Benzoin
Benzoin is a balsamic resin obtained from the wounded bark of tropical trees of the genus Styrax, principally Styrax tonkinensis for Siam benzoin and Styrax benzoin for Sumatra benzoin. It is a natural exudate rather than a distilled oil, and its aroma comes chiefly from benzoic and cinnamic acid esters together with vanillin and coniferyl benzoate.
The odour is sweet, warm, powdery and vanillic, with a faint smoky balsamic depth. In flavour work benzoin functions as a fixative and sweetener rather than a character note, extending vanilla and caramel profiles and giving them body and persistence. Siam benzoin is the softer and more vanillic of the two origins; Sumatra benzoin is more phenolic and slightly styrax like.
The raw material is brittle amber to reddish brown tears or lumps that soften with hand warmth. It is insoluble in water and dissolves in ethanol, which is why the traded articles for flavour and fragrance use are usually the alcoholic tincture or the solvent extracted resinoid rather than the crude gum. Resinoids are viscous, tacky and often cut with a diluent so they can be pumped and weighed.
We source bulk Benzoin from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Hubei. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Amber to reddish brown brittle tears or viscous resinoid |
| Odour | Sweet, balsamic, vanillic |
| Botanical source | Styrax tonkinensis or Styrax benzoin resin |
| Identification | Thin layer chromatography conforms to reference, benzoic and cinnamic acid present |
| Total balsamic acids as benzoic acid | 25 percent minimum |
| Ethanol soluble matter | 90 percent minimum for graded tears |
| Loss on drying | 3.0 percent maximum |
| Total ash | 1.0 percent maximum |
| Acid insoluble ash | 0.5 percent maximum |
| Residual solvent in resinoid | Within permitted limits for the extraction solvent declared |
| Heavy metals as lead | 10 mg per kg maximum |
| Lead | 2 mg per kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 1 mg per kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 1000 cfu per gram maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 100 cfu per gram maximum |
Common Markets Grades
Benzoin moves in three commercial forms. Crude gum benzoin is graded by origin and by the proportion of clean tears to bark and dirt, with almond shaped Siam tears at the top and block or lump grades containing more woody matter below. Benzoin resinoid is produced by hydrocarbon or alcohol extraction of the gum and is sold as a soft viscous mass, commonly standardised by dilution in benzyl benzoate, triacetin or propylene glycol to a workable viscosity. Benzoin tincture, typically a twenty percent alcoholic solution, is the form used in flavour compounding and in some pharmacopoeial preparations.
Buyers specify origin, total acid value, and ethanol soluble matter, and for food use they specify the diluent, since a resinoid cut with benzyl benzoate is acceptable in fragrance but not in most food applications. Decolourised and low colour resinoids are offered where the deep amber tone would stain a pale finished product.
Applications
- Vanilla flavour compounds, where it deepens and fixes the vanillin note and lends a natural balsamic body
- Caramel, toffee and butterscotch systems, contributing warmth behind the burnt sugar character
- Chocolate and cocoa flavours, where trace levels extend the sweet aromatic tail
- Baked goods and bakery fillings, used for its heat stability relative to volatile top notes
- Liqueur and bitters formulation, where the tincture supplies balsamic sweetness and mouthfeel
- Tobacco casing and reconstituted leaf, a traditional and still significant outlet for the resinoid
- Fine fragrance as an oriental and amber base note and a natural fixative for volatile top notes
- Soap, incense and candle perfumery, where its persistence survives the base material
- Antioxidant and preservative function in fatty compounds, a long standing use of the tincture arising from its phenolic acid content
China Manufacturers of Benzoin
Top Benzoin manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States benzoin resin is recognised as a natural flavouring and adjuvant. The Food and Drug Administration lists it among natural substances and extractives used in conjunction with flavours in 21 CFR 172.510, and the Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association has assigned GRAS status to benzoin resinoid as a flavouring. Benzoin tincture also appears in the United States Pharmacopeia as a pharmaceutical preparation.
In the European Union benzoin preparations fall within the flavouring preparations category of Regulation 1334/2008, which permits natural preparations obtained from food and from non food botanical sources subject to the general safety provisions of that regulation. Benzoin has no E number, since it is regulated as a flavouring rather than as a food additive. The standards of the International Fragrance Association govern fragrance use of benzoin resinoid and set concentration limits for skin contact products on account of its sensitising potential, and benzoin extracts are among the substances requiring declaration on cosmetic labels. Codex addresses benzoin through its general provisions on flavourings rather than through a dedicated commodity standard.
Manufacturing Process
Collection begins with tapping. Incisions are cut into the trunk of a mature Styrax tree and the tree responds by exuding a pale sap that hardens on contact with air into tears. These are scraped off after several weeks, and successive tappings over a season give progressively darker and more resinous material. The harvested gum is sorted by hand into tears, siftings and block grades, and woody debris and bark are removed.
For flavour and fragrance use the sorted gum is converted into a resinoid. The crushed gum is extracted with a solvent, historically hexane or toluene for fragrance grades and ethanol for food and pharmaceutical grades, in a stirred or countercurrent extractor at moderate temperature. The miscella is filtered to remove insoluble bark and mineral matter, then concentrated under vacuum to strip solvent to residual limits. The resulting resinoid is standardised by adding a permitted diluent and blending to a target acid value and colour, then filtered again and drummed. Tinctures are made by macerating graded gum in food grade ethanol for several weeks, followed by filtration and adjustment to a declared strength.
