Krystal Colloids Pvt. Ltd

Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra

This tree on tapping exudes Indian Olibanum. It has a slightly aromatic taste and balsamic resinous odour. It contains 8% volatile oil (around 70% total oil), 25% gum and 55% of a good resin that is suitable in the preparation of varnishes. Traditionally, in India, Olibanum is used as incense and fumigation agent for religious purposes and in making ointments especially for rheumatism.

Gum Karaya is the dried exudate of the Sterculia Urens tree of the Sterculiaceae family. This large and bushy deciduous tree is found in the dry deciduous forests of the Indian Peninsula, the rocky hills of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and the sub-Himalayan tract in northern India. The tree is leafless in the cold season; young leaves sprout in the hot season.

The gum, locally called Dhawda when first exuded is in a soft plastic form. The colour varies from whitish yellow to amber depending on factors like the proximity of the tear to the bark, the length of time it has remained on the tree before being picked and the age of the product in storage.