Opopanax

#### Opopanax. Another material that has changed in its appearance and odor characteristics within this century is **Opopanax**. The so-called "original" opopanax probably derived from a large plant, **Balsamodendron**** ****Kafal**, which grows wild in the southern parts of the Middle East, in southern Sudan and Arabia, etc. The opopanax from this plant is no more a regularly available commercial item, and it is claimed by those who remember that, in respect to odor, this type of opopanax is inferior to the "new" type. Today, a medium-sized tree, very closely related to the parent tree of **Myrrh **(see monograph) yields the perfumery material, **Opopanax**. This tree, **Commiphora Erythrea ***varietas** **glabrascens,** *grows wild in the interior of Somaliland, eastern Africa, towards the eastern parts of Ethiopia named Harrar province. Apparently the commercial collection of opopanax takes place only in Somali- land. The author was unable to confirm his belief in an Ethiopian production during his visit to that part of Africa in 1956. **Opopanax **is a natural oleo-gum-resin, formed as a physiological product in natural cavities or tubular vessels in the parenchym (where most of the activity in trees take place) between the bark and the wood. The natives make incisions in the trunks, but some opopanax flows out by itself. The crude botanical product is dark reddish, rarely dark yellow or brownish, and it occurs in comparatively regular lumps, tear-shaped or bean- shaped, of nut-size to walnut-size. Its odor is sweet-aromatic, reminiscent of spicy soups (a faint resemblance to celery or lovage), a sweet- woody undertone and a peculiar, animal-like, also sweet and root-like note. Although to a certain degree reminiscent of myrrh, the typical difference is that opopanax has a spicy (soup-like) and an animal, root-like note, neither of which is hardly, if at all, distinguishable in myrrh. A test distillation of suspicious-looking lumps will immediately reveal to the experienced perfumer whether the lump is myrrh or opopanax. The difference in odor of the two essential oils is wide. Opopanax is obviously richer in deep balsamic sesquiterpene type of notes, while myrrh oil has a light, fresh topnote and comparatively little dryout note.