Science

General background

Frankincense Varieties and Habitats, Part 2
Poster on the leaves of Frankincense species
Ten Frequently Held Misconceptions and Facts about Frankincense
Frankincense at Kew

Yemen- Treading Carefully

Botany

Below are some useful Boswellia and East African Commiphora botanical reference books and articles. We welcome botanical studies that include Boswellia dalzieli in West Africa. A comprehensive botanical book on B.serrata and B. ovalifoliolata across India is hard to find. There are many references to extensive Solai forests in certain dry areas with poor soils in different state publications dating back to the late 1800’s and later when it was highlighted for plantation for wood lots and the paper industry. Please do send in any references using the contact page.

Propagation and cultivation

While attempts at propagation and transplantation goes back millenia, small scale nurseries connected to producers in range states are slowly increasing and will be tested. Jason Eslamieh has championed the propagation of domesticated Boswellia and Commiphora trees outside of range states (link ) with many enthusiasts sharing their successes and other species related discussions on Facebook groups.
Ensuring the future of Boswellia
Planting Boswellia serrata trees in India

India

Cunningham A.B. et al. (2018) ‘Rising trade, declining stocks: the global guggul (Commiphora wightii) trade’. Journal of Ethnopharmacology  223:22-32. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2018.04.040

East Africa

Bekele A. (2007). Useful trees and shrubs of Ethiopia: Identification, propagation and management in 17 Agro-climatic zones. RELMA in ICRAF Project. World Agroforestry Centre-Eastern Africa Region Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
Gillet J.B. (1991) Flora of tropical East Africa – Burseraceae’ Prepared at the Royal botanical gardens/ Kew with assistance from the East African Herbarium. Ed Polhill R.M. A.A.Balkema. Rotterdam/ Brookfield ISBN. 906191-355-1 Available on Kindle.
Ed. Hedberg I. Edwards S. (1989) ‘The Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea Volume 3. ISBN: 9789197128506. Copies held at Addis Ababa University, contact.
Mahr D. “Commiphora: An Introduction to the Genus,” Cactus and Succulent Journal, 84(3), 140-154, link
Dale I.R. and Greenway P.J. (1994) ‘Kenya trees, Shrubs and Lianas ‘ National museum of Kenya available on line here
Eds. Thulin M. (2009) Flora of Somalia Volume 2 Royal Botanical Gardens Kew pp 184 – 187
Vogt, K. (1995). ‘A field guide to the identification, propagation and uses of common trees and shrubs of dry land Sudan’. SOS Sahel International (UK).
Wubalem Tadesse, Getachew Desalegn and Alia, R. (2007). ‘Natural gum and resin bearing species of Ethiopia and their potential applications’. Invest. Agrar. Sist. Recur. For. 16 (3): pp. 211-221.

Biochemistry

Following the extensive biochemical research linked in Useful links, a few recent publications on boswellic acids  and others of general interest include:

Boswellic acids and chronic and other diseases
Pilkhwal N & Dhaneshwar S.(2019) ‘An update on Pharmacological profile of Boswellia serrata’ Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and clinical research Vol 12 issue 5
Rashan l., et al (2019) ‘Boswellia Gum resin and essential oils: potential health benefits – an evidence based review’ International Journal of Nutrition, Pharmacology, Neurological diseases. Volume 9 Issue 2 pp 53 – 71.
Roy N.K. et al., (2019) ‘An Update on pharmacological potential of Boswellic Acids against chronic diseases’. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 20, 4101; doi:10.3390/ijms20174101
Yu, G., Xiang, W., Zhang, T. et al. (2020) Effectiveness of Boswellia and Boswellia extract for osteoarthritis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Med Ther 20, 225 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-020-02985-6, link.

Testing for Boswellic acids in nine Boswellia species
Schmiech M. et al., (2019) ‘Comparative Analysis of Pentacyclic Triterpenic Acid Compositions in Oleogum Resins of  Different Boswellia Species and Their In Vitro Cytotoxicity against Treatment-Resistant Human Breast Cancer Cells’. Molecules;24(11):2153. Published 2019 Jun 7. doi:10.3390/molecules24112153

Oman and Yemen

Alaamri M.M.H. (2012) ‘Distribution of Boswellia sacra in Dhofar Mountains, Sultanate of Oman: Economic Value and Environmental role’ Journal of Life Sciences 6 pp632-626
Ghazanfar S.A. (1994) Handbook of Arabian Medicinal Plants Boca Raton FL. CRC Press ISBN 0-8493-0539-X, S. 65, link
Ghafanzar S.A. (2018) Flora of Oman. Volume 2 National Botanical Garden of Belgium, link
Development of a population of Boswellia elongata Balf. F. in Homhil nature sanctuary, Socotra island (Yemen) – link.
Raffaelli M. et al (2003) ‘The Frankincense Tree (Boswellia sacra Flueck., Burseraceae) in Dhofar, southern Oman: Field-investigations on the natural populations’ Webbia 58(1) pp 133–149
Wood J.R.I. (1997). A handbook of the Yemen Flora. Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens.
Miller A.G., Cope T.A. (1996) Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. Vol. 1, Edinburgh Univ. Press in Association with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK, 1996.

Recent papers on two lesser known species

Boswellia occulta
Johnson, S., DeCarlo, A., Satyal, P., Dosoky, N. S., Sorensen, A., & Setzer, W. N. (2019). The Chemical Composition of Boswellia occulta Oleogum Resin Essential Oils. Natural Product Communications, 14(7), 1934578X19866307, link
Thulin, M., Decarlo, A., & Johnson, S. P. (2019). Boswellia occulta (Burseraceae), a new species of frankincense tree from Somalia (Somaliland). Phytotaxa, 394(3), 219–224, link

Boswellia dalzieli
DeCarlo, A., Johnson, S., Okeke-Agulu, K. I., Dosoky, N. S., Wax, S. J., Owolabi, M. S., & Setzer, W. N. (2019). Compositional analysis of the essential oil of Boswellia dalzielii frankincense from West Africa reveals two major chemotypes. Phytochemistry, 164, 24 -32, link
Imorou I.T. ( 2020) Impact of Ethnobotanical Uses and Climate Change on the Population of Boswellia dalzielii Hutch. in the Sudanian Region of Benin (West Africa) International Journal of Ecology and Environmental studies  Vol 46 No 1.
Kemeuze V.A., et al. (2012)  Boswellia dalzielii Hutch: State of the stand and traditional use in the Mbé area. Science et changements planétaires / Sécheresse. 2012;23(4):278-283. doi:10.1684/sec.2012.0365