Curzerene Explained

Curzerene is a volatile, aromatic terpenoid found in many herbs and spices, such as Curcuma zeodaria.^[1] It is a bioactive isolate of Caribbean corals^[2] and is also found in myrrh.^[3] More specifically it has been found to make up a significant portion - 12.97% - of the smoke produced from burning Commiphora myrrha oleo gum resin.^[4] It is also a major component of myrrh oil, which has been shown in vitro to possess anti-inflammatory properties at sub-toxic by inhibiting the production of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 by human gingival fibroblasts. Anecdotal evidence exists to support the anti-inflammatory effect of myrrh oil.^[5]

Curzerene represents 13.7% of the essential oil extracted from Smyrnium olusatrum, which has demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity in vitro.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Curzerene. PubChem. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. en. 2020-02-28.
2. 10928556. 2000. Roussis. V. Vagias. C. Tsitsimpikou. C. Diamantopoulou. N. Chemical variability of the volatile metabolites from the Caribbean corals of the genus Gorgonia. 55. 5–6. 431–41. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C. 10.1515/znc-2000-5-620. 201281707. free.
3. 10.5507/bp.2005.001. 16170385. Myrrh - Commiphora Chemistry. 2005. Hanus. Lumir O.. Rezanka. Tomas. Dembitsky. Valery M.. Moussaieff. Arieh. Biomedical Papers. 149. 1. 3–28. free.
4. Ljaljević Grbić. Milica. Unković. Nikola. Dimkić. Ivica. Janaćković. Peđa. Gavrilović. Milan. Stanojević. Olja. Stupar. Miloš. Vujisić. Ljubodrag. Jelikić. Aleksa. Stanković. Slaviša. Vukojević. Jelena. June 2018. Frankincense and myrrh essential oils and burn incense fume against micro-inhabitants of sacral ambients. Wisdom of the ancients?. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 219. 1–14. 10.1016/j.jep.2018.03.003. 29530608. 0378-8741.
5. Tipton. D.A.. Hamman. N.R.. Dabbous. M.Kh.. March 2006. Effect of myrrh oil on IL-1β stimulation of NF-κB activation and PGE2 production in human gingival fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Toxicology in Vitro. 20. 2. 248–255. 10.1016/j.tiv.2005.07.004. 16112536. 0887-2333.
6. Daroui-Mokaddem. Habiba. Kabouche. Ahmed. Bouacha. Mabrouka. Soumati. Boudjemaa. El-Azzouny. Aida. Bruneau. Christian. Kabouche. Zahia. October 2010. GC/MS Analysis and Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oil of Fresh Leaves of Eucalytus Globulus, and Leaves and Stems of Smyrnium Olusatrum from Constantine (Algeria). Natural Product Communications. 5. 10. 1934578X1000501. 10.1177/1934578x1000501031. 1934-578X. free.