweet myrrh is a cousin of the healing Myrrh—Commiphora Myrrha—with a warm-balsamic and sweet, honey-like aroma. It is a natural oleo-gum-resin like myrrh and frankincense. The color of its resin is brown; however, good quality crude botanical resin is dark red. Opoponax has been a component of incense and perfumes since Biblical times. Talking of perfumery in particular, Opoponax qualities from several Commiphora are widely used, especially in oriental fragrances, to impart sweet balsamic notes.

Commpihora Erethraea var. glabrescens engle resin growing in Somalia, Kenya, E. Ethiopia, and S. Arabia and C. guidottii (Chiov) from S. Somalia and Ethiopia are regarded as the primary sources of opoponax of the plant family Burseraceae. The Burseraceae trees and shrubs are characterized by resins that are present within the plant tissue from the vertical resin canals and ducts in the bark to the leaf veins. Other species used as a source of opoponax include C. kataf (Forssk.) Engl., C. holtiziana Engl. spp. holtziana and C. pseudopaoli.

Image from biolandes.com

Talking further of Commiphora guidottii Chiov., it is also known as scented myrrh. It is a yellowish-red sweet-smelling resin. And of its use from Ancient Romans, they used it as incense in temples. It is fairly widespread in Somalia and in adjacent parts of the Ogaden in Ethiopia, and speaking of its export, Somalia is considered the major exporter of scented myrrh at present. Its shrub or tree grows up to 5 m tall and has greenish or brownish peeling bark. The leaves are composed of 3 or 5-7 leaflets, 2.5 x 10 cm long when fully mature and oval to broadly oval in shape. The flowers are cream in color and very small, being only a few mm wide at most. The fruit is rounded, about 1 cm in diameter and contains a single stone.

EXTRACTION METHOD

Extraction of the opoponax is done through the tapping of trees just as that of frankincense and myrrh by making incisions in the bark and also by breaking of the twigs. A gum seeps out of these incisions which then solidifies to brown lumps. Opoponax extract is obtained by solvent extraction or steam distillation from the gum exudate of the barks, which includes all types of extracts, tinctures, concretes, resinoids, pomades, absolutes, rectified extracts etc.

While the oil is distilled by dry-distillation or steam-distillation, flash pasteurization etc., it includes all types of essential oils obtained by the these methods. Opoponax oil is a useful material in perfumery which is sweet, balsamic and almost effervescent in character. It is mainly used in oriental accords and also gives a sweet lift to chypre fragrances as a top note. Whereas, its absolute is used as base note.

The olfactory difference between myrrh oil and opopanax oil is the vegetable-soup-like, slightly animalic-sweet odor of opopanax oil compared with the medicinal-sharp freshness of myrrh oil.