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Labdanum is a sticky brown resin obtained from the shrubs Cistus ladanifer
Gum rockrose

The Gum Rockrose is a species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae. It is a native of the western Mediterranean region. It is indigenous to Spain, Portugal and north-west Africa....
 (western Mediterranean) and Cistus creticus
Cistus creticus

Cistus creticus is a species of shrubby plant in the family Cistaceae. Though it usually has pink flowers, of 4.5-5 cm diameter, this species is very variable....
 (eastern Mediterranean), species of rockrose. It has a long history of use in herbal medicine and as a perfume
Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell....
 ingredient.

ncient times, the resin was scraped from the fur of goat
Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae....
s and sheep
Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
 that had grazed on the cistus shrubs. It was collected by the shepherds and sold to coastal traders.






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Labdanum is a sticky brown resin obtained from the shrubs Cistus ladanifer
Gum rockrose

The Gum Rockrose is a species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae. It is a native of the western Mediterranean region. It is indigenous to Spain, Portugal and north-west Africa....
 (western Mediterranean) and Cistus creticus
Cistus creticus

Cistus creticus is a species of shrubby plant in the family Cistaceae. Though it usually has pink flowers, of 4.5-5 cm diameter, this species is very variable....
 (eastern Mediterranean), species of rockrose. It has a long history of use in herbal medicine and as a perfume
Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell....
 ingredient.

History

In ancient times, the resin was scraped from the fur of goat
Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae....
s and sheep
Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
 that had grazed on the cistus shrubs. It was collected by the shepherds and sold to coastal traders. The false beards worn by the pharaoh
Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
s of ancient Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
 were actually the labdanum soaked hair of these goats. Later long poles with leather or cloth strips were used to sweep the shrubs and collect the resin which was later extracted. It was used to treat colds, coughs, menstrual problems and rheumatism.

Modern uses

Labdanum is produced today mainly for the perfume industry. The raw resin is usually extracted by boiling the leaves and twigs. An absolute is also obtained by solvent extraction. An essential oil is produced by steam distillation
Steam distillation

Steam distillation is a special type of distillation for temperature sensitive materials like natural aromaticity compounds.Many organic compounds tend to Chemical decomposition at high sustained temperatures....
. The raw gum is a dark brown, fragrant mass containing up to 20% or more of water. It is plastic
Plasticity (physics)

In physics and materials science, plasticity describes the deformation of a material undergoing non-reversible changes of shape in response to applied forces....
 but not pourable, and becomes brittle with age. The absolute is dark amber-green and very thick at room temperature. The fragrance more refined than the raw resin. The odour is very rich, complex and tenacious. Labdanum is much valued in perfume
Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell....
ry because of its resemblance to ambergris
Ambergris

Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.Ambergris has a peculiar sweet, earthy odor....
, which has been banned from use in many countries because its precursor originates from the sperm whale
Sperm Whale

The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales and largest living toothed animal. The whale was named after the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm or semen....
, which is an endangered species: although the best-quality ambergris
Ambergris

Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.Ambergris has a peculiar sweet, earthy odor....
 is found free-floating or washed up onshore (long exposure to sunlight, air and water removes offensive-smelling components of the fresh substance), and thus has no ethical objections, a lower-quality version can also be recovered from some fraction of freshly-slaughtered whales, and so may encourage poaching of sperm whale
Sperm Whale

The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales and largest living toothed animal. The whale was named after the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm or semen....
s. Labdanum's odour is variously described as animalic, sweet, woody, ambergris, dry musk, or leathery.

See also

  • Labdane
    Labdane

    Labdane is a natural bicyclic diterpene. It forms the structural core for a wide variety of natural products collectively known as labdanes or labdane diterpenes....