Compositional Analysis of Cultivated and Wild-Harvested Boswellia sacra Frankincense Resin Essential Oils in Oman.

Frankincense is a valuable aromatic resin, used globally for its scent, therapeutic properties, and religious significance. All frankincense is currently harvested from wild Boswellia trees, but recent research has identified serious social and environmental challenges in wild supply chains, including significant population declines in multiple frankincense species. Cultivation of Boswellia trees in commercial plantations could be a possible solution to these challenges, but there have been widespread misgivings amongst harvesting communities and industry whether cultivated plants could produce essential oils of sufficient complexity to match existing wild-harvested stocks. We collected resin samples from both cultivated and wild individual frankincense trees in southern Oman, and compared them with wild harvesting-derived commercial frankincense essential oil samples. The cultivated tree samples were similar to existing wild-derived commercial samples, with no loss of phytochemical complexity. We also found a previously unreported δ-3-carene/α-pinene chemotype in the individual wild tree samples. The results indicate that plantation-produced frankincense could replicate current wild-harvested commercial batches, but that there is under-explored phytochemical diversity in the species, which necessitates caution in plantation stock selection. In addition, movement from wild harvesting to cultivation can have mixed social and conservation impacts, especially for a product with the cultural and livelihood significance of frankincense. Care must therefore be taken to ensure that potential positive impacts are realized, and potential negative impacts are fully mitigated.