Halmaddi resin (Aialnthus Tryphisa)

Descrizione

Scientific name: Ailanthus triphysa (Dennstedt) Alston in Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon.

Sinonymus
Adenanthera triphysa Dennstedt, Schlüssel Hortus Malab. 1818;
Ailanthus malabarica

Family: Simaroubaceae

Common names
Kannada: Dhupa, Hal-maddi
Tamil: Peru
Malayalam: Peru-marattoli
Telugu: Perumarum
岭南臭椿 ling nan chou chun

Distribution: India: Common in evergreen forests up to 1500 m. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.

This product was widely used in the 70s for the production of stick incense of the Hindu culture, but with excessive extraction the plant suffers and often dies, mainly due to the deep incisions for the extraction of the resin, therefore it was decided in the early 90s to make this resin illegal.
Now small producers have planted these trees on their land producing very small quantities of Halmaddi. However, it remains a banned and controversial product in some regions.
Its aroma is absolutely a revelation, smelled so raw it doesn’t have much interesting hints, acidulous, herbaceous, but applied in the stick especially mixed sparingly with other ingredients it transforms the incense into a floral, sweet fruity fragrance of incredible charm. In fact it was used to make the famous Nag Champa.

Traditional uses:
The wood is very light and soft and used for packing-cases, fishing floats, boats, toys etc. A highly viscous aromatic resin is obtained when incisions are made in the bark. It is collected for local use as incense and forms an ingredient of agar-bathis. Bark carminative, tonic, febrifuge, used in dyspepsia; resin from the bark (Mittipal)/ bark juice stimulant, used in asthma, bronchial affections, dysentery; bark decoction used in typhoid and constipation; root bark antidote for cobra poisoning.