Storax balsam

thumb|Dry storax

'''Storax''' ({{langx|la|storax}}; {{langx|el|στύραξ}}, ''stúrax''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=storax|title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: storax|last=Company|first=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing|website=www.ahdictionary.com|access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/storax|title=Definition of STORAX|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/storax|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925133110/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/storax|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2016|title=storax {{!}} Definition of storax in English by Oxford Dictionaries|website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English|access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yourdictionary.com/storax|title=Storax dictionary definition {{!}} storax defined|website=www.yourdictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/storax|title=Storax definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref> often commercially sold as '''styrax''', is a natural fragrant resin isolated from the wounded bark of ''Liquidambar orientalis'' Mill. (Asia Minor) and ''Liquidambar styraciflua'' L. (Eastern US, Mexico, Central America) (Altingiaceae).<ref name="flavors">{{citation | author=Karl-Georg Fahlbusch | contribution=Flavors and Fragrances | title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry | edition=7th | publisher=Wiley | year=2007 | page=115|display-authors=etal}}</ref> It is distinct from benzoin (also called "storax"), a similar resin obtained from the Styracaceae plant family. ==Composition== Purified storax contains about 33–50% storesin, an alcoholic resin, 5–15% cinnamic acid, 5–15% cinnamyl cinnamate, about 10% phenylpropyl cinnamate, as well small amounts of ethyl cinnamate, benzyl cinnamate, and styrene. Some may contain traces of vanillin or triterpenic acids (oleanolic and 3-epioleanolic acids).<ref name="mpb">{{citation | author=James A. Duke | entry=Storax (Liquidambar orientalis Mill. and L., Styraciflua L.) | title=Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2008 | pages=258–259}}</ref>

==Uses== Storax has a balsamic, floral/lilac, and leathery smell.<ref>{{cite web |title=styrax resin (liquidambar styraciflua)|url=https://scentsandflavors.com/database/9dbb4dea-2db6-405f-bb4a-2a438776668d|website=Scents and Flavors |publisher=Scents and Flavors |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=styrax (liquidambar orientalis)|url=https://scentsandflavors.com/database/9dbb4df9-cf29-4132-aa61-36c2d7540633|website=Scents and Flavors |publisher=Scents and Flavors |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=styrax oil (liquidambar styraciflua)|url=https://scentsandflavors.com/database/9dbb4a55-260c-4e08-aefd-52785b17de9c|website=Scents and Flavors |publisher=Scents and Flavors |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=styrax absolute (liquidambar orientalis)|url=https://scentsandflavors.com/database/9dbb4a38-bdca-431a-b2fc-b8241c6df438|website=Scents and Flavors |publisher=Scents and Flavors |access-date=4 April 2026}}</ref> It and its derivatives (resinoid, essential oil, absolute) are used as flavors and fragrances, as well as in pharmaceuticals (Friar's Balsam).<ref name="flavors" /><ref>{{citation | entry=Styrax | author=George A. Burdock | title=Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients | edition=6th | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2010 | pages=1853–1854}}</ref><ref>{{citation | contribution=Compound Benzoin Tincture | title=British Pharmacopoeia | volume=3 | year=2009}}</ref> American storax resin (''Liquidambar styraciflua''), when used as a gum, is meant to work as a breath freshener and clean teeth.<ref name="duke">{{citation | author=James A. Duke | entry=Benzoin (Styrax benzoin Dryander.) | title=Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2008 | page=445}}</ref>

==History== Mnesimachus, Aristotle, Theophrastus (''Historia Plantarum''), Herodotus, and Strabo mention the storax tree and its balsam. In ancient Greece, storax also denoted the spike at the lower end of a spearshaft.<ref>{{citation | editor=Henry George Liddell | editor2=Robert Scott | chapter=στύραξ | title=Greek-English Lexicon | edition=8th | publisher=Harper & Brothers | year=1897 | page=1442 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/greekenglishlex00lidduoft}}</ref>

Multiple rites call for storax in the Graeco-Egyptian Greek Magical Papyri. <ref>{{Cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/TheGreekMagicalPapyriInTranslation |title=The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation | publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1985}}</ref>

Pliny (''Historia Naturalis'' 12.98, 15.26; 24.24) notes the use of storax as a perfume, while Scribonius Largus drank wine flavored with storax.<ref>{{citation | entry=styrax | title=Oxford Latin Dictionary | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1968 | page=1832}}</ref> Ciris mentions storax as a fragrant hair dye.<ref>{{citation | entry=storax | title=Oxford Latin Dictionary | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1968 | page=1825}}</ref> Dioscorides (''De materia medica'' 1.79) reports its use as incense, similar to frankincense, having expectorant and soothing properties.<ref>{{citation | author=Dioscorides | author-link=Dioscorides | editor=Julius Berendes | entry=Styrax | title=De materia medica | publisher=PharmaWiki.ch | year=1902 | page=89 | url=http://www.pharmawiki.ch/materiamedica/images/Dioskurides.pdf | access-date=2014-10-10 | archive-date=2015-09-24 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924072207/http://www.pharmawiki.ch/materiamedica/images/Dioskurides.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> Al-Masudi listed storax gum (''mayʿa'') as a spice in his book ''Murūdj al-dhahab'' (''Meadows of Gold''), published in the 10th century<ref>{{citation | author=A. Dietrich | contribution=AFĀWĪH | title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam | edition=2nd | volume=12 (supplement) | publisher=Brill | year=2004 | pages=42–43}}</ref> and Chao Ju-Kuan, a trade commissioner in Fukien province, said in the 13th century that liquid storax gum had come from the Arabs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hirth|first=F.|url=https://archive.org/details/chaujukuahiswork00chao/page/200/mode/2up|title=Chau Ju-Kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu Fan Chï|last2=Rockhill|first2=W. W.|publisher=Printing Office of Imperial Academy of Sciences|year=1911|location=Saint Petersburg|pages=200}}</ref>

This species originated in the Southern regions of Mesopotamia, present day Iraq and in particular Babylon. Babylonians used it for respiratory related diseases. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:phi,0978,001:12 8]

In the nineteenth century, styrene by distilling storax balm.<ref name="styrene">{{citation | author=Denis H. James | author2=William M. Castor | contribution=Styrene | title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry | edition=7th | publisher=Wiley | year=2007 | page=1}}</ref>

In North Africa, for mystical purposes, women burn benzoin and storax in potsherds.<ref>{{citation | author=D. S. Margoliouth | author-link=David Samuel Margoliouth | contribution=ḲĀDIRIYYA | title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam | edition=2nd | volume=4 | publisher=Brill | year=1997 | pages=380–383}}</ref>

==Safety== Storax resin is "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS) at low levels.<ref name="mpb" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Resins Category:Essential oils Category:Liquidambar Category:Incense material Category:Perfume ingredients