Sweetgum - Liquidambar styraciflua

Sweet Gum Tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, is a beautiful, deciduous tree native to the Americas. Its seed pod balls are large and spiky, resembling some of the more irritating pollen grains as seen under microscopes. It has been used at least since the Maya for its healing properties. I use the seed pods for tinctures. It’s the least damaging to the tree.

The sap, which is golden brown, is where the Latin name comes from. This sap, called storax, is an expectorant, has antibacterial, and astringent properties and has been used traditionally for wounds, diarrhea, and cough. Storax contains styrene, cinnamic acid, cinnamyl alcohol, 2-phenylpropyl alcohol, 3-phenylpropyl cinnamate, cinnamyl cinnamate and vanillin. Studies have shown storax, in various concentrations, to be inhibitive to gram-negative bacteria Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Also, gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus brevis, Corynebacterium xerosis, Enterococcus faecalis, Micrococcus luteus, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Staphylococcus aureus.1

The leaves contain essential oils which are also antibacterial and antiviral. The leaf oils contain high levels of terpinen-4-ol, α-terpineol, α-pinene, and sabinene. Terpinen-4-ol is the active ingredient in tea tree oil.

Shikimic acid is the valuable substance from the seed pods. It is more concentrated there than in other parts of the plant. Shikimic acid is antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic. It is a precursor to the production of oseltamivir phosphate, the active ingredient in Tamiflu®. This speaks to its use as a remedy for the common cold. Interestingly, shikimic acid is a component of plant stem cells, and is being investigated for use in tissue regeneration. 2

Suggested Tincture Dosing is 20-30 drops up to 3 times daily. Start slowly as allergies and intolerances are always possible.

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose or treat any illness.

1 Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of the Leaves, Bark and Stems of Liquidambar styraciflua L. (Altingiaceae) Graziele Francine Franco Mancarz1 *, Ana Carolina Pareja Lobo1 , Mariah Brandalise Baril1 , Francisco de Assis Franco2 and Tomoe Nakashima1 1Pharmaceutical ScienceDepartment, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil 2Coodetec Desenvolvimento, Produção e Comercialização Agrícola Ltda, Cascavel, PR, Brazil
2 Liza B. Enrich, Margaret L. Scheuermann, Ashley Mohadjer, Kathryn R. Matthias, Chrystal F. Eller, M. Scott Newman, Michael Fujinaka, Thomas Poon, Liquidambar styraciflua: a renewable source of shikimic acid, Tetrahedron Letters, Volume 49, Issue 16, 2008, Pages 2503-2505, ISSN 0040-4039, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tetlet.2008.02.140. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040403908003791.