Frankincense, an “Old Fashioned” Active Ingredient

Frankincense has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine to treat a variety of suffering. Now, the research group of Prof. Oliver Werz from the University of Jena (Germany), together with his American colleagues, has demonstrated that the highly effective boswellic acid AKBA from the resin of the Indian frankincense tree (Boswellia serrata) also has a healing effect in addition to the already known anti-inflammatory properties [1]. “InflammAging” refers to a chronic silent inflammatory process (inflammation) that develops with advanced age. In addition to the externally visible aging of the skin, painful signs of age-related diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis often occur over time. This is the main field of application of the natural active ingredient AKBA from Boswellia serrata extract with extensive no side effects. However, the promising therapeutic potential of the extract is limited by the insufficient solubility and bioavailability of the main active ingredient, whose water solubility is below 0.00045 mg/ml. By encapsulating the frankincense extract into Sopharcos’ nanoemulsion “Lipo-Tops”, the solubility can be increased by a factor of 22,000! In general, such formulations have shown that they can promote the absorption of lipophilic active ingredients and improve their bioavailability [2]. By using only natural edible raw materials, “Lipo-Tops Boswellin” can be used both for dermal application as well as for oral uptake