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| Latin: |
Resina Olibani |
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| Origin: |
Frankincense is the resin exuding from the bark of the tree Boswellia Carterii Birdw., or another plant of the same genus, of the family Burseraceae.
The aromatic gum resin contains a volatile oil that was valued in ancient times in worship and as a medicine and is still an important incense resin. Frankincense is obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, and particularly from the varieties B. frereana, B. bhaw-dajiana, and B. carteri, which are found in Somalia, Ethiopia, the Hadhramaut region of Yemen, and Oman. Incisions are made in the trunks of the trees, and the frankincense exudes as a milklike juice that hardens on exposure to air.
Frankincense was used by the ancient Egyptians in their religious rites. It constituted part of the Jewish incense of the sanctuary and is frequently mentioned in the Pentateuch. Pliny the Elder described the characteristics of good-quality frankincense and mentioned it as an antidote to hemlock poisoning. The Iranian physician Avicenna recommended it for a wide range of bodily ailments. In China and elsewhere in the East, it was used as both an internal and an external remedy, but, according to modern Western medical theory, it has no special value. Frankincense is used in incense and fumigants and as a fixative in perfumes.
The hardened gum resin, gum thus, from which spirits of turpentine is produced, is sometimes called common, or American, frankincense.
Frankincense is harvested in spring and summer. First cut the bark of the trunk serially from the lower to the upper part to enable the resin to exude; it will become solid in a few days and can be picked up for inclusion into a preparation after it is parched for use.
Also called Olibanum. |
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| Properties: |
| Pungent and bitter in flavor, warm in nature, it is related to the liver, heart and spleen channels. |
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| Functions: |
| Promotes circulation of blood and qi to alleviate pain and subdues swelling to promote tissue regeneration. |
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| Applications: |
1. Treats traumatic injuries under the department of traumatology and skin and external diseases:
Frankincense can not only promote blood circulation by removing blood stasis to alleviate pain, but also promote blood circulation to relieve inflammation and remove necrotic tissue to promote granulation, so it is a major herb for traumatologic ailments.
a) Blood stasis, swelling and pain due to traumatic injuries:
Frankincense is often used in combination with myrrh, dragon's blood resin (Resina Draconis), etc., e.g., Qili San.
b) Initial attacks of skin and external diseases with redness, swelling, heat sensation and pain:
It is often used in combination with honeysuckle flower (Flos Lonicerae), dahurian angelica root (Radix Angelicae Dahuricae), myrrh, etc., e.g., Xianfang Huoming Yin, in order to clear away heat and toxic substances and promote blood circulation to subdue swelling.
c) Carbuncles and cellulitis (subcutaneous inflammation of connective tissue), scrofula (tuberculosis of lymph nodes especially in the neck), subcutaneous nodules and hard and unremoved swollen masses:
Frankincense is used in combination with myrrh, musk and realgar, e.g., Xing Xiao Wan, in order to remove toxic substances, relieve inflammation and resolve masses.
d) Ulcerated skin and external diseases, which fail to heal for a long time:
Frankincense is often ground in combination with myrrh into powder for external use, e.g., Haifu San in the book 'A Complete Manual of Experience in the Treatment of Sores'. It can also be used with the addition of catechu (Acacia Catechu), dragon's blood resin (Resina Draconis), etc., e.g., Fujin Shengji San in the book 'The Golden Mirror of Medicine'.
2. Treats various types of pains due to blood stasis:
Dispersing with its pungent taste and clearing with its warm nature, frankincense can promote the circulation of blood and qi to alleviate pain and resolve blood stasis and relax the muscles and tendons to relieve arthralgia, so it is used for various types of pains due to blood stasis, such as blood stasis and pain in the chest and abdomen, masses in the abdomen and rheumatism and arthralgia.
a) Blood stasis and pain in the chest and abdomen and masses in the abdomen:
Frankincense is often used in combination with Chinese angelica, red-rooted salvia root (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) and myrrh, e.g., Huoluo Xiaoling Dan.
b) Damp arthralgia due to pathogenic wind-cold and numbness of the limbs:
Frankincense is often used in combination with pubescent angelica root (Radix Angelicae Pubescentis), largeleaf gentian root (Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae), etc., e.g., Juanbi Tang in the book Medicine Comprehended. |
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| Dosage and Administration: |
3-10 g.
Decoct for oral administration. Frankincense should be fried free of oil for use.
Use an adequate amount externally. It should be used when raw or after being parched. Grind into powder for external application. |
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| Cautions on Use: |
| Frankincense should be avoided by pregnant women or anyone without any stasis or stagnation. Turbid in property and bitter in taste, it is liable to cause nausea and vomiting, so no excessive dose should be administered orally. It should be used carefully by anyone with a weak stomach. |
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| Reference Materials: |
Other Medical Records of Famous Physicians : "Treats wind edema and pyogenic infections, urticaria (an allergic disorder marked by raised edematous patches of skin or mucous membrane and usually intense itching) and pruritus (itch) by dispelling filthy pathogens."
Ri Huazi's Materia Medica : "Treats cholera, pain in the chest and abdomen and chronic infectious diseases."
"This herb is made into a thick decoction to kill pain and promote granulation and it is slightly parched for inclusion into pills and powder to eliminate toxic substances."
The Compendium of Materia Medica :
"Treats carbuncle, cellulitis and various pyogenic infections, difficulty in child delivery and fractures and wounds."
"Reinforcing qi and blood, protecting the heart, promoting blood circulation, alleviating pain and relaxing the muscles and tendons." |
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| Toxic or Side Effects: |
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| Modern Researches: |
Frankincense contains a resin (which is mainly composed of free alpha, beta-boswellic acid, conjugated boswellic acid and olibanoresene), a gum (which is primarily composed of the calcium and magnesium salts of arabic acid and tragacanth), volatile oil and a small amount of amaroid.
Frankincense has an analgesic effect.
For self protection, the outer skin (bark) of many plants contains essential oil, which in turn has elements that serve as an immediate chemical defense against herbivores and pathogens. How? There is an element called hydroxynitrile glucoside in essential oil. This element will release toxic hydrogen cyanide by endogenous plant glucosidase upon tissue disruption (see Anne Vinther Morant, Kirsten Jorgensen, Charlotte Jorgensen, Suzanne Michelle Paquette, Raquel Sanchez-Perez, Birger Lindberg Moller, and Soren Bak, "beta-Glucosidases as Detonators of Plant Chemical Defense," Phytochemistry Vol. 69, Issue 9 (June 2008), pp. 1,795-1,813).
Glucosidase is a catalyzing enzyme that improves healthy functions of our body. It is a lipase that decomposes fat; it can also check inflammation and improve memory (see Mikako Sakurai, Masayuki Sekiguchi, Ko Zushida, Kazuyuki Yamada, Satoshi Nagamine, Tomohiro Kabuta and Keiji Wada, "Reduction in memory in passive avoidance learning, exploratory behaviour and synaptic plasticity in mice with a spontaneous deletion in the ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 gene," European Journal of Neuroscience Vol. 27, Issue 3 (February 2008), pp. 691-701). |
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