Myrrh Constituents

The picture above comes from the class lesson. 

My daughter refused to eat breakfast this morning but she ate some beans last night so win and lose.  I discovered the jelly had high fructose corn syrup in it so no wonder the children hate it!  After eating natural, it was just too sweet.  Makes sense.  I tossed it in the trash.  I do wonder if their taste buds can handle the strength of the flavor of my apple pie jam I made.  One way to find out!

I'm thinking I need to spend the rest of the day investigating recipes that are healthy that I might be able to get my children to eat.  Love and Light!

On to the constituents of myrrh!

Acidic polysaccharides (gum):

Ash:

Cholesterol (Sterols): is best known by people for being "bad" because it is high. This is actually vital for cell structure and is found in every cell in the body. It serves as a hormone precursor in the adrenal glands, testes, and ovaries. The liver uses it as a precursor to bile, used in digestion. Ganora adds that, like humans, these are in the plant's cells. Cholesterol effects the fluidity of the membrane of the cells.  This means too much and the cells cannot be nourished but too little and anything can enter, even if it isn't supposed to (Hoffman, 2003, p. 84, 170-1, 300-2; Ganora, 2003, p. 18, 46, 69, 79, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 125, 144, 145, 146, 167).

Commiphoric Acid (Resin):

Eugenol (Phenylpropahnoid, in volatile oil) gives cinnamon and cloves their strong flavor and is found in the volatile oil (meaning it is oil-soluble). It's in other plants as well but she specifically calls out cloves and Wild Basil Ocimum gratissium. This is anti-microbial, antiseptic, anesthetic (topical), antioxidant, antimitotic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, inhibits platelet aggregation, and in large amounts is caustic, convulsant, hepatoxic, a nervous system depressant, and induces hemostatic abnormalities. It is found as free eugenol or as eugenyl acetate (Ganora, 2009, p. 58, 65, 68, 109, 110, 139).

Furanosesquiterpenes (Volatile Oil):

Gum consists primarily of monosaccharides. Hoffman describes these as "sticky colloidal dispersions" when they swell in water. Ganora adds these are water-soluble heteropolysaccharides that are emollient, soothing, cooling, healing when used on the skin and mucus membranes.  On page 79, she takes about a third of the page to discuss gums and I'm obviously not going to write all that stuff here.  She does say these are commonly produced by plants when there is trauma, insect attack or an infection.  She contradicts Hoffman by saying they are primarily heteroploysaccharides rather than monosaccharides. She does say they often have the later as well but may also have uronic acids. The gel that gums form when they have a lot of water in them are called hydrocolloids.  She says these are considered dietary fiber and are classified that way medicinally.  One feature she mentions here is they bind bile acids (bile being used in digestion). She explains this can result in lower cholesterol, and decreased risk of colon cancer, coronary artery disease and diabetes (Hoffman, 2003, p. 50-1; Ganora, 2009, p. 44, 63, 73, 75, 79, 139).

Heerabolene (Sesquiterpene, in Volatile Oil): (Myrrh)

Myrrholic Acids (In volatile Oil):

Natural Sugars

Potassium (Bromine Compound) while not described in Ganora, is an essential mineral that most people notice a deficiency when they experience leg cramps. Consuming potassium-rich plants can improve health.  I think there is a limit to how much is good but I can't recall off the top of my head (Ganora, 2009, p. 82, 142). Resins are not water-soluble and need either alcohol or oil to extract the constituents.  The older the sample, the harder it is to extract.

Sesquiterpenes: Constituents are often classified based on structure and this particular one makes that hard...  There are over 200 structure types. The 3 main structures are acyclic, monocytclic, and bicyclic. Some of these act as pheromones for communication between plants. Some provide a defensive role (Hoffman, 2003, p. 67).

Sterols (Aglycone Glycosides) are often used to imply phytosterols in these books. They need to be careful, though because sterols are found in animals while the same molecule can be called a phytosterol because it is found in a plant. calling it a sterol when it's in a plant can cause confusion (Ganora, 2009, p. 92, 93).

Sulphates:

Volatile oil: Volatile just means they evaporate more quickly than other substances. If it says "volatile", you want to use the plant as fresh as possible and try not to warm it up in any way (Ganora, 2009, p. 52, 57, 61, 134, 139). Chevallier (2016) says volatile oils are what is extracted from the plant to make essential oils and are made of a lot of compounds, sometimes as much as 100 (p. 14).

Have a Great Day!