How it began
Balsam of Peru is a resin from the bark of the tree Myroxylon balsamum var. pereirae. It comes from the Balsam Coast of El Salvador, the stretch of Pacific coast between the ports of Acajutla and La Libertad, and the highlands behind it. Native Central Americans were collecting the exudate as a healing remedy when Spaniards arrived, and its ancient native name was hoitziloxitl. Spaniards adopted it and brought it to Europe from the sixteenth century onward.
How it works
A tapper climbs about fifteen meters up the tree on a rope, cuts and peels back a piece of bark, and scorches the exposed wood with a torch of slow-burning sticks to make the balsam flow. Rags are fixed over the wound and collected two or three weeks later, saturated. The cloths are boiled in water for about half an hour, impurities are skimmed off, and the cloths are squeezed in a simple press so the balsam settles at the bottom of the kettle. Evaporation then drives off the remaining water.
How it spread
Spaniards named it Peru balsam because it was shipped through the port of Callao at Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, although the tree is not known to grow in Peru. In Europe it was used for wounds, chest ailments, surgery, as an antiseptic and against scabies. It also crossed the Pacific on Spanish galleons, and a Portuguese royal envoy presented it at the Qing court in China in 1727.
What lasted
The historian Angela Schottenhammer uses the balsam as an example of medicinal knowledge moving across oceans, alongside the better known exchange of American silver for Chinese silks and porcelain. The misleading name has lasted for centuries and still hides the Salvadoran origin of the product.
Where it stands today
The perfumer Dominique Roques describes tappers in the balsam cordillera above San Julian who still work as independent contractors for the owners of the trees, using rope, torch and rags. The balsam is used in perfumery, including fragrances for Guerlain, Armani and Yves Saint Laurent, and in medicinal products for sores and skin ulcers. One supplier states that El Salvador is the only country producing it.
