Myroxylon balsam and much more
Native to Central and South America, representatives of
Myroxylon are used in folk as shade trees for cultivated crops, ornamentals, and
for fine timber. Balsam and its essential oil are used to flavor baked goods,
candy, chewing gum, gelatin, ice cream, pudding, soft drinks and syrups, and as
incense in churches. Balsam oil is also used in perfume, cosmetic and soap
industries. Seeds are used to flavor aguardiente, a popular alcoholic beverage
in Latin America (Duke 1981). Common names include: bálsamo, palo de bálsam
(Spanish America in general), cedro chino, nabal (Mexico), chirraca, sándalo
(Costa Rica), tache, tofu (Colombia), estoraque (Peru), cabreúva vermelha
(Brazil), incienso, and quina (Argentina)(Chudnoff 1984).
Batany
Myroxylon balsamum (L.) Harms (family Legununosae, subfamily
Papilionoideae) grows to 34 m in height and 1 m in diameter. The bark is
generally gray and spotted with yellow rough areas. The 3-11 leaves are
alternate, evergreen and oddly pinnate, 6-9 cm long and 3-4 cm wide (Duke 1981),
and have scattered, translucent, glandular oil dots or lines (Allen and Allen
1981). Flowers are whitish, and the corolla contains 5 petals (Fuentes, 1993).
The winged pod is 8-13 cm long and 2.5 cm broad and contains one seed at the tip
(Duke 1981).
There is confusion about the number of species and varieties in
the genus Myroxylon. Wiersema et al. (1990) reports two species: M. balsamum
(L.) Harms native to southern Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela
and; M. peruiferum L.f. native to northwest Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia
and Peru. Duke (1981) reports one species in South America M. balsamum (L.)
Harms. In Brazil Lorenzi (1992) reports M. balsamum (L.) Harms end M peruiferum
L.f. as synonymous.
Wiersema et al. (1990) also reports two varieties: M. balsamum
var. balsamum in Panama, Colombia and Venezuela; and M. balsamum var. pereirae
(Royle) Harms from southern Mexico through Central America. Duke (1981) reports
only one variety-M. balsamum var. pereirae (Royle) Harms-distributed along the
Pacific Coast jungles of Central America.
Ecology
Myroxylon balsamum grows in areas with annual precipitation
ranging from 1350-4030 mm (average 2640 mm), annual mean temperature of
23-27°C, and soils with pH 5-8 (Duke 1981). In northwestern El Salvador it
grows from 450-700 m altitude in an area known as the ''balsam zone" (Fuentes
1993).
Myroxylon balsamum var. pereirae is reported to grow on poor but
well-drained soils, at altitudes up to 600 m (Duke 1981).
Myroxylon
Distribution
Representatives of the genus are found in southern Mexico
Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and
Brazil. Myroxylon balsamum var. pereirae has been introduced to southern
Florida, Ceylon, India and West Africa (Duke 1981).
Uses
Gum.
Myroxylon balsamum var. balsamum and M. balsamum var. pereirae
yield gums called tofu and Peru balsam, respectively. These gums are used mainly
as a flavoring in cough syrups, soft drinks, confectioneries, ice cream and
chewing gums (Duke 1981).
Trees are wounded to collect gum by three methods. 1) V-shaped
cuts are made in the bark taking care not to girdle the tree and cups are placed
under cuts to collect gum. 2) Trees are burned at the base. Strips of bark are
pulled off, crushed and placed in hot water to soften the balsam and facilitate
its flow. The cooled balsam sinks to the bottom and can be separated (Duke
1981). 3) Sections of the tree trunk are beaten with a wooden club and then
vertical incisions 8 cm wide are made in the bark. A few days later the
incisions are heated with fire to stimulate gum flow incisions are not burned.
Rags are placed over the incisions and removed when they are saturated. Crude
presses are used to extract gum from the rags (Fuentes 1993).
Gum harvesting begins on 20 to 30-year-old trees with minimum
diameters of 12-15 cm (Fuentes 1993). Twentyyear-old trees yield about 3 kg of
gum per year (Allen and Allen 1981). With proper management trees yield gum for
30 to 40 years. Prices per half kilogram of unrefined and refined gum in El
Salvador in 1993 were approximately 17 and 24 colonel, respectively (Fuentes
1993). This is US$2.003.00 at current exchange rates.
El Salvador, a major producer of Peru balsam, exported about 48
MT annually in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Tolu balsam is produced in
Colombia, the main source, Venezuela and the West Indies (Duke 1981).
Oil.
Balsam gum contains about 60% cinnamein, a volatile oil
extracted by steam distillation. The oil is used in highgrade perfume, cosmetic
and soap industries (Duke 1981).
Wood.
Balsam wood is used for flooring, furniture, interior trim,
turnery and railroad ties. It is moderately difficult to work but can be
finished smoothly with a high natural polish. Heartwood is reddish brown,
turning deep red or purplish upon exposure, and very resistant to attack by
decay fungi. Specific gravity is 0.74-.0.81. Shrinkage values from green to
ovendry are very low for a wood of this density (Chudnoff 1984).
Folk medicine.
Tolu balsam is used as a feeble expectorant in cough mixtures,
and as an inhalant for catarrh and bronchitis. Peru balsam is used extensively
as a local protectant, rubefacient, parasiticide in certain skin diseases,
antiseptic, and applied externally as an ointment, or in alcoholic solutions. It
is rarely used internally as an expectorant. Alcoholic extracts of tofu and Peru
balsam inhibit Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Duke 1981).
Agroforestry.
Myroxylon balsamum (L.) Harms is used in El Salvador as a shade
tree in coffee plantations. There are no government initiatives to promote
formal planting of the species-it is propagated mainly through natural
regeneration (Fuentes 1993).
Silviculture
Seed collection.
Seeds are wind dispersed and may be collected from the tree as
they begin to mature. Balsam tree' in Brazil flower from July to September and
set seed in October and November. There are approximately 1,700 seer per
kilogram (Lorenzi 1992).
Propagation.
Seed should be planted in a mixture of clay and organic matter
to a depth of.5 cm, covered with fine soil and watered daily. Germination beds
or container' should be partially shaded. Seeds germinate (greater than 50%) in
1530 days. Seedlings are ready for outplanting in 5 months. Seedlings grow to
2.5 m in 2 years (Lorenzi 1992).
Symbiosis
Allen and Allen (1981) report nodulation of Myroxylon balsamum.
Nodulation of M. balsamum has not been reported in Brasil (S.M. de Faria,
personal communication).
Limitations
Myroxylon balsamum (L.) Harms var. balsamum and M. balsamum (L.)
Harms var. pereirae are attacked by a number of fingi: Meliola xylosmae,
Myiocopron pereirae, Pecksia pereirae, Phylosticta myroxyli, Phomopsis sp. and
Tabutia xylosmae (Duke 1981).
References
Allen, O.N. and Allen, E.K. 1981. The Leguminosae: a source book
of characteristics, uses and nodulation. Madison, WI (USA): The University of
Wisconsin Press, p. 453.
Chudnoff, M. 1984. Tropical timbers of the world. Agricultural
handbook number 607. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, p. 113.
Duke, J. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance.
New York, NY: Plenum Press, pp. 173-77.
Fuentes, R.E. 1993. El bálsamo en El Salvador: una especie con
potencial económico. Revista Forestal Centroamericana. No. 6, Año 2. Turrialba,
Costa Rica: CATIE, pp. 38-41.
Lorenzi, H. 1992. Árvores Brasileiras: manual de identificação e
cultivo de plantas arbóreas natives do Brasil. Nova Odessa, SP: Editora
Plantarium, p. 220.
Wiersema, J.H., Kirkbride, J.H., Jr. and Gunn, C.R. 1990. Legume
(Fabaceae) nomenclature in the USDA germplasm system. Technical Bulletin No.
1757: U.S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 371-72.
NFTA 95-04 June
1995
