Posted on 10/11/2016 2:38:39 PM PDT by JimSEA
It is one of the oldest fragrances in the world. Nicolas Baldovini's team at the Institut de chimie de Nice (CNRS/UNS) has just discovered the components that give frankincense its distinctive odor: two molecules found for the first time in nature, named "olibanic acids" by the scientists. Their research results have just been published online, on the website of the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
It is mentioned more than twenty times in the Bible, where it is one of the gifts offered by the Three Wise Men. Frankincense (also called olibanum1), one of the world's oldest fragrances, is a gum resin that exudes from the bark of Boswellia trees, which grow in countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It has been used for more than 6,000 years by every civilization, from Mesopotamia to the present. Regularly burned during religious ceremonies, it contributes to the very particular smell of churches. Despite its long history and the large amount of research dedicated to it, the exact nature of the molecules that give frankincense its distinctive fragrance surprisingly remained unknown.
Nicolas Baldovini and his team at the Institut de chimie de Nice (CNRS/UNS), which specializes in fragrances, have just succeeded in identifying them for the first time. The chief difficulty lay in finding methods of analysis precise enough to characterize these odorous substances, which are present in the fragrance in very small quantities (a few hundred ppm2), and therefore all the more difficult to detect.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
They determined how to synthesize the molecules, so the price of frankincense should drop over then next few years.
When I was in college, a professor of religion explained that frankincense and myrrh were used to cover up the smell of animal sacrifices that were included in the rites of various religions—including Judaism—in the Middle East.
Fractured language
Well, there goes another corner of the Somali economy once the key compounds are mass produced. More Somali pirates on tap, I guess.
I stumbled across his scalpel blade frisbee video the other day. He’s a German mad scientist; even has the evil chuckle for effect.
Frankincense and incense are readily available from sidewalk vendors in Yemen. Yemenis use it as chewing gum. The ancient Kingdom of Sheba was in Yemen near the Saudi border.
Interesting. When I was a kid, I would chew pine sap which made a pretty good chewing gum and I ended up smelling like a pine tree.
Gold, frankinscence and myrrh. How were you able to miss that, it’s not exactly hidden, in Christmas songs, in the Bible.
Gold, of course I understood, I knew what the other two were called but not what they were.
Familiarize yourself with frankinscense above and beyond just the scent. It’s a great herbal anti-inflammatory, several other uses. Myrrh can be helpful with breathing difficulty and digestive disorders.
Frankincense has tumor-shrinking properties as well. Many women use it on their breasts as a preventative for breast cancer.
Cancer is believed by some to co-opt the body’s natural inflammation response to spread. Much or most of a given tumor is inflammation. A variety of anti-inflammatories have proved helpful in shrinking tumors.
The Revolution is ON!
Vote Trump!
I have a similar reaction to any fragrance or hair care products or candles with balsam oil. There was a perfume that my mother used to wear, I think it was Emeraude and I’d have the same reaction.
I love the fragrance but not what it does to me.
The odor of pinesap is refreshing and so is the smell of frankincense which is also the sap of a tree.
“I stumbled across his scalpel blade frisbee video the other day.”
Some time ago the US Army tried to develop a Frisbee grenade. Have you ever thrown a Frisbee at the wrong angle and it comes right back at you? So did they.
I confess
For a three legger I know perfum ....I’m a member of basenotes
I love chypre style scents much more than cloying fruit crap
Chypre and real oak moss is musty like a woman’s revved up wet scent
I love it....my on switch smells it
For the record.....antique women’s scents are a hit and a miss....some are not good like Guerlain Jicky
People could extract then like now
It happens to me, too, and then I get bronchitis.
I thought I was alone in suffering a reaction to the stuff.
I have to admit my ignorance. I used to use Bay Rum aftershave until my girlfriend at the time told me I smelled like a French whorehouse. Nothing since then.
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