Boswellia serrata Oleogum Resins and Extracts Laboratory Guidance Document

Abstract

Boswellia resins are described in numerous ancient texts and have been an important trade material for the civilizations located in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa since at least the third millennium BCE. Frankincense (olibanum) is an exudate that seeps from injured bark of Boswellia species (Burseraceae). The oleogum resin obtained from Boswellia serrata is called Indian frankincense and is used in the Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani systems of traditional medicine. Additionally, its extracts and essential oils are used in soaps, cosmetics, foods, beverages, and incense products. This Laboratory Guidance Document aims to review the analytical methods used to authenticate natural oleogum resin from B. serrata and differentiate it from other Boswellia species, as well as other potential adulterants. This document can be used in conjunction with the B. serrata Botanical Adulterants Prevention Bulletin published by the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program in 2018.1 From a historical perspective, a number of oleogum resins from Boswellia species have been used interchangeably for medicinal purposes around the world, and older “olibanum” pharmacopeial monographs consider more than one species as officially acceptable. Such interchangeable use is still observed today as several Boswellia species are offered as frankincense.2,3 However, Western botanical dietary supplements and the herbal medicine markets are dominated by products labeled to contain B. serrata, irrespective of whether a formal identification of the ingredient has been performed or not. Therefore, this laboratory guidance document has been written to help laboratory analysts to find appropriate analytical methods that allow the unambiguous identification of B. serrata oleogum resin and its extracts.