Boswellia serrata Roxb. ex Colebr. - syn.Boswellia glabra Roxb. - Burseraceae \\ 
Indian frankincense, Indian olibanum, **Indischer Weihrauchbaum**

Native tree of India; leafless during the entire period of flowering and fruiting; inflorescence a terminal raceme; flowers 8mm long, petals pinkish-white.

"The gum resin of //Boswellia serrata//, known in Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine as Salai guggal, contains boswellic acids, which have been shown to inhibit leukotriene biosynthesis. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study forty patients, ... having mean duration of illness, bronchial asthma, ... were treated with a preparation of gum resin of 300 mg thrice daily for a period of 6 weeks. 70% of patients showed improvement of disease as evident by disappearance of physical symptoms and signs such as dyspnoea, rhonchi, number of attacks, increase in FEV subset1, FVC and PEFR as well as decrease in eosinophilic count and ESR... The data show a definite role of gum resin of //Boswellia serrata// in the treatment of bronchial asthma." \\
[Effects of Boswellia serrata gum resin in patients with bronchial asthma: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 6-week clinical study. Gupta I1, Gupta V, Parihar A, Gupta S, Lüdtke R, Safayhi H, Ammon HP., Eur J Med Res., Vol.3(11), 1998, 511-4]

"The composition of the essential oil of //Boswellia serrata// obtained by hydrodistillation of the bark of B. serrata was determined by the use of GC and GC-MS. Thirty-five constituents were identified by their retention (Kováts) indices on Cpsil 5 and by their mass spectra. The essential oil of B. serrata predominantly comprised monoterpenoids, of which α-pinene (73.3%) was the major constituent. Other monoterpenoids identified included β-pinene (2.05%), cis-verbenol (1.97%), trans-pinocarveol (1.80%), borneol (1.78%), myrcene (1.71%), verbenone (1.71%), limonene (1.42%), thuja-2,4(10)-diene (1.18%) and p-cymene (1.0%), while α-copaene (0.13%) was the only sesquiterpene identified in the oil." \\
[Volatile constituents of Boswellia serrata Roxb.(Burseraceae) bark. Kasali, A. A., Adio, A. M., Oyedeji, A. O., Eshilokun, A. O., & Adefenwa, M., Flavour and fragrance journal, Vol.17(6), 2002, 462-464]

Major components of the colorless essential oil of Boswellia serrata (hydrodistillation) were α-thujene (12%), α-pinene (8%), sabinene (2.2%), β-pinene (0.7%), myrcene (38%), α-phellandrene (1%), p-cymene (1%), limonene (1.9%), linalool (0.9%), perillene (0.5%), methylchavicol (11.6%), methyleugenol (2.1%), germacrene D (2.0%), kessane (0.9%), cembrene A (0.5%), cembrenol (1.9%), 5,5-dimethyl-1-vinylbicyclo-[2.1.1]hexane (2%) and two diterpenoic components, m-camphorene (0.7%) and p-camphorene (0.3%). \\
[Basar, Simla. "Phytochemical investigations on Boswellia species." Comparative studies on the essential oils, pyrolysates and boswellic acids of Boswellia carterii, 2005, 59]

Main volatile components of B.frereana resin detected by headspace SPME-GC/MS were α-thujene (11.7%), α-pinene (3.4%), sabinene (3.0%), myrcene (7.0%), p-cymene (4.7%), methyl chavicol (8.9%), and methyl eugenol (3.7%). \\
"Six different olibanum samples with certified botanical origin were analyzed by headspace SPME–GC/MS in order to define their mono-, sesqui- and diterpenic composition, as pertinent criteria of identification. Boswellia carteri and Boswellia sacra olibanum have quite similar chemical composition, with isoincensole acetate (isoincensole and isoincensole acetate together 6.9%) as the main diterpenic biomarker. Although Boswellia serrata olibanum also exhibits this biomarker, the presence of methylchavicol, methyleugenol and an unidentified oxygenated sesquiterpene distinguishes B. serrata olibanum from the two other species." \\
[A chemical investigation by headspace SPME and GC–MS of volatile and semi-volatile terpenes in various olibanum samples. Hamm, S., Bleton, J., Connan, J., & Tchapla, A., Phytochemistry, Vol.66(12), 2005, 1499-1514]

|{{:thujene_alpha.jpg| α-thujene }} \\ α-thujene |{{:alpha_pinene.jpg| α-pinene }} \\ α-pinene |{{:isoincensole_a.jpg|}} \\ isoincensole (R=OH) \\ isoincensole acetate (R=OAc) |

"The chemical composition of Boswellia carteri (Somalia), B. papyrifera (Ethiopia), B. serrata (India) and B. rivae (Ethiopia) oleogum resin essential oils was investigated using GC-MS to identify chemotaxonomy marker components... B. carteri and B. serrata oleogum resin oils showed similar chemical profiles, with isoincensole and isoincensole acetate as the main diterpenic components." \\
[Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Some Oleogum Resin Essential Oils from Boswellia SPP. (Burseraceae), Lorenzo Camarda, Talya Dayton, Vita Di Stefano, Rosa Pitonzo, Domenico Schillaci, Annali di Chimica, Vol.97(9), 2007, 837-844]

"α-Thujene (C) and α-Pinene (D): This is the most obvious key to determining whether a Boswellia oil is a serrata, or another. Indeed, serrata frankincense monoterpenic fraction is vastly dominated by α-thujene, whereas α-pinene is much more important in other species. We usually detect α-thujene in the 55-75% range for B. serrata." \\
[[https://www.phytochemia.com/en/2017/04/18/oil-profiles-frankincense-type-serrata/]]

{{:boswellia_glabra_serrata.jpg?600}} \\
Roxburgh, W., Plants of the coast of Coromandel, vol.3, t.207 (1819) \\
[[http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=151953]]