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How the west’s wellness industry is driving Ethiopia’s frankincense trees towards extinction

Frankincense has been harvested in the Horn of Africa and across the Red Sea in the Arabian peninsula for millennia. In ancient Egypt, it was prized for its deep, woody fragrance. The three magi are supposed to have brought a gift of it to the baby Jesus along with gold and myrrh, and many churches still burn it during services. Recently, however, this ancient resin has become a hot commodity globally as its alleged health benefits catch the attention of the wellness industry, a sector worth about $5.6tn a year.

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 Frankincense as Medicine-Truth, Myth, and Misinformation

Back in 2018, two BIG essential oil companies were promoting Frankincense essential oil as anti-cancer and full of Boswellic acids. One went as far as publishing misleading "Scientific papers" in peer-reviewed journals. If the public didn't take the time to read the papers thoroughly and in detail, they would assume they were legit. One giveaway was that there was often one author on their board of directors. Now, in 2025, these companies no longer push Frankincense essential oil as a cancer cure. However, the myth persists.

 Frankincense trees—of biblical lore—are being tapped out for essential oils

Frankincense, woodsy and sweetly aromatic, is one of the oldest commercial commodities, spanning more than 5,000 years. Today, thousands of tons of it are traded every year to be used by Catholic priests as incense in thuribles and by makers of perfumes, natural medicines, and essential oils that can be inhaled or applied to the skin for their purported health benefits.

 Why the world is running out of frankincense

The precious, fragrant resin is the scent of the festive season and rising in popularity in the wellness industry – but its natural source is being decimated.

Articles of Interest

Somaliland’s frankincense brings gold to companies. Its women pay the price

Somaliland’s frankincense brings gold to companies. Its women pay the price.

Could This Be the End of Frankincense?

As more uses are found for the aromatic resin, the population of trees that produces it is on the brink of collapse.

Effect of 4 weeks of frankincense consumption on explicit motor memory and serum BDNF in elderly men

This study revealed that 4 weeks of frankincense consumption facilitates the acquisition and retention of motor memory in older men with moderate mental status.

Frankincense and Mirth

FROM the Holy Land comes a fragrant revelation as modern as it is ancient: Frankincense, burned for millennia to sweeten and purify the air, does not just smell good. It does not just, arguably, drive off demons or make a nice gift from a Wise Man. It may very well be good for you. Pharmacologists in Israel have found that frankincense, a whitish resin tapped from the veins of a shrubby tree, relieves anxiety and depression, at least in mice.

Frankincense and myrrh have been revered since ancient times – but now they’re under threat

Frankincense and myrrh had been in use for thousands of years before they turned up in Bethlehem. Frankincense has long been mixed with various spices to form incense, and myrrh was used by the ancient Egyptians as an embalming agent. Both have been promoted as cures for a variety of ailments, from digestive trouble to pain relief. At the time of Jesus, these gifts were worth the same as, if not more than, gold.

Frankincense and Myrrh Oil: What is it Used For?

Frankincense essential oil is extracted from the resin of the Boswellia serrata, Boswellia frereana or Boswellia carterii trees, which are grown in Somalia and regions of Pakistan. It was traded in the Middle East and Africa for thousands of years and was widely used in Ancient Rome and Greece. These civilisations used frankincense for medicinal purposes, and it became one of the most valuable commodities in the world during the Middle Ages, at one stage holding more value than gold. Frankincense remains one of the most popular oils used in aromatherapy, helping to ease various skin conditions and mood management.

Frankincense and myrrh: Medicinal resin worth more than gold

Avicenna, Celsus, and even the London herbalist Nicholas Culpeper described the medical use of frankincense. It is included in the Talmud16 and features in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine. It was used most often to treat inflammation and skin conditions, including wounds, sores, and abscesses. Internally, frankincense treated inflammatory diseases such as rheumatism and soothed digestive complaints. Healers believed that frankincense would move the blood around, reducing pain, swelling, and inflammation throughout the body.

Frankincense--therapeutic properties

Recently, increasing interest in natural dietary and therapeutic preparations used as dietary supplements has been observed. One of them is frankincense. This traditional medicine of the East is believed to have anti-inflammatory, expectorant, antiseptic, and even anxiolytic and anti-neurotic effects. The present study aims to verify the reported therapeutic properties of Boswellia resin and describe its chemical composition based on available scientific studies. The main component of frankincense is oil (60%). It contains mono- (13%) and diterpenes (40%) as well as ethyl acetate (21.4%), octyl acetate (13.4%) and methylanisole (7.6%).

Health benefits of gold, frankincense, and myrrh

The aromatic resin is used in incense and perfumes; it produces a sweet, earthy, and woody aroma. Today, with a popular focus on well-being and alternative therapies, essential oils and aromatherapy have given frankincense a rebirth in the West. Modern peddlers assign it a fair few health claims, including the reduction of acne, anxiety, colds, ulcers, coughs, and even indigestion. Although these claims lack evidence, not all of frankincense’s health benefits can be pooh-poohed out of hand. In 2008, BMJ published a reviewTrusted Source of seven randomized clinical trials, all of which investigated the benefits of ingesting frankincense. The author notes that “all the included trials had flaws: The most common limitations were small sample size and incomplete reporting of data.”

Magical and Medicinal: Frankincense and Myrrh

While it may be easy to understand gold being a precious gift, in truth, frankincense and myrrh’s value far outweighs that of gold and extends far beyond biblical lore. These plants are healing on an emotional, physical and spiritual level and more than simply symbols of the season.

On the Frankincense Trail

Frankincense and myrrh, aromatic resins from spindly trees, were once highly prized from Rome to India, and deemed essential for a host of uses ranging from religious to cosmetic to medicinal. According to Christian belief, the three wise men who traveled to Bethlehem to worship the Christ Child brought gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts. Thanks to the domestication of the camel, a complex trade network evolved to transport the priceless resins from the remote valleys, where the trees grew, to the markets where kings and emperors vied for the finest grades.

Sacred Scents: Exploring the Spiritual Benefits of Frankincense and Myrrh

Frankincense and Myrrh have a long history of traditional uses for thousands of years, spanning various socio-cultural aspects, including spiritual, religious, cosmetic, and medicinal. Both of them are natural resinous substances, respectively, derived from several species of Boswellia and Commiphora trees. Since ancient ages, they have been highly valued across various continents, especially in countries like Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire, China, India, and more.

The Glory Days of Frankincense and Myrrh

The resins that the Magi gave to the baby Jesus played a central role in daily life since the dawn of civilization.

The surprising beauty benefits of frankincense oil

If you’ve never heard of it outside of the tale of the Three Wise Men, don’t worry you’re not alone. While this oil has been around for centuries, it’s only recently started gaining traction in Western beauty circles as less of a beauty secret quietly handed down between in-the-know generations and more of an all-star ingredient in regular people’s skincare routines.

There’s More to Frankincense and Myrrh Than Meets the Eye

According to Simon Cotton for Chemistry World, frankincense and myrrh are sap, drawn from the Boswellia sacra and Commiphora trees, respectively. Frankincense was often burned as an incense, while myrrh made its way into medicine and perfume. In antiquity, writes Cotton, these saps were worth just as much as gold. But as modern science has shown, these Magi (or wise men or kings, as they've come to be known) may have been onto something with their gifts. More than just aromatic compounds, frankincense and myrrh have interesting medicinal properties. The key active ingredient in frankincense, boswellic acid, meanwhile, “has a structure not dissimilar from some hormones like testosterone.” Boswellic acids have anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic effects, so that they are finding pharmacological use in both East and West. These compounds seem to work by preventing the body from making pro-inflammatory compounds, whilst they also exert antitumor effects in colorectal cancer cells.

Trees In Trouble: Grim Future For Frankincense

The trees that produce this fragrant resin are in serious trouble, says Frans Bongers, a forestry expert at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He says production of frankincense could be cut in half in just 15 years. And in the next 50 years, tree numbers could decline by 90 percent, according to his new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

What did Jesus do with his gold, frankincense and myrrh

THERE ARE two traditions. The first, referred to in the carol 'We Three Kings', interprets the gifts as symbolising three aspects of Christ's future life: gold representing kingship, frankincense (worship) and myrrh (death and mourning). An alternative tradition holds that Mary and Joseph used the gold to pay for the stable, the frankincense to perfume it and the myrrh as an ointment for the new-born baby. Since, to Christians, Christ represents the meeting-point of the mystical and mundane, the 'Word made flesh', there's no reason why these traditions should be taken as contradictory.

Resources

5 Benefits and Uses of Frankincense — and 6 Myths

Frankincense is a resin with a history in traditional medicine. It’s sometimes used to help manage arthritis, asthma, and other health conditions. But don’t believe everything you read on the packaging. Many of its health claims are unproven.