Witnessed by: Western
Copaiba balsam (Copaifera officinalis), of the Fabaceae family. Large forest tree whose heartwood holds the oleoresin in ducts; native range: the rain forests of northern South America — Venezuela, Colombia, the Guianas and Brazil. Globally recognized as copaíba in Portuguese, copaiba, aceite de palo in Spanish, and copaiba, copaiva, balsam of copaiba in English. The part used is oleoresin, tapped from the trunk. A clear pale-yellow to brownish viscid liquid, transparent, smelling strongly aromatic and turpentine-like, the taste acrid and bitter and lingering hot in the throat.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
COPAIBA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- copaiba balsam
- Scientific name
- Copaifera officinalis (Jacq.) L.
- Family
- Fabaceae
Form
- Part used
- oleoresin, tapped from the trunk
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- acrid · bitter · aromatic
Temperature
- Western
- warm
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- mucous membranes · kidneys · bladder · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- urinary and mucous-membrane antiseptic, stimulating expectorant, diuretic, mild laxative in full dose, vulnerary
Cautions
- Contraindications
- acute inflammation of the kidney; pregnancy; acute inflammatory stages of the urinary tract
- Toxicity
- full doses irritate the stomach and gripe; a measles-like copaiba rash with itching is characteristic; strangury and haematuria on overdose; the market article is often adulterated with turpentine or gurjun balsam
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