# Balsam of Peru (Myroxylon balsamum)

**Balsamum peruvianum**

**Known today as.** A dark, vanilla-scented balsam from *Myroxylon balsamum* var. *pereirae*, a tree of El Salvador.

Kind: Resin & Wood

## What was it used for?

For wounds, ulcers, and the chest; a substitute for true balm in the [chrism](https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/chrism) of the New World.

## 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 and toxicology

- **benzyl benzoate**: 
- **benzyl cinnamate**: 
- **cinnamic acid**: 

**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.

**Dose.** Contact allergy; cross-reaction with cinnamon, vanilla, and citrus peel in food.

**Standing.** The International Fragrance Association forbids the crude balsam in perfumes.

## 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.

## Sources

- Pomet, P. (1694). *Histoire générale des drogues* (English, *A Compleat History of Druggs*, 1712).
- de Groot, A. C. (2019). “*Myroxylon pereirae* resin (balsam of Peru): a critical review.” *Contact Dermatitis* 80.
- de Groot, A. C. (2019). *Contact Dermatitis* 80.

---

*Balsam of Peru.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-30. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/balsam-of-peru

Historical description, not medical advice.