Academia Journal of Medicinal Plants 8(8): 096-101, August 2020 DOI: 10.15413/ajmp.2020.0125 ISSN: 2315-7720 ©2020 Academia Publishing Research Paper A review on ambergris perspective and modern chemical composition and pharmacology Accepted 28th July, 2020 ABSTRACT Ambergris is the pathological (the only source) secretion of the intestine sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus syn. Physeter catodon belonging to the family Physeteridae. Ambergris has been found only rarely for centuries, as jetsam on Suleiman Olimat beaches all over the world known as Baltic amber. Ambrein is the major constituent of ambergris and responsible for its various pharmacological activities Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of like breakdown of the relatively scentless ambrein through oxidation Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. Jordan University of Science and produces ambroxan and ambrinol, the main odor components of ambergris. Other Technology. P. O. Box 3030. Irbid, 22110. amber originated from pine plants resin known as sucinum; other amber known as Jordan. compressed amber, made of small pieces and small stones that melted together under high pressure. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +962 277 260 7116. Key words: Ambergris, amber, sperm whale, ambrein, chemistry, pharmacology. INTRODUCTION Ambergris or Baltic amber, is an amber that is not specific ocean is transformed into amber, which can be collected in color or shape and originates in the Baltic region onshore. Amber was called elektron by ancient Greeks, throughout the past 5,000 years, most of the amber in the meaning “shining thing”, from which the term “electricity” world has come from the Baltic Sea called the amber coast, was coined (Ragazzi, 2016). The Romans used to call amber real amber, a term that includes natural Baltic amber of sucinum (Latin term for a substance that is ultimately which do not contain any additives and the amber ratio is derived from sap or juice), because they learned it was a 100% (Dannenfeldt, 1982; Dharmananda, 2020). juice of a tree, that is, a true resin of old pines, growing in Nowadays, the majority of the world’s amber has come the regions touched by the northern ocean. Among the from a more limited portion of the Baltic, the Kaliningrad many other hypotheses on the origin of amber, ambergris Oblast, a Russian sea port area between Poland and is called by Germans glesso (from this term comes the Lithuania (Dannenfeldt, 1982). Ambergris when it is fresh modern English term “glass”), originating in the “Glessaria” is black and mixed with blood and fecal matter and has islands in the Northern Sea and it flows from pine-like trees unpleasant odor, then the mass exposed to the air and sun, (Ragazzi, 2016; Gode, 1949; Kemp, 2012). Amber, ambra in ambergris become light gray, hard and has sweet musky Italian also succino or carabe in Medieval time, from the odor (Dannenfeldt, 1982). Ambergris is not known in the fact that amber has been found very often on the shore of classical Greeks and Romans era, and the absence of the Baltic sea, after being eroded from undersea deposits European tradition resulted in wide speculation. According and therefore believed as a material originated from the to a Greek legend, sun rays hit the ground during the sunset sea. The property of attracting lightweight objects after hours and give birth to a fluid that after dropping in the rubbing amber suggested the Persian name karabe, “straw Academia Journal of Medicinal Plants; Olimat. 097 attractor” (Ragazzi, 2016; Dannenfeldt, 1982). In Chinese as a way to describe its appearance (Kemp, 2012). literature the term succinum is very commonly used either Ambergris has been known since antiquity with Arabs and for cosmetic purposes or in Chinese Materia Medica and Chinese first using it for perfumery or to burn as incense. In amber comes from a resin deposit and not sap. Succinum Arabic is known as “Anbar” is a solid substance that has no originates from the resin of ancient and long-extinct trees, taste and no smell unless it is crushed or burned, and it including conifers (e.g pine trees). The legend in ancient gives off a pleasant smell (Al-Jabiry, 1999).Ambergris forms China mentioned that “when the tiger dies, it’s soul enters only in the intestines of the sperm whale, mainly found in the earth and transforms into stone,” referring to the the large intestine or rectum. Franz Xavier Schwediawer droplets of amber, from plant origin, so the material is described ambergris in 1783 as “preternaturally hardened called tiger’s soul (Ragazzi, 2016; Dannenfeldt, 1982; Kemp, whale dung” (Kemp, 2012). Squids are the main source of 2012). food of sperm whale, and when their beaks block their However, the ancient Chinese referred to ambergris as duodenum, the intestinal wall absorbs water from the dragon's spittle perfume, because it was thought to have feces-impregnated mass causing solidification. As time goes originated from the drooling of dragons sleeping on rocks by, the mass grows by accretion (Kemp, 2012).The at the edge of the sea. It is still known by this name, is used resulting material ends up having an irregular shape, a as an aphrodisiac and as a spice for food and wine. The waxy nature. Although they look solid, ambergris pieces Japanese have also known ambergris from ancient times float once they are expelled because their specific gravity is and called it, “whale droppings” it was used to fix floral lighter than water (0.73– 0.95). Though they have been fragrances in perfumes (Chatterji et al., 2010). Ambergris described many times as “whale vomit” (Kemp, 2012; was first introduced to medicine, perfumes by the Arabs Ragazzi, 2016). Ambergris is rather rare and may be found who called it “Anbar”, it was said that amber originated in only a few sperm whales (1%) in both males and females. from springs on the bottom of the sea, exploit fatty material The ambergris pieces are most likely defecated or just that freeze on the surface of water, then the sea cast it to released in the ocean when they become too big and kill the the beach and the best amber is the meteors, then blue sperm whale because of intestinal obstruction. Once the followed by green one (Al-Jabiry, 1999). It is clear that the whale dies, the ambergris pieces just float on the ocean, Arabic name “Anbar” refers to what is known as ambergris most pieces of ambergris have been collected directly from or grey amber (ambragrigia). Yellow amber, the succinum sperm whale intestines that have been caught in whaling known in the classical world as the Baltic ambers, operations. In color they are pale yellowish to light gray on commonly referred to as succinate, the process of amber the inside, while the outer surface is dark brown with a formation is essentially the same, such distinction is varnished appearance (Kemp, 2012; Rice, 2009; Ragazzi, necessary because the resinous amber and ambergris to 2016). Fresh ambergris has the highly distinctive pungent have the same or original origin. Compressed amber, odor of sperm whale feces, its odor changes according to compact, petrified resin fossil resin, is an amber made of the time it has been exposed to air, but aged pieces have an small pieces and small stones that melted together under almost pleasant musty or even musky smell .It is not high pressure and difficult to differentiate them from the indispensable to the perfumery industry nowadays, Baltic amber but they are usually regular in shape very ambergris applied for its fixative properties for perfumery common used in cosmetics and necklaces. A distant (Rice, 2009; Ragazzi, 2016). etymological link joins ambergris with amber: according to a hypothesis, the term “amber” used today originated in Medieval time from a mistake, an exchange of terms MATERIALS AND METHODS between ambergris (in Arabic anbar) and real amber. Both All the available information on Ambergris was collected materials commonly share the same marine origin, the from Ibn Rushdbook “Kulliyat Fi A-Tibb, Colliget” and via a intense scent produced if heated (Mikaili et al., 2012; library and electronic search (using Web of Science, Chatterji et al., 2010; Ragazzi, 2016). Pubmed, SciFinder, Scopus, Google Scholar…etc.). Ambergris is a coprolite originating from the sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, synonym Physeter catodon Linnaeus, belonging to the family Physeteridae RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (Gode, 1949, Kemp, 2012). Ambergris has been found only rarely for centuries, as jetsam on beaches all over the Traditional medicinal uses of ambergris world. The name ambergris is of French origin from the combination of two words: ambre (amber) and gris (gray), Because of its unique odor it was used in Europe during the Academia Journal of Medicinal Plants; Olimat. 098 plague to “sanitize” the air, which was believed to be at the is either obtained directly from the intestine sperm whale root of the epidemic. Some also used it as an aphrodisiac or from the jetsam (Rowland et al., 2017). Analyzing 85 and for other medicinal purposes (Kemp, 2012). Ambergris years old sample of ambergris from New Bedford Whaling was thought to be used as a remedy for hydrophobia, Museum (MA), by using adsorption chromatography and 1H epilepsy, typhoid fever, asthma and various nervous spectroscopy (FT-NMR). The results showed that ambrein diseases (Read, 2013). The Andalusian philosopher Ibn is the major compound of ambergris, even after 85 years Rushd (1128-1198 A.D.), known in west by the name of (Moniz et al., 1996). Various samples of jetsam were Averroes. Ibn Rushd was a faithful disciple of Aristotle and examined by analytical methods such as gas he stuck to the organization of the Aristotelian corpus chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), then the implemented by Andronicus of Rhodes.