Tolu balsam or balsam of Tolu is a balsam that originates from

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(

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

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). It is similar to (and frequently confounded with) the balsam of Peru. It is tapped from the living trunks of '' Myroxylon balsamum var. balsamum''. The fresh balsam of Tolu is a brownish, sticky, semifluid mass. It gradually becomes a brittle solid, but softens again when it is warm. The balsam contains a fairly large amount of benzyl benzoate and benzyl cinnamate.

Collection

Balsam of Tolu is obtained by cutting a V-shaped wound on the trunk of ''Myroxylon balsamum'' var. ''balsamum'' and fixing a calabash there to catch the exuded resin.

Uses

The resin is still used in certain cough syrup formulas. However its main use in the modern era is in perfumery, where it is valued for its warm, mellow yet somewhat spicy scent. It is also used as a natural remedy for skin rashes. It is a well known cause of

contact dermatitis Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes ...

, a form of skin allergy.

History

In 1841, Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville isolated

toluene Toluene (), also known as toluol (), is a substituted aromatic hydrocarbon with the chemical formula , often abbreviated as , where Ph stands for the phenyl group. It is a colorless, water Water is an inorganic compound with the c ...

by the dry distillation of tolu balsam. The resin is used in

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

by the people of

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and

. It got its name because it was shipped to Europe from Tolú,

. In 1753 Linnaeus described the type specimen of ''Toluifera balsamum'' (the synonym of ''Myroxylon balsamum'') using a specimen collected in the province of Cartagena, probably a town called Tolú, which at the time was located in the province of Cartagena, and named it ''Toluifera balsamum'' in relation to the place of collection. The name of the important hydrocarbon solvent

is derived from Tolu balsam.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolu Balsam Resins Perfume ingredients