Understanding the myrrh trade

Vladimir Melnik - Stock.adobe.com

Commiphora myrrha, more commonly known as myrrh, is a valuable botanical that has a long history of use in traditional medicine, perfumery, and more recently, dietary supplements. According to Anjanette DeCarlo, PhD, a lecturer on supply chains in the Sustainable Innovation MBA at the University of Vermont, and Anthropology at Saint Michaels College, the botanical has been used traditionally for gut and mouth health, as well as wound healing. Taken from the resin of a tree, myrrh would be used in poultices on wounds, Ayurvedic toothpastes and in more modern applications, myrrh can be found in dietary supplements to support healthy inflammation and digestive health.

Phytochemical studies show that myrrh contains terpenoids (monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, and volatile/essential oil), diterpenoids, triterpenoids, as well as steroids, and may exert anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-microbial, neuroprotective, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, analgesic, anti-parasitic biological activities.¹ Unfortunately, despite the botanical’s growing demand and therapeutic potential, there is little knowledge about the environmental and social impacts of commercial myrrh trade. As a results, the AHPA ERB Foundation is supporting a myrrh supply chain assessment. This will be a three-year project that combines “field surveys, chemical analysis, and socio-economic assessments to build a comprehensive understanding of the myrrh supply chain and the ecological status of its primary populations in Ethiopia.” DeCarlo, who is also a founder of the Save Frankincense initiative, is part of the team conducting this assessment.

Myrrh is closely related to frankincense, otherwise known as Boswellia, and they both grow in similar locations and are harvested in similar ways. DeCarlo explains that myrrh grows primarily in Somalia, Ethiopia and northern Kenya, and can be harvested in two ways. The more ecologically friendly way to harvest myrrh is to remove resin that has already been excreted from the tree naturally (self-exudates), while tapping is another method, which runs the risk of over-tapping and depletion.

“So, what we’ve seen primarily in Somalia and Somaliland, doing extensive work on frankincense—which, often we’re also looking at Myrrh trees as well—is that they’re tapped. What that means is that folks will come, usually men in this case, to tap the trees by cutting or slashing the bark to allow the resin to ooze out and then come by at periodic intervals and then scrape it off and collect it,” explains DeCarlo. “What we’re seeing in Ethiopia [where] we just wrapped up one of our first field expeditions for this grant is that the collection is from self-exudates. Same species, same tree, different harvesting practice. That’s really nice to see because it’s much lower impact on the tree itself when folks come through and pull off the self-exudates rather than slash the tree.”

In these Ethiopian communities, says DeCarlo, there’s a looser harvesting network in which both men and woman can collect self-exudates, and don’t necessarily have to revisit the same site. Unfortunately, economic circumstances can dictate how reliant communities are on these trees to have a livelihood. The traditional model of these communities has historically been sustainable, but DeCarlo explains that “in today’s current market, we see high demand for these resins and also communities that are really living a transitional life in...marginalized communities; they’re living in really remote areas. These are tough environments, and so dependence on these trees has increased in terms of having livelihoods. That’s not their fault.”

The ultimate goal is to use the knowledge from the supply chain assessment to foster a partnership model, says DeCarlo. “One of the things that was really telling to us in the interviews was several people said this is the first time anyone’s ever come here and asked us these questions, we’ve never engaged with anyone internationally around our myrrh resins, and it is difficult for the companies to engage at this level, that’s understandable as well. So, we want to bridge that gap.”

The supply chain assessment will provide a level of detail and transparency that will help companies engage directly with myrrh sources that go beyond middlemen and brokers. “There’s so many middlemen and brokers between the communities that harvest and the companies that purchase, and that creates a situation of opacity and inability for companies to engage meaningfully in communities where their resins might be coming from,” explains DeCarlo. “There’s also geopolitical concerns insofar as what we’re seeing is a lot of myrrh resins from Ethiopia going into Somalia and then being sold as Somali or sold forward from Somalia. And that also creates a challenge in terms of companies knowing where their products come from and being able to have impact directly with the communities, and so we hope with this research to be able to provide transparency to help companies make informed decisions and to understand the dynamics in the communities and with the population health of the of the trees so that we can get some benefits happening for everyone involved in the supply chain.”

The assessment will also explore other interesting questions that may impact the way these resins are harvested. One of these questions is whether there are any differences in the chemical properties between self-exudates and resins harvested by tapping. According to DeCarlo, there is certainly a perceived difference, but they would like to quantify it. “We’re really excited to test the chemistry and see if we can ascertain that there really are markers or quantifiable differences between the resins,” says DeCarlo. “They definitely have a difference in appearance and the self-exudates sell out every year. The harvesters report those selling out from Ethiopia every year because they’re really sought after. They would be Grade 1 resins based on their size and color. We’ve started collecting vouchered specimens directly from trees where we can test whether there really is a difference chemistry wise between self-exudates and resins extracted by tapping.”

If there was a quantifiable difference between self-exudates and tapped resins, it could certainly impact demand, prices, and harvesting practices. The same can be true if the opposite was found. No matter what, it’s crucial to ensure a stable supply chain without a negative environmental and social impact. Engaging directly with harvesters and giving them a voice may not only protect myrrh as a commodity, but also empower those responsible to getting us this important botanical and hopefully improving their lot in life.

Reference

1. Baitha, G.E.S.; Wasef, L.; Teibo, J.O.; Shaeen, H.M.; Zakariya, A.M.; Akinfe, O.A.; Teibo, T.K.A.; Al-kuraishy, H.M.; et al. Commiphora myrrh: a phytochemical and pharmacological update. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2022, 396 (3), 405-420. DOI: 10.1007/s00210-022-02325-0