Modugno Francesca, Ribechini Erika, Colombini Maria Perla
Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Pisa, via Risorgimento 35-56126 Pisa, Italy.
J Chromatogr A. 2006 Nov 17;1134(1-2):298-304. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2006.09.010. Epub 2006 Oct 10.
An analytical procedure based on alkaline hydrolysis, solvent extraction and trimethyl-silylation followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was used to study the chemical composition of benzoe and storax resins, water-insoluble exudates of trees of the Styrax and Liquidambar genus. They are chemically characterised by having aromatic acids, alcohols and esters as their main components and are thus known as aromatic and/or balsamic resins. This analytical procedure allowed us to characterise the main components of the two resins and, even though cinnamic acid is the main component of both the resins, the presence of other characteristic aromatic compounds and triterpenes permitted us to distinguish between the two materials. All the compounds identified in benzoe resin were detected in an archaeological organic residue from an Egyptian ceramic censer (fifth to seventh centuries a.d.), thus proving that this resin was used as one of the components of the mixture of organic materials burned as incense. These results provide the first chemical evidence of the presence of benzoe resin in an archaeological material from Mediterranean area.
采用一种基于碱性水解、溶剂萃取、三甲基硅烷化，随后进行气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS）分析的分析方法，研究安息香脂和苏合香脂的化学成分，这两种树脂是安息香属和枫香属树木的水不溶性渗出物。它们的化学特征是主要成分含有芳香酸、醇类和酯类，因此被称为芳香树脂和/或香脂树脂。这种分析方法使我们能够鉴定出两种树脂的主要成分，尽管肉桂酸是两种树脂的主要成分，但其他特征性芳香化合物和三萜类化合物的存在使我们能够区分这两种物质。在安息香脂中鉴定出的所有化合物都在一个公元5至7世纪的埃及陶瓷香炉的考古有机残留物中被检测到，从而证明这种树脂被用作燃烧焚香的有机材料混合物的成分之一。这些结果为地中海地区考古材料中存在安息香脂提供了首个化学证据。
