Chemical Composition of the Oleogum Resin Essential Oils of Boswellia dalzielii from Burkina Faso.

Anjanette Decarlo,William N Setzer,Amadé Ouédraogo,Stephen Johnson,Noura S Dosoky

doi:10.3390/plants8070223

Abstract

Frankincense, the oleogum resin from members of Boswellia, has been used as medicine and incense for thousands of years, and essential oils derived from frankincense are important articles of commerce today. A new source of frankincense resin, Boswellia dalzielii from West Africa has been presented as a new, alternative source of frankincense. In this work, the oleogum resins from 20 different Boswellia dalzielii trees growing in Burkina Faso, West Africa were collected. Hydrodistillation of the resins gave essential oils that were analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID. The essential oils were dominated by α-pinene (21.0%–56.0%), followed by carvone (2.1%–5.4%) and α-copaene (1.8%–5.0%). Interestingly, there was one individual tree that, although rich in α-pinene (21.0%), also had a substantial concentration of myrcene (19.2%) and α-thujene (9.8%). In conclusion, the oleogum resin essential oil compositions of B. dalzielii, rich in α-pinene, are comparable in composition to other frankincense essential oils, including B. sacra, B. carteri, and B. frereana. Additionally, the differences in composition between samples from Burkina Faso and those from Nigeria are very slight. There is, however, a rare chemotype of B. dalzielii that is dominated by myrcene, found both in Burkina Faso as well as Nigeria.

Highlights

Frankincense is an aromatic oleoresin with a volatile fraction typically composed primarily of terpenoids and more rarely ethers or fatty esters/alcohols [1]
Boswellia dalzielii inhabits wooded to open savannahs from Chad to Mali; the most significant populations appear to be in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Mali
Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of the B. dalzielii oleogum resin samples in yields of 1.69%–17.0% (v/w) as pale-yellow essential oils

Summary

Introduction

Frankincense is an aromatic oleoresin with a volatile fraction typically composed primarily of terpenoids and more rarely ethers or fatty esters/alcohols [1]. The oleoresin is produced by the 20 members of the genus Boswellia (Burseraceae: Sapindales), which are distributed across sub-Saharan. The oleoresins of many species are traded internationally and distilled into essential oil for aromatherapy and perfumery. The oleoresin essential oils have been characterized for most of the Boswellia genus, with the exceptions of B. microphylla Chivo., B. ogadensis Vollesen, and. Despite being one of the most wide-ranging species, the oleoresin essential oil of Boswellia dalzielii has only recently been examined [21]. The trees are 4–13 m tall, typically with papery or scaly bark, fragrant white flowers, serrated compound leaves, and aromatic resin [22].

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