The scientific term used below for frankincense is boswellia (carterii or frereana) while myrrh is called commiphora.
The scientific articles below relate to
- the therapeutic effects of frankincense and myrrh
- forestry and sustainable collection practices
- socio-economic determinants and cultural practices
If you’re looking for a general introduction to frankincense, please check this publication by Frans Bongers, a world-reknown specialist on the conservation of this species, with many of his international colleagues.
The Therapeutic effects of frankincense and myrrh
Essential oils do not capture all the benefits of resins
The main molecular compounds sought after for their therapeutic value in frankincense are boswellic acids and incensole (acetate). Boswellic acids are being researched for their postive effects agains cancer and arthritis, chronic bowel diseases and asthma, while incensole is a psycho-active (or neuractive) molecule known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, and neuro-modulatory effects.
Neither type of molecule is found in the essential oil obtained through steam distillation. Both are found in the hydrolate (resin residue) that remains after steam distillation. Isolating them from the hydrolate requires solvent extraction (toxic) and/or CO2 supercritical extraction (massive energy consumption).
The essential oils contain terpenes that also have strong therapeutic uses, as described on our product pages – anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, beneficial for both respiratory and digestive tracts, wound-healing. The scientific articles describing this research, many of them very recent, are listed below. Note, however, that scientific research on these resins, although very promising, is still in its infancy.
The limitations of the scientific approach
Scientific research also has a serious limitation: it always seeks a cause-effect relation in clinical trials between a single molecule (for example Acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid, or AKBA, which draws most research efforts on frankincense today) and receptors in the body (usually of test animals!). From a holistic perspective, the hundreds of different molecules that an essential oil contains, which has been produced as such by the tree, work together to achieve a certain outcome, and the context – the person, the situation, perhaps even the mood – influence this result.
Thus scientists may observe that frankincense relieves and cures respiratory problems, but as long as they have not found the one molecule responsible for this, they must admit that ’there is no scientific evidence’.
At 2Mages we are firm believers in the scientific method, but we think that pharmacological research should move away from the tenets of classic physics and embrace the complexity of quantum physics. Surely, quantum-based pharmacological research would approach holistic understanding of how medicine works. It would mean moving away from the lab (and test animals), respecting traditional cultural knowledge and literally thousands of years of practice, and approaching a resin or an essential oil as a whole, not a haphazard mix of molecules.
Why we opt for steam distillation
For the time being, 2Mages will stick to classical extraction through steam distillation, among others because it ensures the obtained essential oil is 100% pure and organic, with no traces of toxic solvents.
We encourage, however, our customers to experiment with the resins. See the useful website of Dan Riegler, Apothecary’s Garden, and most notably his blog, for some ideas.
Of all the types of frankincense, sacra/carterii has the highest concentration of boswellic acids and incensole. Indian frankincense (boswellia serrata) has high levels of boswellic acids but almost no incensoles, while Ethiopian frankincense (boswellia papyrifera) is rich in incensoles but lacks boswellic acids. Maydi frankincense (frereana) has neither, but has a class of its own terpenes, which have been very little researched because this resin, in high local demand, is so difficult to obtain.
So if self-medication inspired by recent scientific research is your thing, we suggest you start with carterii resins and, for topical uses, myrrh resin. Otherwise, you can also pay credence to hundreds or thousands of years of traditional use, as documented on our product pages.
Documented therapeutic uses
El-Saber Batiha e.a. “Commiphora myrrh: a phytochemical and pharmacological update” in Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology Vol 396, 2023; p405–420. This article provides a useful overview of many of the researched properties of myrrh.
Alhamzi, Ayman e.a.: “Antibacterial Effects of Commiphora gileadensis Methanolic Extract on Wound Healing” in Molecules Vol27, #3320, 2022. Alhamzi and 15 other authors explore the anti-bacterial and wound-healing properties of commiphora gileadensis, a type of resin close to myrrh and part of the same family. They find that on both uninfected and infected wounds, “The CG [commiphora] extract possesses antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that induce wound healing” (quote from abstract).
Ammon, H.P.T. 2006: “Boswellic Acids in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases” in Planta Medica Vol 72(12), 2006; p1100-1116. H.P.T. Ammon researches the effects of boswellic acids on chronic inflammatory diseases, and finds that “Clinical studies, so far with pilot character, suggest efficacy in some autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and bronchial asthma. Side effects are not severe when compared to modern drugs used for the treatment of these diseases.”
In this 2025 study, the anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and wound healing properties of commiphora myrrha are researched.
Forestry and Sustainable Collection Practices
One of the main specialists in this field is Frans Bongers from Wageningen University. We borrow heavily from his research, supplemented by other sources.
The worldwide population of frankincense trees is in steep decline. Although myrrh is less researched, mainly because it is less valuable in the perfumery industry, its global population is certainly threatened by the same factors, which are (Johnson e.a. 2025):
- overgrazing. Young saplings of these trees, which take 10-30 years to reach maturity, are eaten by goats. Economic pressure lead pastoralists to increase the size of their herds, which they consider as a kind of bank account, and to seek new pastures in the remote places where frankincense and myrrh trees grow. Thus the regeneration of these forests is stunted.
- climate change. Although the bursereceae family of trees, to which both frankincense and myrrh belong, is sturdy, climate-change induced extreme weather events such as cyclones and flooding are wreaking havoc on forests
- clearing of land for agricultural or mining use.
- overharvesting. Although communities traditionally know how to harvest frankincense and myrrh in a sustainable way, the extremely low price paid to them for the resins frequently leads them to overtap their trees, weakening them.
- Pests such as the longhorn beetle. These occur naturally but climate change and the destruction of biodiversity, including the disappearance of their natural predators, make pests a more serious threat.
Johnson, Stephen and Frans Bongers: “Armed conflict as an underappreciated driver of conservation outcomes in frankincense” in Trees, Forests and People Vol. 15, 2024
Johnson, Stephen e.a. : “Rapid conservation assessment of Boswellia sacra in Oman reveals complex
threat and population patterns” in Journal of Arid Environments 229, 2025.
Farah, Ahmed Yusuf: “The Milk of the Boswellia Forest. Frankincense Production among the Pastoral Somali”. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics, 1988
Guta, Mulugeta, Huijun Tan and Yaping Zhao: “Optimization of supercritical CO2 extraction of incensole-enriched oil from Boswellia papyrifera resin using response surface methodology” in The Journal of Supercritical Fluids # 205, 2024
Barkhadle, Ahmed M.I. : “Somali Plant Names Dictionary”, Florence, 1990 (manuscript).
