Gamboge
Gummi guttae; from Cambodia
- Known today as
- A gum-resin from Garcinia hanburyi of Cambodia and Thailand, yellow as egg yolk.
- Kind
- Resin & Wood
- Constituents
- gambogic acid, morellic acid, gambogenic acid
- Poisoning
- The drastic resins
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Caution. A violent and dangerous purge.
Gamboge: what was it used for?
A drastic purge for dropsy and worms; and the brilliant yellow of watercolour.
Gamboge: what does modern science say?
A dangerous purgative, long abandoned in medicine.
Gamboge: is it poisonous?
Yes, in some form or dose. A violent and dangerous purge. Its poisoning is the drastic resins: One to four hours. Historical description, not medical advice; in a poisoning, call a poison centre.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- gambogic acid ChEMBLa caged xanthone, 30–40 per cent of the resin
- morellic acid
- gambogenic acid ChEMBL
- Mechanism
- The resin is one of the most violent purgatives of the old pharmacy, irritating the whole gut and causing colic, vomiting, and watery stools within hours; gambogic acid, isolated from it, induces apoptosis in cancer cells through several routes and has had phase II trials in China.
- Checked against ChEMBL
- gambogic acid: Measured, as the entry says (“induces apoptosis in cancer cells”): Apoptosis regulator Bcl-2 (human), IC50 122 nM, CHEMBL5241079; Bcl-2-related protein A1 (human), IC50 176 nM, CHEMBL5335817.
- Toxic dose
- Half a gram purges; 4 g has killed; the Morison’s pills that carried it caused deaths and a famous trial in 1836.
- Syndrome
- The drastic resins
- Standing
- Withdrawn as a medicine; a watercolour pigment; gambogic acid is an investigational anticancer agent.
- Chi, Y., et al. (2013). “An open-labeled, randomized, multicenter phase IIa study of gambogic acid injection for advanced malignant tumors.” Chinese Medical Journal 126. Verified against its record · doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.0366-6999.20122582
- Helfand, W. H. (1974). “James Morison and his pills.” Transactions of the British Society for the History of Pharmacy 1. Not indexed
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.
Gamboge: what lore surrounds it?
It was said to be in the purging “vegetable pills” sold by James Morison, the “Hygeist,” in 1820s London.
In Their Own Words
Mrs Grieve says gamboge was first brought to England by the Dutch about the middle of the seventeenth century and was highly esteemed as a pigment for its brilliant orange colour.
“Gamboge was first introduced into England by the Dutch about the middle of the seventeenth century; it is highly esteemed as a pigment, owing to the brilliancy of its orange colour.”
Mrs. M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal: Gamboge, Gamboge, Description. The text of A Modern Herbal as published on botanical.com. The text, read in full
Quincy says the gum was known longer in painting than in medicine, for its yellow colour, and that its violent action by vomit and stool had prompted much search for a corrective.
“This Gum hath been longer known in Painting than in Medicine, for its yellow Color. The Violence of its Operation, both by Vomit and Stool, has occaſion'd abundance of Search”
John Quincy, M.D., Pharmacopœia Officinalis & Extemporanea, or, A Complete English Dispensatory, Part II, no. 473, 'Gamboga, Gamboge'. London: printed for E. Bell and others, 1724; the edition number on the title page is illegible in the scan (Internet Archive OCR text). The text, read in part
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
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Gamboge.” Book, not indexed
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
- The mechanism read against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37): curated mechanisms and measured activity
- Sources
- 4 cited: 1 read in part, 1 verified against its record, 1 book, not indexed, 1 not indexed.
- 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
“Gamboge.” 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/gamboge.
- MLA
“Gamboge.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 30 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/gamboge. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Gamboge. (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/gamboge
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See Also
Poisoned alike: the drastic resins
Golden pills · Foetid pills · Hamech, confection of · Diaphenicon · Hiera of Pacchius · Cochia pills · Hiera with agaric · Troche of agaric · the syndrome, with all of them →
Drawing on the same sources: Pomet, Grieve
Isinglass · Earthworm · Jalap · Ginger · Galbanum · Ginseng · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Garlic (Allium sativum) · Gallia moschata (made into troches of aloeswood, ambergris, and musk) · Ghost pipe · Galangal (Alpinia officinarum) · Funeral bell (A small brown mushroom of rotting wood)
Historical description, not medical advice.