Essential oils are the commercially available oil mixtures that result from steam distilling plant materials. Long used in cosmetics, home fragrance, and perfumes, a fairly recent development is the use of essential oils as natural health remedies. Multi-level marketing essential oil companies such as doTerra and Young Living make billions of dollars a year from the sales of “therapeutic grade” essential oil products, which they promote as preventative and/or curative for any variety of illnesses and conditions. These companies tend to conflate the chemical composition of whole plant materials with the chemical composition of the essential oils that are derived from them, further promoting these unfounded medical claims. One such example are the β-boswellic acids, a class of pentacyclic triterpenic acids with known anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory properties. These are found naturally in small quantities in frankincense gum resin and are promoted by essential oil companies as being a chemical of medical interest found in frankincense essential oils. These β-boswellic acids, however, are so large in size that steam distillation is highly unlikely. To investigate whether any of these β-boswellic acids are found in essential oils, Boswellia serrata (frankincense) was steamed distilled to yield frankincense essential oil. This essential oil sample, along with three commercial samples, were examined via GC-MS for the presence of β-boswellic acids. This research indicates the size threshold for molecules that can obtained through steam distillation as well as whether β-boswellic acids are indeed found in frankincense essential oils.

Using GCMS to search for boswellic acids in frankincense essential oil

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.