top of page
Writer's pictureChristi Taban

What's Galbanum...

Updated: May 2

Galbanum has a disagreeable, bitter taste, a peculiar, a somewhat musky odour, and an intense green scent. With a specific gravity of 1.212, it contains about 8% terpenes; about 65% of a resin which contains sulfur; about 20% gum; and a very small quantity of the colorless crystalline substance umbelliferone.

It also contains:

And other compounds that you can request the analysis from the contact form with us.



  Galbanum is an aromatic gum resin and a product of certain umbelliferous Persian plant species in the genus Ferula, chiefly Ferula gummosa (synonym F. galbaniflua) and Ferula rubricaulis   白松香精油, Huile Essentielle de Galbanum, Huile Essentielle de Galbanum, Galbanum ätherisches Öl, ガルバナムエッセンシャルオイル, Aceite esencial de gálbano,
Galbanum is an aromatic gum resin and a product of certain umbelliferous Persian plant species in the genus Ferula, chiefly Ferula gummosa (synonym F. galbaniflua) and Ferula rubricaulis

Other Galbanum Name(s):

Ferula galbaniflua, Ferula gummosa, Férule Gommeuse, Gálbano, Galbanum Gum, Galbanum Gum Resin, Galbanum Oleogum Resin, Galbanum Oleoresin, Galbanum Resin, Oléorésine de Galbanum, Résine de Galbanum.


In the Book of Exodus 30:34, Galbanum is mentioned as being used in the making of the Ketoret which is used when referring to the consecrated incense described in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. It was offered on the specialized incense altar in the time when the Tabernacle was located in the First and Second Jerusalem Temples. The ketoret was an important component of the Temple service in Jerusalem. Rashi (1040-1105) comments on this passage that galbanum is bitter and was included in the incense as a reminder of deliberate and unrepentant sinners. The incense formula was apparently ground small or into a powder. This would be possible because Galbanum, which is a sticky tar-like resin, can be made into a powder by drying, low boiling, or adding a diluent.


Galbanum was highly treasured as a sacred substance by the ancient Egyptians. The "green" incense of Egyptian antiquity is believed to have been galbanum. Galbanum resin has a very intense green scent accompanied by a turpentine odor. The initial notes are a very bitter, acrid, and peculiar scent followed by a complex green, spicy, woody, balsamlike fragrance. When diluted the scent of galbanum has variously been described as reminiscent of pine (due to the pinene and limonene content), evergreen, green bamboo, parsley, green apples, musk, or simply intense green. The oil has a pine like topnote which is less pronounced in the odor of the resinoid. The latter, in turn, has a more woody balsamic, conifer resinous character. Galbanum is frequently adulterated with pine oil.
Other uses

The Latin name ferula derives in part from Ferule which is a schoolmaster's rod, such as a cane, stick, or flat piece of wood, used in punishing children.


A ferula called narthex (or Giant fennel), which shares the galbanum-like scent, has long, straight and sturdy hollow stalks, which are segmented like bamboo.They were used as torches in antiquity and it is with such a torch that, according to Greek mythology, Prometheus, who deceived his father stealing some of his fire, brought fire to humanity.Bacchae were described using the bamboo-like stalks as weapons.Such rods were also used for walking sticks, splints, for stirring boiling liquids, and for corporal punishment.


Some of the mythology may have transferred to the related galbanum which was referred to as the sacred "mother resin.


In 1858, Lola Montez recommended using a mixture of galbanum (which she spelled "gaulbanum") and pitch plaster attached to a leather strip as a tool for removing hair from body parts where more visible hair might be unwanted, similar to modern day 'waxing'.




Galbanum Medicinal use

Hippocrates employed it in medicine, and Pliny (Nat. Hist. xxiv. 13) ascribes to it extraordinary curative powers, concluding his account of it with the assertion that "the very touch of it mixed with oil of spondylium is sufficient to kill a serpent.The drug was occasionally given in more contemporary medicine, in doses of from five to fifteen grains.It has the actions "common to substances containing a resin and a volatile oil". Its use is now obsolescent.



References

Chisholm 1911.

"Ferula gummosa at herbresearch.de". Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2011-04-16.

Exodus 30:36, KJV

Exodus 30:30 NIV

Kraemer, Henry. Scientific and Applied Pharmacognosy Intended for the Use of Students in Pharmacy: As a Hand Book for Pharmacists, and as a Reference Book for Food and Drug Analysts and Pharmacologists. Wiley, 1920. pgs 588 and 586 respectively

Grieve, Maud, A Modern Herbal

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company

Mirriam-webster dictionary 2010

LAWRENCE, B.M; "Progress in Essential Oils"'Perfumer and Flavorist' August/September 1978 vol 3, No 4 p 54

McANDREW, B.A; MICHALKIEWICZ, D.M; "Analysis of Galbanum Oils". Dev Food Sci. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publications 1988 v 18 pp 573 – 585

Robbins, Wendy. "Galbanum Essential Oil". AromaWeb.

"Galbanum essential oil (Ferula Gummosa) information". essentialoils.co.za. September 2018.

"Oil of Galbanum". Archived from the original on 2010-07-25. Retrieved 2010-07-26.

"Minor oil crops - Individual monographs (Galbanum natural oleoresin-German chamomile-Hexastylis-High-geraniol monarda-Juniapa-hinojo sabalero)".

"NYS Pharmacy:Laws, Rules & Regulations:Article 137". www.op.nysed.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-08.

"Flora of Israel: Common Giant Fennel".

Encyclopædia Britannica[not specific enough to verify]

"Ferula communis - Giant fennel".

Handbook of chemistry, Volume 17, By Leopold Gmelin

Lola Montez (1858). The Arts of Beauty; Or, Secrets of a Lady's Toilet: With Hints to Gentlemen on the Art of Fascinating. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald. Retrieved 12 July 2022.


122 views0 comments

Comentários


bottom of page