Balsam of Peru
Balsamum peruvianum
- Known today as
- A dark, vanilla-scented balsam from Myroxylon balsamum var. pereirae, a tree of El Salvador.
- Kind
- Resin & Wood
- Constituents
- benzyl benzoate, benzyl cinnamate, cinnamic acid
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Balsam of Peru: what was it used for?
For wounds, ulcers, and the chest; a substitute for true balm in the chrism of the New World.
Balsam of Peru: what does modern science say?
Still in some wound and haemorrhoid preparations; it is also one of the commonest causes of contact allergy, and is used in patch tests to detect fragrance sensitivity.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- Mechanism
- A mixture of some 250 compounds, several of them contact allergens; it is in the standard patch-test series as the marker of fragrance allergy, and positive in several per cent of those tested.
- Toxic dose
- Contact allergy; cross-reaction with cinnamon, vanilla, and citrus peel in food.
- Standing
- The International Fragrance Association forbids the crude balsam in perfumes.
- de Groot, A. C. (2019). Contact Dermatitis 80. Verified against its record · PMID 32766119
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Balsam of Peru: what lore surrounds it?
It never came from Peru: shipped from the coast of Central America through Callao and Lima, it took the name of the port.
In Their Own Words
The 1911 Britannica says balsam of Peru is the produce of a tall leguminous tree, Myroxylon Pereirae, growing within a limited area of San Salvador in Central America and introduced into Ceylon.
“Balsam of Peru is the produce of a lofty leguminous tree, Myroxylon Pereirae, growing within a limited area in San Salvador, Central America and introduced into Ceylon.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition: Balsam, “Balsam”, vol. 3. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, as transcribed on Wikisource. The text, read in full
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Sources
- Pomet, P. (1694). Histoire générale des drogues (English, A Compleat History of Druggs, 1712). Read in part · the text read
- de Groot, A. C. (2019). “Myroxylon pereirae resin (balsam of Peru): a critical review.” Contact Dermatitis 80. Book, seen in reviews
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 3 cited: 1 read in part, 1 verified against its record, 1 book, seen in reviews.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 30, 2026
- Chicago
“Balsam of Peru.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 30, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/balsam-of-peru.
- MLA
“Balsam of Peru.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 30 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/balsam-of-peru. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Balsam of Peru. (2026, September 30). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/balsam-of-peru
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See Also
Sharing benzyl benzoate, cinnamic acid
Drawing on the same sources: Pomet
Nearby in the alphabet
Barley water (A thin decoction of barley) · Balm of Gilead (The resin of Commiphora gileadensis) · Basil (Ocimum basilicum) · Balm (Melissa officinalis) · Bells (and wrongly, called their “baptism) · Aurum potabile (Gold dissolved or suspended in liquid for drinking) · Ben-nut (Moringa oleifera (or M) · Aster (Aster amellus)
Historical description, not medical advice.