Myrrh resinoid

Warm resin, slightly bitter, dried mushroom, liquorice, faintly medicinal. Balsamic, not very sweet, with a light smoky edge. Longer-lasting and drier than the oil.

Myrrh has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index. The resinoid contains furanosesquiterpenes, the class characteristic of myrrh.

Tisserand and Young record animal fetotoxicity data for myrrh oil; the library page on myrrh oil covers this. Data specific to the resinoid are limited. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Commiphora myrrha is a thorny shrub of the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Resin flows from wounds in the bark and dries into reddish-brown lumps. The gum resin has three parts: water-soluble gum, alcohol-soluble resin and essential oil.

A resinoid is a solvent extract of a dried resin or gum resin. After solvent removal it keeps both the volatile fraction and the non-volatile resin. It is therefore thick, dark, slow to evaporate and works as a fixative.

Myrrh's odour comes mainly from furanosesquiterpenes such as furanoeudesma-1,3-diene and curzerene. This class is uncommon in other resins and gives the bitter, mushroom and liquorice character. Proportions vary by lot and extraction.

In perfumery myrrh resinoid deepens incense, oriental and leather notes. It is also used in oral care flavours. Dosage is usually low because the bitterness dominates easily.

Myrrh was traded through Red Sea ports in antiquity. In Vietnamese, mộc dược is the Sino-Vietnamese medicinal name for the same resin.

When sourcing, true myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) must be told apart from opopanax (Commiphora guidottii), since the two are often mixed up in trade. Myrrh is bitter and mushroomy, opopanax sweet and powdery. A certificate of analysis can confirm this through furanosesquiterpene and bisabolene ratios. Myrrh resinoid is also used to fix scent in soap and candles.