Frankincense (the oleo-gum resin of Boswellia; olibanum)

Incensole acetate has been isolated from Boswellia sacra resin. The house calls the scent lemony, piney and balsamic: our reading, not a source’s.

Read the essay · The card · The molecule

The record

Each field carries its evidence: open a chip for the source, the quoted words and the confidence. A field with nothing behind it says so and stays empty.

Name

frankincense (the oleo-gum resin of Boswellia; olibanum)

documented

The major product of Boswellia species, a dried oleo-gum resin exuded from wounded stem surfaces, has been used as frankincense since ancient times3,4.

GC-15 · Yamamoto et al. (2020). Roles of ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid and their interactions in frankincense resin production in Boswellia sacra Flueck · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

Kind

natural

perfumery convention

the trade’s shared vocabulary; no single source

a tree resin, used as it is gathered

confidence B

Botanical

Boswellia sacra Flück.

documented

In the Dhofar region, frankincense is harvested by tapping the trunks and branches of B. sacra trees, as for B. papyrifera in Ethiopia4.

GC-15 · Yamamoto et al. (2020). Roles of ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid and their interactions in frankincense resin production in Boswellia sacra Flueck · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

Part

the dried oleo-gum resin exuded from the wounded stems

documented

The major product of Boswellia species, a dried oleo-gum resin exuded from wounded stem surfaces, has been used as frankincense since ancient times3,4.

GC-15 · Yamamoto et al. (2020). Roles of ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid and their interactions in frankincense resin production in Boswellia sacra Flueck · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

Extraction

none: not an extracted material

see harvest and processing

not extracted: the material is the resin as gathered; it is made by the Process record `tapping` (the house’s review had filed tapping as an Extraction; schema v2, the house’s review)

Grade

not on record

not on record

no grade on record; the page’s “Hojari” has no filed source

Descriptors

lemony, piney, balsamic

house interpretation

the house’s own reading, labelled as such

the house essay’s words; no descriptor source is filed

where the site says it: /materials, “Omani Frankincense”

confidence C

Regulation

not on record

not on record

no Regulation record yet

Price band

not on record

not on record

nothing on the site is for sale (the decisions log)

Wikidata

Q173486

documented

resin from Boswellia trees

WD-1 · Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) · read 2026-09-30

the Wikidata item’s English description; a label match: the item is “frankincense”, described as “resin from Boswellia trees”; chosen from a name search (2026-09-30)

confidence B

Odeuropa

EOKG concept

documented

{"concept":"http://data.odeuropa.eu/vocabulary/olfactory-objects/267","relation":"owl:sameAs","via":"Q173486","label":"Frankincense","scheme":"http://data.odeuropa.eu/vocabulary/olfactory-objects"}

ODEUROPA-1 · Lisena, P., Ehrhart, T., Troncy, R · read 2026-09-30

the EOKG concept “Frankincense” states owl:sameAs Q173486

confidence A

Harvest and processing

• tapping (harvest): tapping: incisions in the trunk and branches; the resin exudes, darkens and hardens in the wound, and is then removed
  documented

  In the Dhofar region, frankincense is harvested by tapping the trunks and branches of B. sacra trees, as for B. papyrifera in Ethiopia4.

  GC-15 · Yamamoto et al. (2020). Roles of ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid and their interactions in frankincense resin production in Boswellia sacra Flueck · read 2026-09-30
  GC-16 · Miran et al. (2022). Taxonomical Investigation, Chemical Composition, Traditional Use in Medicine, and Pharmacological Activities of Boswellia sacra Flueck · read 2026-09-30

  GC-16: “traditionally harvested by making incisions on the trunks … it darkens and hardens before being removed from the incision” (GC-16)

  confidence A

  record

Constituents

• incensole acetate · share not on record
  identity: documented

  Four new cembrane-type diterpenoids, including boscartins (16–19), together with five known compounds (1S, 3 R, 11S, 12 R, 7E)-1,12-epoxy-4-methylenecembr-7-ene-3,11-diol (20), isoincensole oxide (21), incensole oxide (22), incensole acetate (23), and incensole oxide acetate (24) were isolated from B. sacra gum resin by Wang et al.

  GC-16 · Miran et al. (2022). Taxonomical Investigation, Chemical Composition, Traditional Use in Medicine, and Pharmacological Activities of Boswellia sacra Flueck · read 2026-09-30

  isolated from B. sacra gum resin (cited by GC-16 to Wang et al.); GC-17 calls it “a Boswellia resin constituent” (GC-17)

  confidence B

  share: not on record

  no multi-sample measured figure with medium and method is filed

In teaching accords

• An amber (the perfumer’s, not the resin)

Films and plates

• SPEC-6 · frankincense: the /materials specimen still · still
• OR-6 · frankincense: the origin film (the field to the bench) · queued: the master queue lists OR-6 as queued (the render queue’s list, read 2026-09-30); no path until it is rendered and published
  a render-time texture (Dry Riverbed Rock; a render input only): "Dry Riverbed Rock", Amal Kumar (Poly Haven), CC0 1.0; a render-time texture (Bark Willow 02; a render input only): "Bark Willow 02", Charlotte Baglioni (Poly Haven), CC0 1.0

Claims register

Every sentence and number the site states about this record, with its status after the 2026-09-27 review.

• softened · Sacred use: Thousands of years (was: Sacred use: 4,000+ years)
  documented · the claims register

  GC-17 · Moussaieff et al. (2008). Incensole acetate, an incense component, elicits psychoactivity by activating TRPV3 channels in the brain · read 2026-09-30

  GC-17: burned as incense in religious and cultural ceremonies “for millennia” (GC-17); GC-15: “used as frankincense since ancient times” (GC-15). “Thousands of years” is supported; the old “4,000+” and the page’s lead “four millennia” are not

  where the site says it: /materials, “Omani Frankincense”

  confidence B

Sources

1. GC-15 · Yamamoto F, Iwanaga F, Al-Busaidi A, Yamanaka N. Roles of ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid and their interactions in frankincense resin production in Boswellia sacra Flueck. trees. Scientific Reports 2020;10(1):16760. DOI 10.1038/s41598-020-73993-2. PMID 33028915. PMCID PMC7541518. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73993-2 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0
2. GC-16 · Miran M, Amirshahrokhi K, Ajanii Y, Zadali R, Rutter MW, Enayati A, Movahedzadeh F. Taxonomical Investigation, Chemical Composition, Traditional Use in Medicine, and Pharmacological Activities of Boswellia sacra Flueck. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2022;2022:8779676. DOI 10.1155/2022/8779676. PMID 35222678. PMCID PMC8881160. doi.org/10.1155/2022/8779676 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0
3. WD-1 · Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation): the items named on each record (each statement read with its references), read 2026-09-30. www.wikidata.org · read 2026-09-30 · CC0 1.0
4. ODEUROPA-1 · Lisena, P., Ehrhart, T., Troncy, R. European Olfactory Knowledge Graph (EOKG), Odeuropa project. Zenodo, 2024. doi:10.5281/zenodo.10709703. SPARQL endpoint https://data.odeuropa.eu/repositories/odeuropa, read 2026-09-30. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10709703 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0
5. GC-17 · Moussaieff A, Rimmerman N, Bregman T, Straiker A, Felder CC, Shoham S, Kashman Y, Huang SM, Lee H, Shohami E, Mackie K, Caterina MJ, Walker JM, Fride E, Mechoulam R. Incensole acetate, an incense component, elicits psychoactivity by activating TRPV3 channels in the brain. The FASEB Journal 2008;22(8):3024–3034. DOI 10.1096/fj.07-101865. PMID 18492727. PMCID PMC2493463. doi.org/10.1096/fj.07-101865 · read 2026-09-30 · publisher's terms (no open licence deposited); single facts and short quotes only, under fair use (quoted, not reproduced)

Our text and structure are CC BY 4.0; quoted source text stays under its owners’ terms.

this record as data: /data/material/frankincense-resin.json · version 5 · updated 2026-10-01 · confidence A