Resins and Resin Combinations

• Introduction
• Resins are amorphous products with a complex chemical nature
• They are usually formed & stored in schizogenous or in
schizolysigenous ducts or cavities
• They are metabolic products
• May be the oxidation products of terpenes
• Used in pharmacy & in the arts among which rosin, guaiac & mastic
acids are typical examples
• Properties
• Physically resins are usually hard, transparent, or translucent &
when heated they become soften & ultimately melt
• Chemically they are complex mixtures of resin acids, resin alcohols,
ressintannols, esters & resenes
• Insoluble in most polar and non-polar solvents like water &
petroleum ether
• Completely soluble in alcohol, solvent ether, benzene or chloroform
• Oleoresins
• When resins occur in more or less homogenous mixtures with volatile
oils; the mixtures are known as oleoresins
• Examples of natural resins are turpentine & copaiba
• Pharmaceutical oleoresins are derived from ginger & capsicum
• Oleo-gum-resins
• When oleoresins occur in combination with gums then they are known
as oleo-gum-resins
• These include asafetida & myrrh
• Balsams
• These are resinous mixtures that contain cinnamic acid, benzoic acids
or both or esters of these acids
• Benzoin, Peru balsam, Tolu balsam & Styrax are typical examples
• Glycoresins
• Sometimes resins are found in glycosidal combinations. Such mixtures
are called glycoresins
• Examples of these include jalap & podophyllum
Rosin
• Source
• It is a solid resin obtained from Pinus palustaris Miller & other species
of Pinus (Pinaceae) Palustaris = marshes land
• The commercial grades of rosin vary in color from light amber to
almost black
• The latter is usually used for the destructive distillation & the
production of rosin oil
• Although rosin has several varieties but only the light colored
transparent rosins are used medicinally
• Characteristics
• Rosin usually occurs as shiny, sharp, angular fragments that that are
translucent, amber-colored, & often covered with yellowish dust
• It is hard brittle & easily pulverized
• Its fracture is shallow-conchoidal
• Odor & taste are faintly terebenthinate
• Soluble in alcohol, ether, benzene, carbon disulfide, acetic acid, fixed
& volatile oils & in solutions of potassium or sodium hydroxide
• Constituents
• It contains 80-90% of the anhydrides of
abietic acid, sylvic acid, sapinic acid,
pimaric acid, & other acids & resene, a
hydrocarbon
• Uses
• It is used as a stiffening agent in cerates,
plasters, & ointments
• Employed in veterinary medicine as
diuretics
• Used in the manufacture of varnishes, &
paint dryers, printing inks, soap, sealing
wax, floor coverings & numerous other
products
• Cannabis
• Common Names
• Indian hemp, Marijhuana, Pot, Chars, Hashish, Bhang, Ganja
• Source
• Consists of the dried flowering tops of Cannabis sativa Linn.
• Family: Moraceae
• It is annual herb Sativa= cultivated
• Distribution
• Indigenous to central & western Asia, & cultivated
in India & other tropical & temperate regions
for the fiber & seeds
• Constituents
• The resins are amorphous, semisolid,
brown coloured soluble in alcohol,
ether & carbon disulfide
• Contains 15-20% resins
• The major active euphoretic
constituent is (-)-Δ9-trans-
tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC)
• Other constituents include cannabinol,
cannabidiol, cannabidiolic acid,
cannabichromene, cannbigerol, & (-)-
Δ8-trans-tetrahydrocannabinol.
• Uses:
• It is tonic, sedative, analgesic,
intoxicant, stomachic, antispasmodic,
anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, antitussive,
& norcotic
• It acts on nervous system & causes
psychological dependence
• Oleoresins
• Turpentine
• Common Names
• Gum turpentine, Gum thus (English)
• Source
• The concentrate oleoresin obtained from
Pinus palustris Miller & from other species of Pinus
• Family: Pinaceae
• Distribution
• Turpentine is collected from the P. palustris & other Pinus
species that grow in North & South Carolina, Georgia & Northern Florida
• Collection
• The oleoresin is secreted in ducts located directly beneath in the cambium in the
sapwood
• During spring, bark is chipped from the tree using a bark hack, a long handled
cutting blade
• Following removal of the rounded chip from the tree, a spray of 50% solution of
sulphuric acid is applied to the freshly cut surface
• As the sap (oleoresin) flows, it is guided by metal gutters into containers
attached directly to the tree trunk; the thick liquid that collects is removed
periodically & taken to the turpentine still
• The acid treatment collapses the thin walled parenchyma cells that line the
resin ducts
• This allow the duct channels to become larger, providing a more rapid flow of
oleoresins & reduces the chances of hardened secretions blocking the outlets
• The usual turpentining season lasts about 32 weeks
• The product of the first year cutting is superior & is know as “virgin”
turpentine
• On steam distillation, it yields volatile oil
• The hot filtered residue left after distillation constitutes rosin
• Turpentine occur as yellowish opaque masses that are lighter internally, more
or less glossy, sticky when warm, & brittle in the cold
• Odor & taste are characteristic
• Freely soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform & glacial acetic acid
• Constituents
• It contains volatile oil & resins & not more than 2% of foreign organic matter
• Uses:
• Used externally as counterirritant
• Glycoresins
• Jalap
• Common Names
• Jalap root, Ipomoea jalap root (English), Beikh
Jalapa (Urdu)
• Source
• Dried, tuberous root of Exogonium purga
Benthum
• Family: Convulvulaceae
• It is perennial twining herb that possesses thin,
horizontal, underground runners from the nodes
of which the tuberous roots arise that are dug out
in fall, placed in net & dried over open fires
• Distribution
• Indigenous to the mountains of Mexico &
cultivated in Mexico, India, & West Indies
• Constituents
• It contains 8-12% of a resin which contains a
number of glycosides including ipurganol, a jalapin
phytosterol glycoside & jalapin (a mixture of acidic
glycosides). It also contain β-methyl esculetin &
palmitic & stearic acid
• Jalap also contain volatile oil, starch, gum & sugar
• Uses:
• It is a cathartic & is generally considered a
hydragogue & a drastic purgative
hydragogue. : a cathartic that causes copious watery discharges
from the bowels.
• Jalap Resin
• It is prepared by extracting powdered jalap with an alcohol-water mixture
• The percolate is concentrated to one-fourth the weight of drug used & is
then slowly poured into water & constantly stirred
• The precipitated resin is washed with hot water, collected & dried
• Jalap resin occur as yellowish brown masses or powder
• It is cathartic possesses hydragogue activity
• Oleo-gum Resins
• Myrrh or Gum Myrrh
• Synonyms: Gunqars, gundras (Urdu)
• Biological source: It is an oleo-gum-resin obtained from the stem
and branches Commiphora molmol, from C. abyssinica or from
other species of Commiphora.
• Family: Burseraceae
• Preparation:
• Oleo-gum-resin exudes naturally or from incisions made in the bark
• Initially it is of yellowish color but soon hardens, becomes darker &
then collected
• Chemical constituents:
• Contains volatile oil (2.5-8%), resin (25-40%), gum (60%), and a
bitter principle (3 to 4%).
• The volatile oil consists of eugenol, m-cresol and cuminaldehyde.
• The resin is composed of a mixture of α-, β-, and γ-commiphoric
acids (resin acids).
• Also contains two phenolic resins α- and β-
heerabomyrrholic acids
• Also contains phenolic compound such as
pyrocatechin and protocatechuic acid.
• The crude alcohol-insoluble fraction i.e.,
‘gum, comprises of protein (18%) and
carbohydrate (64%) made up of arabinose,
galactose and glucuronic acid.
• Uses:
• Used chiefly in perfumes and incense.
• Antiseptic and stimulant.
• Acts as an astringent to mucous membrane
and thus it find application in oral hygiene
formulations, such as gargles, mouth-
washes.
• Also used as a carminative.
Resin acids
• Asafoetida
• Synonyms: Heeng, hing, hingu
• Biological source: Oleo-gum-resin obtained by incising the living
rhizomes and roots of
Ferula assafoetida, F. foetida, F. rubricaulis
• Family: Umbelliferae
• Chemical constituents: It contains 4-20% of volatile oil, 45-60%
of resin and 25% of gum. Volatile oil contains pinene,
isobutylpropenyl disulphide (responsible for alliaceous odour).
Resin contains free asaresinotannol and in combination with
ferulic acid
• Uses: Carminative, expectorant, antispasmodic, laxative &
nervine tonic
• Balsams
• Tolu balsam:
• Botanical origin: Myroxylon balsamum
• Family: Leguminosae
• Part used: Trunk of the tree
• Collection: On the trunk, v-shaped incisions are made and resin
is allowed to flow. Buckets or receivers are attached to the
trunk of tree for collection of resin
• optimum yield per tree is 8-10 kg
• Constituents: Tolu resinotannol, resin alcohols combined with
cinnamic acid and benzoic acid, benzyl benzoate, small
quantity of vanillin (imparts aroma), free cinnamic acid and
benzoic acid Eugenol, styrene, ferulic acid, terpenes
• Uses: Expectorant, antiseptic (useful for preparing benzoin
tincture), flavoring agent for cough syrup
• Storax:
• Botanical origin – Balsam obtained from
the trunk of Liquidamber orientalis or L.
styracifolia
• Family: Hammamelidaceae
• Constituents: Consists of α-storesin and β-
storesin. Also contain cinnamic acid and
benzoic acid and their esters (ethyl
cinnamate and cinnamyl cinnamate)
• Uses: Antiseptic, expectorant, used for
preparing benzoin tincture, also employed
in cancer treatment
• Benzoin
• Botanical origin – Balsamic resin obtained from
Styrax benzoin, known in commerce as Sumatra
benzoin or Styrax tonkinensis known in
commerce as Siam benzoin.
• Family – Leguminosae
• Preparation – Exudes by incising the bark, which
after two months becomes less sticky and hard
enough to collect.
• Constituents – Siam benzoin: Principally consists
of coniferyl benzoate (60 to 70%) and benzoic
acid (10%), siaresinol (6%) & trace of vanillin.
• Sumatra benzoin: Consists of free balsamic acid
mainly cinnamic (10%) and benzoic acid (6%)
and their esters.
• Uses – Expectorant, diuretic, antiseptic, upper
respiratory tract infections