The frankincense industry is being advised to cut back on production before it kills off the trees which produce the stuff.
Frankincense is an aromatic resin which has been tapped from Boswellia trees for thousands of years, for use in incense, perfumes and medicines. In the Nativity story it was one of the gifts the Three Wise Men took to the baby Jesus – along with myrrh, a similar substance, and gold.
Nowadays, it is available on eBay. The principal sources are the countries in the Horn of Africa but a report in the Journal of Applied Ecology, by scientists from Eritrea and the Netherlands, says over-tapping means Boswellia trees are producing fewer good seeds.
Meanwhile festive drinkers got the chance to experience myrrh for themselves at at The Star pub in London. Organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, it marked the centenary of its first scientific analysis. Scientists challenged customers to identify myrrh, widely used in toothpaste and mouthwash, which is a natural antiseptic.