Storax

July 10th, 2008

Botanical Name: Liquidambar orientalis (MILL.)
Family: N.O. Hamamelaceae
Synonyms: Liquidambar imberbe. Styrax Praeparatus. Prepared Storax. Styrax liquidus. Flussiger Amber. Liquid Storax. Balsam Styracis.
Part Used: Balsam obtained from the wood and inner bark.
Habitat: This tree is a native of Asia Minor, in the extreme southwest of which country it is gregarious, forming forests of trees of from 20 to 60 feet high.

Description: A tree of 40 feet or more in height, with many branches, and a thick, purplish-grey bark; leaves palmately cut into five, three-lobed sections, and white flowers arranged in little, round solitary heads.The leaves are bright-green, perfectly smooth even at the axils of the veins on the under side, shining above, pale beneath, palmate, with serrated, obscurely trilobed divisions. The aments or catkins are of distinct sexes, monoecious, having a common 4-leaved deciduous involucre; males conical; anthers numerous and subsessile; females globose, composed of small scales which surround the ovary, grow together, and gradually enlarge; calyx urceolate, 1-leafed, 2-flowered; styles 2, subulate; capsules 2, oblong, 1-celled, many-seeded The name Liquidambar was given by Monardes in the sixteenth century as the name of the resin obtained in Mexico from the American species, now L. styraciflua. L. orientalis was not known botanically until the middle of the last century, when it was grown in Chelsea, Kew, and other botanical gardens from seed brought from the Levant via Paris. It forms forests near Budrum, Melasso, Moughla, Marmorizza and a few places near, but does not appear to be found wild in any other district. The genus Liquidambar is very similar to that of Platanus, and this species to L. styraciflua.

Styrax officinale has been proved to be the source of the solid Storax of the Ancients, which was always scarce and valuable, and is now never found in commerce, though it is probable that the cultivated S. officinale of Europe is capable of yielding Storax. Storax appears to be a pathological rather than a physiological product; when the young wood is injured, oil-ducts are formed in which the Storax is produced. Its extraction is chiefly carried on by a tribe of wandering Turcomans called Yuruks. The outer bark of the tree is removed, the inner bark is stripped off and thrown into pits until a sufficient quantity has been collected. It is then packed in strong, horse-hair bags and pressed in a wooden press. After removal, hot water is thrown on the bags, which are pressed a second time, when the greater part of the balsam will be extracted. Another account says that the bark is first boiled in water in a large copper over a brick fire, by which process the balsam is separated, and can then be skimmed off. The boiled bark is then put into bags over which hot water is thrown, and submitted to pressure as described above, by which an additional quantity of balsam (Yagh, or oil) is obtained. In either mode of procedure the product is the semi-liquid, opaque substance called Liquid Storax. This is chiefly forwarded in barrels to Constantinople, Smyrna, Syria and Alexandria; some to Smyrna, in goat-skins, with a certain proportion of water; thence it is forwarded to Trieste in barrels. Much goes to Bombay for India and China, but little comes to the United States or Britain. Liquid Storax is known in the East as Rosemalloes or Rosemalles. The residual bark left after the extraction of the balsam constitutes the fragrant, leaf-like cakes known as Cortex Thymiamatis, Cortex Thuris and Storax Bark.

The quality of Storax now on the market appears to be much inferior to that of a few years ago, and is usually much adulterated. As imported, Liquid Storax is a soft, viscid, opaque substance, about the consistence of honey, of a greyish-brown colour, and containing a variable quantity of water, which, after it has been allowed to stand for a time, floats on the surface. It has an agreeable, balsamic odour, though, when fresh, this is a little contaminated by naphthalin or bitumen. Its taste is burning, pungent, and aromatic.

The Prepared Storax is obtained from Liquid Storax by means of rectified spirit and straining. It is then described officially as ‘a semi-transparent, brownish-yellow, semifluid balsam, of the consistence of thick honey, agreeable fragrance, and aromatic, bland taste.’ The odour is slightly less agreeable than that of the balsam of Peru. It is imported in jars holding 14 lb. each.

Constituents: The chief constituents of storax are certain esters of cinnamic acid, together with free cinnamic acid. These esters are crystallizable styracin (cinnamyl-cinnamate, C6H5CH:CH.COOC9H9, derived from cinnamyl-alcohol C9H9OH, or C6H5CH:CHCH2OH); oily phenyl-propylcinnamate (C6H5CH:CH.COOCH2CH2CH2C6H5), ethyl cinnamate (C6H5CH:CH.COOC2H5), and the cinnamate of the trivalent alcohol storesin (C36H55[OH]3), a substance existing in storax also uncombined and in the form of a sodium compound. It constitutes altogether about one-half of the weight of storax (W. von Miller, Liebig’s Annalen, 1877, and Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1878, p. 455; also compare Liquidambar). Other constituents of storax are water (from about 20 to 25 per cent), the hydrocarbon styrol, resin, caoutchouc, ethyl-vanillin, traces of benzoic acid, etc.

W. von Miller, in separating these constituents, proceeded as follows: Storax was wrapped in a linen bag and heated in the vapors of distilling water. The distillate contained volatile styrol (styrolene, cinnamene, phenyl-ethylene, C8H8, or C6H5.CH:CH2). The residual storax passed through the cloth, leaving caoutchouc and resin. The storax was next extracted with 3 times its quantity of diluted caustic soda solution (of about 5 per cent NaOH). This dissolved part of the storesin and all of the free cinnamic acid. The former was precipitated from the solution by carbonic acid gas, then the latter by hydrochloric acid. The residual storax was extracted with cold alcohol, the solvent distilled off, and the residue treated with hot petroleum-ether, which dissolved styracin and the other esters, leaving the remainder of storesin undissolved.

Cinnamic acid (C6H5CH:CH.COOH) is the common constituent of several balsams, e. g., balsam of Peru, tolu, storax, etc., and is formed in old oil of cinnamon by oxidation of cinnamic aldehyde (Dumas and Péligot, 1834). It has also been obtained synthetically from benzaldehyde (bitter almond oil) by Perkin. Storax usually yields between 6 and 12 per cent of the acid, but Loewe obtained as much as 23 per cent. It forms shining, odorless crystals of an aromatic, somewhat acrid taste, soluble in hot water, alcohol, and ether. Oxidizers convert it into benzaldehyde and benzoic acid. Its cinnamyl-ester is styracin; its benzyl-ester is cinnameïn

The most abundant constituent of Storax is Storesin, in two forms,called alpha and beta, both free and in the form of a cinnamic ester. It is an amorphous substance, melting at 168 degrees C. (334.4 degrees F.), and readily soluble in petroleum benzin. Cinnamic esters of phenylprophyl, of ethyl, of benzyl, and especially cinnamate of cinnamyl, the so-called Styrasin, have also been observed. The yield of cinnamic acid varies from 6 to 12 per cent, or even as much as 23 per cent of crystallized cinnamic acid can be obtained.

Another analysis gives free cinnamic acid, vanillin, styrol, styracin, cinnamic acid-ethyl ester, cinnamic acid-phenylprophyl ester, and storesinol partly free and partly as cinnamic acid ester.

Crude Storax contains from 1 to 9 per cent of matter insoluble in alcohol, and up to 30 per cent of water. When purified, it is brownish-yellow, viscous, and transparent in thin layers; entirely soluble in alcohol (90 per cent) and in ether. Boiled with solution of potassium chromate and sulphuric acid, it evolves an odour of benzaldehyde. It loses not more than 5 per cent of its weight when heated in a thin layer on a water-bath for one hour.

Owing to the demand for the cinnamic esters of Storax for perfumery purposes, much of the commercial drug has been deprived of these before it is put on the market.

Medicinal Action and Uses: A stimulating expectorant and feeble antiseptic, at present very seldom used except as a constituent of the compound tincture of benzoin. Externally, mixed with 2 or 3 parts of olive oil, it has been found a useful local remedy in scabies. It has the same action as balsams of Tolu and Peru and benzoin. It has been recommended as a remedy in diphtheria, in pulmonic catarrhs, and as a substitute for South American copaiba in gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea. Combined with tallow or lard, it is valuable for many forms of skin disease, such as ringworm, especially in children. The taste and smell of opium is well concealed by the addition of Storax in pills, its fragrance being used frequently also in ointments.

Dosage: 10 to 20 grains.

Storax is a stimulant, acting more especially upon mucous tissues, as do nearly all balsams. It has been found beneficial as an expectorant in cough, chronic catarrh, asthma, bronchitis, and other pulmonary affections; also in gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, and gleet, in which it is as efficient, and more pleasant than copaiba. In fact the uses of storax are very similar to those of the latter balsam. Combined with tallow or lard, it forms a valuable application in many forms of cutaneous disease, especially those common to children, as ringworm, tinea, ringworm of the scalp, scabies, etc. It forms a good application for ulcerations, the result of freezing the fingers or toes. It is much used, on account of its fragrance, for compounding ointments and pills, and is an excellent addition to opium in the form of pill, when it is necessary to conceal the taste and smell of this narcotic; 3 or 4 grains of storax may be combined with 1 grain of opium for this purpose. The dose of storax is from 10 to 20 grains, gradually increased.

Adulterations, Substitutes, Allied Balsams: L. styraciflua, or Sweet Gum, the American variety, is sometimes confused because its product, obtained by spontaneous exudation, is often called Liquidambar, as well as Liquid Storax or copalm balsam. It contains cinnamyl cinnamate, with ethyl, benzyl, and other esters of cinnamic acid. Another of its products, obtained by boiling the young branches, has also been confounded with Liquid Storax, which it resembles. It is used in Texas for coughs. A syrup of the bark is used for diarrhoea and dysentery in the Western States.

L. storesin is said to be known also in Eastern markets.

Aromatic resins are also obtained in China from L. Formosana, and in Java and Burma from L. Altingea (Altingia excelsa), where the Storax-like substance varies in colour from white to red.

Styrea reticulata and other species in Brazil have a fragrant secretion similar to benzoin, which is used in churches as frankincense.

The commonest adulterations are sawdust and turpentine.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/storax93.html
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/kings/liquidambar-orie.html