Chemistry and Ethnobotany of Commercial Incense Copals, Copal Blanco, Copal Oro, and Copal Negro, of North America

Case, Ryan; Tucker, Arthur O.; Maciarello, Michael J.; Wheeler, Kraig A.

doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2003)057[0189:caeoci]2.0.co;2

Cited by 44 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…[5][6][7][8] These resins have a long history of medicinal and ceremonial use in Mesoamerica. 9 As with many other Burseraceae, the primary chemical constituents of Bursera's resin are terpenoid essential oils. 10,11 Many terpenes are known to be deterrent and toxic to insects, fungi and bacterial pathogens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-terpenoid essential oils fromBursera chemapodicta

Evans¹,

Becerra²

2006

Flavour Fragr. J.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The essential oils of the neotropical deciduous tree Bursera chemapodicta are short-chain alkanes and alkanoic derivatives, which contrast to the terpenoid resins of other characterized Bursera species. The resin composition of B. chemapodicta differs from leaf to twig, indicating a tissue specificity for non-terpenoid essential oil synthesis. Fieldcollected leaves contained an average of 4.38% heptane and 5.32% total semi-volatiles. This is a major switch in resin chemistry from terpenoid to linear alkanes within the genus Bursera.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-terpenoid essential oils fromBursera chemapodicta

Evans¹,

Becerra²

2006

Flavour Fragr. J.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The idea that they were part of blue, green, black, and white pigments is unlikely because the ancient Maya used other materials for these colors (Schele, 1985). Black was probably obtained by using burnt copal (Tozzer, 1941, p. 125;Case et al, 2003). The famous "Maya blue" was obtained by mixing and heating palygorskite clay and indigo (Roundhill et al, 1994;Torres, 1988;Van Olphen, 1966).…”

Section: Analysis Of Ancient Houselotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the buildings: Formation processes of ancient Maya houselots and methods for the study of non-architectural space

Hutson

Stanton

Magnoni

et al. 2007

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…These plants release a resin known as copal, derived from the Nahuatl language word “copalli” meaning incense [4]. This genus has been taxonomically related to Commiphora and Boswellia , which also produce resins known as myrrha and frankincense, respectively [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of six pentacyclic triterpenes isolated from the Mexican copal resin of Bursera copallifera

Romero-Estrada

Maldonado-Magaña

González-Christen

et al. 2016

BMC Complement Altern Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Bursera copallifera (Burseraceae) releases a resin known as “copal ancho” which has been used, since pre-Colombian times, as ceremonially burned incense and to treat tooth ache, tumors, arthritis, cold, cough, and various inflammatory conditions; however, its anti-inflammatory potential is poorly studied. The aim of the present study was to isolate, quantify, and to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of triterpene compounds isolated from the copal resin of B. copallifera.MethodsThe constituents present in the total resin of B. copallifera were obtained by successive chromatographic procedures, and quantitative analysis was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Anti-inflammatory effects of the isolated triterpenes were investigated to determine their inhibitory effects on phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced edema in mice, viability and nitric oxide (NO) production inhibition on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages, and inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1, COX-2 and secretory Phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) activities in vitro.ResultsQuantitative phytochemical analysis of the copal resin showed the presence of six pentacyclic triterpenes of which, 3-epilupeol (59.75 % yield) and α-amyrin (21.1 % yield) are the most abundant. Among the isolated triterpenes, 3-epilupeol formiate (Inhibitory Concentration 50 % (IC50) = 0.96 μmol), α.amyrin acetate (IC50 = 1.17 μmol), lupenone (IC50 = 1.05 μmol), and 3-epilupeol (IC50 = 0.83 μmol) showed marked inhibition of the edema induced by TPA in mice. α-amyrin acetate and 3-epilupeol acetate, at 70 μM, also inhibited the activity of COX-2 by 62.85 and 73.28 % respectively, while α-amyrin and 3-epilupeol were the best inhibitors of the production of NO in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 cells with IC50 values of 15.5 and 8.98 μM respectively, and did not affected its viability. All compounds moderately inhibited the activity of PLA2.ConclusionsThis work supports the folk use of B. copallifera and provides the basis for future investigations about the therapeutic use of this resin in treating inflammation.

show abstract

Chemistry and Ethnobotany of Commercial Incense Copals, Copal Blanco, Copal Oro, and Copal Negro, of North America

Cited by 44 publications

References 28 publications

Non-terpenoid essential oils fromBursera chemapodicta

Non-terpenoid essential oils fromBursera chemapodicta

Beyond the buildings: Formation processes of ancient Maya houselots and methods for the study of non-architectural space

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of six pentacyclic triterpenes isolated from the Mexican copal resin of Bursera copallifera

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About