Galbanum was already a popular incense resin in ancient Mesopotamia. The health-promoting effects of the plant Ferula erubescens were described in detail by the Greek physician and pharmacologist Pedanios Dioscorides in the 1st century AD. The Middle Ages also appreciated its medicinal properties.
Occurrence and cultivation of galbanum
Galbanum (Ferula erubescens, Ferula gummosa) is a perennial herbaceous plant that belongs to the family of umbelliferous plants (Apiaceae) and is also called giant fennel. The medicinal plant is found in Mediterranean countries and even in Central Asia. However, most Galbanum species are native to Southwest Asia and Central Asia. The ancient medicinal plant forms woody taproots and has branched stems. Its alternate stem leaves are two- to four-pinnate. It sprouts double umbel inflorescences with a multitude of yellow five-petaled flowers. After that, elliptical shaped double achene fruits with lateral wings develop. They are filled with flat concave seeds. To extract the white milky juice, the root is dug up and cut, allowing the thick juice to run out. The lower stem section also contains sap, which is used to extract galbanum resin and galbanum oil.
Effect and application
Galbanum resin is produced from the dried milky sap of Iranian galbanum. The galbanum plant needed for this purpose grows in Iran, Afghanistan and the east of the Aral Sea. The runny sap dries up very quickly in the air and forms a soft, tough and sticky mass. This has different shades depending on its chemical composition: there are transparent, white, greenish, yellowish and brownish galbanum resin. It contains about 20 percent gum and a maximum of six percent galbanum essential oil (oleum galbani). Galban resin smells like spruce needles and has a heavy sweet balsamic aroma. Its taste is described as pungent-bitter. It is exposed to cold for pulverization. To extract the valuable oil, the resin is steam distilled. From about six kilograms of resin, one liter of oleum galbani can be produced. The oil is normally colorless, but under the influence of oxygen it takes on a brownish color and also thickens quickly. Galbanum oil has a bitter camphor-like taste and an intense grassy odor. In natural medicine, the purified and powdered resin and galbanum oil are traditionally used internally and externally to treat various diseases and ailments. The active ingredients contained in it have emollient, menstrual, antiseptic, circulatory and immunostrengthening, circulatory, analgesic, antispasmodic and expectorant effects. The fragrant oil is also widely used in aromatherapy. It soothes irritable and restless spirits, improves mood and balances internally when a person is agitated and worried. Galbanum is also used today to fix scents in perfume making and as a flavor enhancer in food. It is part of various incense blends and is mainly used in high quality oils and soaps because of its woody intense spicy scent. To round out the fragrance, it is often combined with vetiver or neroli.
Importance for health, treatment and prevention.
Galbanum resin contains the following ingredients: monoterpenes (70 percent), monoterpenols, sesquiterpenes, sesquiterpenols, aldehydes, phenyl ethers, esters, ketones and other chemical substances. The resin and oil of Ferula erubescens have many natural medicinal uses. In the past, women’s ailments such as menstrual disorders were cured with galbanum suppositories and incenses. Galbanum is still used today in Iran to regulate menstruation. Dead fetuses could be aborted with the help of a mixture of myrrh, wine and galbanum. Because of its frequent use in abdominal complaints, the vernacular gave the resin from the giant fennel species the name “mother resin”. Against unsightly liver spots helped an external application of galbanum, soda and vinegar. In case of toothache, the patient simply stuck a piece of galbanum into the destroyed tooth. Many of the proven applications live on in traditional Iranian folk medicine and are also used in naturopathy in this country. A drop of pure galbanum oil can shrink large boils and disinfect festering acne pimples so that they soon dry up.However, the monoterpenes, the most important ingredient of galbanum oil, sets intense skin stimuli and can cause skin irritation in higher doses. Therefore, the patient who has sensitive skin should apply galbanum oil only dissolved in a base oil or in mixtures with other essential oils. Galbanum oil is drunk to treat cough and respiratory diseases associated with shortness of breath. The active ingredients dissolve bronchial mucus, relieving bronchitis and bronchial asthma. When used internally, they also help with colds, digestive problems and strengthen the immune system. Because of its circulation-enhancing pain-relieving and warming properties, the sick person can also use Galbanum to treat sore muscles, muscle tension and cramps. In addition, because the galbanum ingredients have an anticonvulsant effect, the oil was popular for treating epilepsy. If you want to use Oleum galbani internally, drip up to four drops on a teaspoon of honey twice a day. Then dissolve the whole in a glass of lukewarm herbal tea or water. Externally, galbanum oil helps in the form of washes and compresses for abscesses and acne, and as a liniment against rheumatic diseases. Galbanum oil has also proven its worth in the field of skin care. It is used not only for skin damaged by acne, but also for creaming dry, sagging and wrinkled skin. For this purpose, it is dosed only slightly. To 50 ml of base oil, the patient adds one drop of oleum galbani.
