Dewy frankincense, or benzoic resin of tropical trees, is obtained by cutting the branches and trunk of an old man's tree from the family of oldks. It is a tropical tall tree with rounded pale green leaves, the lower part of which is white. He has flattened fruits, something like nutmeg. From incisions on the bark, a rosy incense stands out and stiffens in the light. The tropical tree of Tonkinsky styrax grows to 30 m. You can meet it in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. By the way, in the East in ancient times, benzoic resin was used as a remedy that drives away evil spirits. Also, in Malaysia, China, on the island of Java and in Sumatra, they extract a frank incense. A tropical tree called Styrax benzoin Dryander grows in these places. In Chinese medicine, resin was used in the treatment of gastrointestinal and infectious diseases.
The composition of dew incense includes cinnamic and benzoic acids, and so Their ethers and vanillin. Depending on the composition, there are several varieties of this resin, for example, Indonesian, Siamese and Calcutta. Indonesian pitch is a mass of gray-brown color with reddish veins. It has a characteristic smell, in which there is no vanilla note. This suggests that it includes cinnamon and phenylpropyl alcohol, cinnamic acid esters and quite a bit of styrene and vanillin. And Siamese resin differs orange-brown color. She has a sweet balsamic flavor, which gives vanilla pleasantly. This resin is better in quality. Coniferyl alcohol, benzoic acid, rosin type resin and 1.5% vanillin - this is the basis of Siamese rosewood. A tropical tree called Styrax tonkinensis is a producer of Siamese resin, which is also called Tonkin.
In Europe, benzene resin was brought in the XIV century, it was supplied to Alexandria by Arab merchants. And it came to Western Europe thanks to the Venetian merchants. Its name is Th incense - the resin was received in Russia, because here, too, people believed in the medicinal properties that can be endowed with trees of tropical forests. The Indonesian pitch in Europe gained fame a little later, it came from the island of Sumatra. There, from a long time ago, the extraction of this resin was the main fishery among the locals.
Today, a frank incense in its pure form is used in India for sweet incense. And in Europe it is part of the main incense, which consists of many components and is used by Catholics during worship. Benzoic resin is used in the manufacture of both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, dough products and chewing gum. By the way, it is registered as a food additive under the number E906. In addition, it is used in the cosmetic industry, since it is capable of smoothing wrinkles, moisturizing the skin, regenerating damaged cells, removing toxins, stimulating blood circulation and so on. Also, the resin of tropical trees has found its place in medicine: it reduces pain in the joints, heals wounds, reduces irritability, helps with infectious diseases, inflammatory processes in the oral cavity. And this is not a complete list of useful properties, which is known for the incense. The tropical tree, as you can see, also has unique abilities, like, for example, our famous Siberian trees.