Sarcocolla Gum, Anzaroot

GENERAL DATA

Plant Parts: Gum/ Resin
Cultivation mode: Wild Collection
In manufacturing: Pharmaceutical, foods

 

🟠 Industries That Use Sarcocolla Gum (Anzaroot)

Here is the structured and professional industry breakdown for Sarcocolla Gum (Anzaroot)—traditionally sourced from Astragalus sarcocolla and sometimes Penaea mucronata L..

🌿 What Is Sarcocolla Gum?

Sarcocolla Gum, known in traditional Persian and Arabic medicine as Anzaroot, is a yellowish to reddish-brown oleo-gum-resin exuded from certain species like Astragalus sarcocolla and Penaea mucronata. This aromatic gum has a pungent taste, sticky texture, and therapeutic resinous scent. It was widely used in medieval Islamic, Greek, and European pharmacopeias.

The gum contains resin acids, volatile oils, polysaccharides, and bioactive flavonoids, lending it expectorant, emollient, wound-healing, and anti-inflammatory properties.

1. Pharmaceutical & Traditional Medicine Industry

Sarcocolla Gum has a long-standing role in Unani, Persian, Ayurvedic, and even European herbalism, particularly for respiratory, digestive, dermatological, and pediatric uses.

Applications:

• Expectorant: helps clear phlegm, used in chronic coughs and bronchial congestion

• Wound healer: applied topically to cuts, abscesses, and ulcers

• Anti-inflammatory: used in toothaches, swellings, and mastitis

• Pediatric care: given in minute amounts for infantile diarrhea, colic, or poor weight gain

• Astringent: supports healing in gastrointestinal irritation and hemorrhoids

✅ Common forms: powders, decoctions, herbal lozenges, wound pastes

✅ Traditionally included in compound herbal formulas with opopanax, asafoetida, or myrrh

2. Herbal & Nutraceutical Industry

While rare in modern supplements, Sarcocolla is gaining niche traction in heritage herbalism, particularly in products that emphasize detoxification, wound repair, or respiratory cleansing.

Common Uses:

• Added to detoxifying blends and chronic lung support capsules

• Used in gastro-protective formulations

• Occasionally present in tooth powders or gums for oral health

✅ Sometimes combined with guggul, frankincense, or calamus root

3. Cosmetic & Skincare Industry

Owing to its resinous, antimicrobial, and healing qualities, Sarcocolla gum is used in traditional ointments and artisan skincare.

Applications:

• Included in wound balms, cracked skin salves, and anti-acne pastes

• Used in herbal facial masks or post-inflammatory treatment blends

• Occasionally found in foot creams, eczema ointments, and natural plasters

✅ Valued for drying, cleansing, and barrier-restoring effects

4. Perfumery & Ritual Use

Due to its warm, slightly balsamic aroma, Sarcocolla has limited but traditional use in incense, ritual perfumery, and compound resins.

Uses:

• Blended in natural incense blocks and resinous fumigants

• Added to aromatic powders for ritual purification or herbal smoke therapy

✅ Often blended with opoponax, benzoin, or frankincense for enhanced aroma

5. Ethnic, Apothecary & Export Markets

Still in demand among Unani, Persian, and traditional wellness practitioners, Sarcocolla is traded in bulk gum, powder, or compound form.

Export Forms:

• Crystalline gum chunks or granulated powder

• Included in Unani compound formulations (Majoon, Hab)

• Sold in apothecaries, ethnobotanical suppliers, and traditional herbalist shops

✅ Labeled as Anzaroot, Sarcocolla, or Resina Sarcocolla in global markets

6. Scientific & Ethnopharmacological Research

Though under-researched, Sarcocolla is being revisited in modern studies for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and mucolytic actions.

Areas of Interest:

• Wound healing and tissue regeneration

• Antibacterial and antifungal activity

• Respiratory expectorant and bronchial clearing effects

• Synergistic effects in traditional polyherbal medicine

✅ Often studied alongside other gum-resins like Asafoetida, Myrrh, and Galbanum

✅ Summary of Key Applications

🌟 Key Features

• Sticky, fragrant oleo-gum-resin from Astragalus sarcocolla and similar species

• Used in respiratory care, wound healing, and pediatric medicine

• Traditionally blended with other resins, bitters, and digestive herbs

• Gaining attention in natural skincare and apothecary-style medicine

• Highly symbolic in Islamic and Persian healing traditions

Here is a comprehensive and professional comparison table between the major medicinal and aromatic oleo-gum-resins you mentioned:

• Sarcocolla (Astragalus sarcocolla)

• Asafoetida (Ferula assa-foetida)

• Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)

• Opoponax / Sweet Myrrh (Commiphora erythraea, Opopanax hispidus)

• Benzoin (Styrax benzoin, Styrax tonkinensis)

• Frankincense (Boswellia serrata, B. carterii, B. sacra)

• Galbanum (Ferula gummosa)

 

HARVEST CALENDAR

 

 

Medical disclaimer