Dragon Blood Resin

NaturalRESINS & BALSAMSresinous · pigment · incense

BasePyramid

—Strength

—Tenacity

5Origins

Specimen

Dragon Blood Resin perfume ingredient — Base

Calamus draco (syn. Daemonorops draco) Dracaena cinnabari

Definition

Dragon's blood is a bright red resin obtained from different species of a number of distinct plant genera, including Calamus, Croton, Dracaena and Pterocarpus. The red resin has been in continuous use since ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense, pigment and dye.

Dragon's blood, Daemonorops draco resin, Jernang, Djernang

Type: Ingredient
Olfactive family: Resinous
Subfamily: Dry resins
Cluster: Classic resins
Source: resin
Chemical class: flavonoids and proanthocyanidins

Instruments

Pyramid

TTop

HHeart

BBase

Producing countries

Yemen (Socotra) Indonesia Malaysia Morocco Canary Islands

Scent

The pure Soqotri resin of Dracaena cinnabari has no volatile smell, because its content of volatile constituents is low. The pure resin has no characteristic odour or only a very weak volatile odour.

In PREMIEREPEAU

DISCOVERY SET7 × 2 ml →EXTRAIT DE PARFUMThe seven extraits →

Grades & Aging

The Full Story

Resins from different species and different continents have been given the name dragon's blood, and their purity, appearance and chemical properties are highly varied. At least two distinct types of true dragon's blood resin have been recognised, from Dracaena and Daemonorops species. These true resins include the East Indian dragon's blood from Daemonorops draco and the Socotran dragon's blood from Dracaena cinnabari. Daemonorops draco, now called Calamus draco, is a rattan palm of southeast Asia and the primary source of commercially harvested dragon's blood today. Daemonorops draco grows in Sumatra, the Riau Archipelago and Borneo. Calamus resin has become the most commonly sold type in modern times, often in the form of large balls of resin.

Dracaena cinnabari, the dragon blood tree, is endemic to the island of Socotra and has an umbrella-shaped crown. Dracaena draco is a tree native to the Canary Islands and Morocco. Its resin is exuded from the wounded trunk or branches, and dragon's blood is obtained by the same method from Dracaena cinnabari. Croton lechleri is native to northwestern South America and is commonly known as sangre de drago in Ecuadorian Spanish. The name refers to the thick red latex of this tree and several related species. Croton lechleri is a South American tree unrelated to Dracaena and rattan palm.

The colour of dragon's blood resin is independent of pH, and its major constituents are themselves highly coloured. The extracts are red because of dracorubin. The resin also contains benzoic acid and tannin. Dragon's blood has been reported to contain dracoflavans B1, B2, C1, C2, D1 and D2, which are A-type deoxyproanthocyanidins. Red resins from Dracaena draco contain many mono- and dimeric flavans that contribute to their red colour. Dragon's blood from Dracaena draco and Dracaena cinnabari can be distinguished by differences in 10 compounds and a dominant flavonoid, DrC11, that is missing in Dracaena draco. The resin of Dracaena cinnabari mostly contains flavonoids. A dragon's blood extract from Daemonorops species or other botanical sources carries the FEMA number 2404. The compound 4'-demethyl-3,9-dihydroeucomine, derived from the resin of Daemonorops draco, masks bitter taste, which is of interest to the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.

Resins of Dracaena species usually contain very few volatile terpenes. In an n-hexane extract of the pure resin of Dracaena cinnabari, GC-MS identified β-caryophyllene as the single volatile hydrocarbon component. β-Caryophyllene is a yellowish volatile liquid hydrocarbon, a bicyclic sesquiterpene. Headspace analysis did not identify β-caryophyllene in the resin but identified other volatile monoterpenes. Proanthocyanidins are the main constituent of the resin produced by Croton lechleri, making up more than 90% of its dry weight. The remaining 10% is largely the alkaloid taspine, with catechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin and low amounts of terpene compounds.

The reddish resinous products are used in folk medicine as an astringent and for wound healing, and in varnishes, for staining marble, for jewelry and enameling work and for photo-engraving. Socotrans use the resin ornamentally as well as for dyeing wool, gluing pottery, as a breath freshener and as lipstick. The latex of Croton lechleri is used by local peoples as a liquid bandage to seal wounds, because it dries quickly to form a protective skin-like barrier. Dragon's blood incense is occasionally sold as red rock opium, but it contains no opiates and has only slight psychoactive effects, if any at all. In acute and sub-acute oral toxicity tests on female Sprague Dawley rats, a methanol extract of Dracaena cinnabari resin was tolerated up to 2,000 mg/kg body weight.

Few commodity dealers properly distinguish the various botanical origins of dragon's blood items, and over-exploitation is starting to threaten some sources. As of 2009, Dracaena cinnabari is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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Related: Amberwood · Andiroba · Bakhoor · Balsamic Notes · Benzoin Resinoid · Benzyl Benzoate · Benzyl Salicylate · Birch Tar

History

The dragon's blood known in antiquity was mostly collected from Dracaena cinnabari. The 1st-century Periplus Maris Erythraei mentions it as one of the products of Socotra. Socotra had been an important trading centre since at least the time of the Ptolemies. The resin of Dracaena cinnabari was traded to ancient Europe via the Incense Road. In the Mediterranean basin, dragon's blood was used as a dye, a painting pigment and a medicine for respiratory and gastrointestinal problems. Early Greeks, Romans and Arabs held it to have medicinal properties. Dioscorides and other early Greek writers described its medicinal uses. In ancient China, little or no distinction was made among the types of dragon's blood from the different species. The resin of Dracaena cinnabari is thought to have been the original source of dragon's blood until other plants were used instead in the medieval and renaissance periods. Voyagers to the Canary Islands in the 15th century obtained dragon's blood as dried garnet-red drops from Dracaena draco. In 1883, the Scottish botanist Isaac Bayley Balfour identified three grades of resin: the most valuable were tear-like in appearance, then a mixture of small chips and fragments, with a mixture of fragments and debris being the cheapest.

Dragon's blood was also used in medieval ritual magic and alchemy. In Giotto's Pentecost, the pigment of the orange-red flames over the Apostles' heads is believed to be dragon's blood. Painters used dragon's blood in the creation of flesh tones during the 17th century. By the 19th century, publications on artists' materials indicate that it was most useful as a varnish, not as a pigment for painting. In 1835, George Field stated that dragon's blood is "unsatisfactory for painting".

Dragon's blood of both Dracaena draco and Dracaena cinnabari was used as a source of varnish for 18th century Italian violinmakers. There was also an 18th-century recipe for toothpaste that contained dragon's blood. A 16th-century text, Von Stahel und Eysen, lists dragon's blood as an ingredient in a quenching bath for tempering steel. Sometimes Dracaena resin, but more often Calamus resin, was used in China as red varnish for wooden furniture. It was also used to colour the surface of writing paper for banners and posters, used especially for weddings and for Chinese New Year. The powdered form of Daemonorops was used extensively, especially in America, as an acid resist by photo-engravers up until the 1930s.

The earliest written reference to Croton lechleri dates to the 17th century, when the Spanish Jesuit Bernabé Cobo encountered the use of its resin by indigenous tribes throughout Mexico, Peru and Ecuador.

Did You Know?

The resin of Dracaena species, true dragon's blood, and the very poisonous mineral cinnabar (mercury sulfide) were often confused by the ancient Romans. Some medieval encyclopedias claimed the source of the resin as the literal blood of dragons and elephants which had perished in mortal combat. The Guanches worshiped a dragon tree on Tenerife and hollowed its trunk into a small sanctuary.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method

Most of the Malaysian supply comes from the unripe, scaly, cherry-sized fruits of eight species of climbing jungle palms (rattan) of the genus Daemonorops. In Daemonorops, the resin exudes through the small imbricate scales that cover the fruits and forms a brittle, red layer on the outside of the fruits. Collection occurs just before the fruit is fully ripe. The resin is collected by shaking the dry fruits in baskets filled with cockleshells. The friction detaches the resin, which falls through the bottom of the basket in the form of a gritty powder. The powder is then pounded to dust, softened with hot water and moulded into cakes. In Sumatra, the dye is extracted from the fruit scales and sold in local markets. The resin of Dracaena draco and of Dracaena cinnabari is exuded from the wounded trunk or branches of the tree. The red, latex-rich resin of Croton lechleri is excreted from the wounded trunk of the tree. The sap can be harvested with a tap much like natural latex from rubber trees, but trees that are repeatedly tapped become vulnerable to fungal infections. Suspending the resin of Dracaena cinnabari in n-hexane for five days at 5 °C extracts a small portion of a single volatile liquid constituent. In one procedure, ten grams of dried, powdered resin were suspended in 50 mL of n-hexane and filtered.

Formula: Complex natural mixture (key constituents: dracorubin; benzoic acid; tannin)
CAS: 9000-19-5
Botanical: Calamus draco (syn. Daemonorops draco) Dracaena cinnabari
Appearance: Deep red teardrop-shaped lumps; deep crimson powder
Synonyms: Dragon's blood, Daemonorops draco resin, Jernang, Djernang

IFRA status

See note

No IFRA Standard for the material itself (51st Amendment)

In Perfumery

Dragon's blood is used for colouring essential oils red to dark brown. Dragon's blood is not featured in any current PREMIEREPEAU fragrance.

Role in the formula

01colorant

Available as

tincture resinoid raw resin