Tinkturenpresse

Aucoumea klaineana Pierre syn. Dacryodes klaineana (Pierre) H.J.Lam. - Bourseraceae - okoumé, Okoumé, Gabun-Mahagoni

Large evergreen tree, up to 50m high; native to west and central Africa (Gabon, Cameroon, Congo); all plant parts highly fragrant.

Steam distillation of the oleo resin yielded 5% of a volatile oil with p-cymene (30.2%), α-pinene (20.6%), α-phellandrene (11.2%), limonene (5.4%), α-terpineol (5.4%), terpinen-4-ol (5.2%), and camphor (0.6%).
[Guang-Yi, Liang, et al. „The Volatile Oil of the Oleo Resin of Aucoumea klaineana Collected in Gabon1.“ Planta medica 54.04 (1988): 368-369]

Especially the twigs develope a „refreshing, terpenic, citrus-related (so-called 'hesperidic'), green, and transparent woody scent“ when touched. Main components of the scent are α-pinene (11.0%), α-phellandrene (34.0%), limonene (21.0%), and (E)-β-ocimene (10.9%), accompanied by oxygen-containing derivatives contributing hesperidic and terpenic-resinous notes. Characteristic woody notes are contributed by caryophyllene oxide (0.25%) and caryophyllenols, especially caryophylla-2(12),6-dien-5α-ol (0.08%).
„All these derivatives are also of great importance to the wood scent of okoumé.“
[Meaningful Scents around the World, Roman Kaiser, Zürich 2006, 90-91 and 217]

Main components of the steam-distilled essential oils of Aucoumea klaineana resin from Cameroon were α-pinene (29.3%), α-phellandrene (30.9%), eucalyptol (9.0%), α-terpineol (3.1%), and terpinen-4-ol (2.5%).
[Dongmo, Pierre Michel Jazet, et al. „Chemical characterization, antiradical, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of the essential oils of Canarium schweinfurthii and Aucoumea klaineana (Burseraceae) growing in Cameroon.“ Agriculture and Biology Journal of North America 1.4 (2010): 606-611] http://www.scihub.org/ABJNA/PDF/2010/4/1-4-606-611.pdf

The synthetic 'amber/woody/musk' okoumal (woody dioxolane; CAS 131812-67-4) is named after the famous Aucoumea klaineana wood which it resembles in smell.
[P.Kraft, lecture „Riechstoffe“, Universität Göttingen 2022]

Flowering twig of Aucoumea klaineana Useful Tropical Plants Author: Ehoarn Bidault CC BY-SA 3.0