🌿 conventional or organic available
Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin balsamum "gum of the balsam tree", ultimately from Semitic, Aramaic busma, Arabic balsam and Hebrew basam, "spice", "perfume") owes its name to the biblical Balm of Gilead. Copaiba Oleoresin is a unique, gentle oil that is tapped from the Balsam of the Copaiba tree to produce a pure, undiluted oleoresin with absolutely no additives or fillers.
Copaiba Balsam resin is extracted from the wild trees which are found mainly in the South American rain forests – particularly in Brazil, Columbia, Peru and Venezuela. It is further refined to produce the oil.
The trees have large branches and can grow up to 18 to 30 metres in height. The resin is harvested by tapping or drilling holes into the trunk of the tree much like tapping maple for syrup. Although this resin is often referred to as balsam, it is not a true balsam, but an oleoresin.
A single Copaiba tree can provide about 40 litres of oleoresin annually, making it a sustainable rain forest resource that can be harvested without destroying the tree or the forest in which it grows. When tapped, the initial oily resin is clear, thin, and colourless; it thickens and darkens upon contact with air.
Commercially sold resins are a thick liquid, with a colour that varies from pale yellow to golden light brown. The variety gathered in Venezuela is said to be thicker and darker in colour.
