# Copal (Protium)

*Nahuatl *copalli*; Maya *pom**

**Known today as.** The resins of *Protium*, *Bursera*, and related trees of Central America, burned in clear yellow lumps.

Kind: Resin & Wood

## What was it used for?

The incense of Mesoamerica, offered to the gods and burned in healing; in Europe, a varnish resin.

## What does modern science say?

Still burned in Mexican and Maya ceremony; no medical use.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **alpha- and beta-amyrin**: triterpenes, in *Bursera* and *Protium* copal
- **communic and sandaracopimaric acids**: diterpenes in Hymenaea copal
- **limonene and alpha-pinene**: the smoke

**Mechanism.** Several New World resins burned as incense: the amyrins are anti-inflammatory in rodents, which is the basis of a Mesoamerican folk use on wounds, and the smoke is a scented smoke. Fossil copal is a varnish resin and nothing else.

**Dose.** No toxicity recorded.

**Standing.** A ritual incense and a varnish; no monograph.

## What lore surrounds it?

Sahagún records copal burned in the rites of the Aztec gods, at the temples and in the house.

## Sources

- Sahagún, B. de, *Florentine Codex*.
- Case, R. J., et al. (2003). “Chemistry and ethnobotany of commercial incense copals, copal blanco, copal oro, and copal negro, of North America.” *Economic Botany* 57.

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

Historical description, not medical advice.