Sandarac resinoid

Dry resin with a faint lemon peel edge and cypress wood. A light incense note and dry balsam, not sweet.

Sandarac has no dedicated standard in the 51st Amendment of the IFRA Standards and is not named in the EU fragrance allergen list.

Most of the resin is non-volatile diterpenes. Listed EU substances, if present in the volatile fraction, are counted from the lot's certificate of analysis.

Store dark, sealed and cool.

Tetraclinis articulata is a small conifer of the cypress family, found mostly in Morocco and North Africa, with small populations in south-eastern Spain and Malta. In Morocco it is called arar. Its burl wood is used for crafts in Essaouira.

The resin is obtained from cuts in the trunk and branches. It dries into long, pale yellow, translucent tears. Sandarac has long been used for varnish and lacquer in Europe and as incense in North Africa.

Chromatographic studies show sandarac is made mostly of diterpenes. Communic acid, a labdane, forms the largest share and builds the polymeric part of the resin. Among free diterpenoids, sandaracopimaric acid dominates. Totarol and manool occur in small amounts.

The resinoid is made by extracting the dried resin with a solvent and removing the solvent. Because the volatile fraction is small, the resinoid smells light and dry. In perfumery sandarac is a minor material for incense, woody and chypre accords where a dry resin without the vanillic sweetness of benzoin is wanted.

Supply depends on the arar forests of Morocco. Harvesting and conservation status should be checked per source.