Ambergris and musk used in incense production is how to come?

Ambergris: Ambergris is the dried product of the intestinal secretions of the sperm whale, an animal of the sperm whale family. Taken from the sperm whale to be slaughtered, from its intestines to take its secretions (i.e., the whale's feces, which is a grayish-black, waxy excrement secreted by the gastrointestinal tract of the sperm whale after swallowing cuttlefish). It is sweet, fishy and astringent in nature, with the effects of promoting qi and blood circulation, dispersing knots and relieving pain, inducing diuresis and lymphatic drainage, regulating qi and resolving phlegm; it is used for the treatment of coughing and asthma, heart and abdominal pain and so on. This product is the most valuable traditional Chinese medicine in all kinds of animal excreta, extremely rare.

The earliest country in the world to discover Longyanxiang was ancient China. During the Han Dynasty, fishermen found some gray-white fragrant wax-like drift in the sea, which is the finished product of Longyinxiang after many years of natural denaturation. From a few Kg to dozens of Kg ranging from a strong fishy odor, but after drying can send out a long-lasting aroma, when lit is more fragrant, more fragrant than musk. Some local officials, acquired as a treasure to contribute to the emperor, used as a spice in the palace, or as medicine. At that time, who did not know what this treasure, ask the palace "chemist" alchemists, they think this is the sea "dragon" in the sleep out of saliva, drops to the sea water in the solidification, after a long time, into the

With the help of the "dragon's saliva", the "dragon's saliva" was released into the sea water and solidified.

With the progress of the times, a natural mystery was unveiled, we believe that ambergris is the "dragon" saliva is not scientific, so there is a variety of conjecture: some people think it is the formation of undersea volcanic eruptions; some say it is the island and bird droppings into the water after a long period of time weathering and become; there are Said this is beeswax, in the sea water after a long time floating generation; There are also said that this is a special kind of fungi. Ambergris has also piqued the interest of marine biologists, and after continuous research, it is believed to be a huge intestinal secretion of marine animals, and it has not been clarified what kind of animal secretes it.

The real discovery of the secret of ambergris was made by fishermen on the Saudi Arabian island of Kotla. The fishermen on this island make their living mainly by catching sperm whales. Long Yanxiang is actually sperm whale feces, sperm whale belongs to the toothed whale suborder Sperm Whale family, is the toothed whale suborder in the largest size of a kind of male maximum body length of up to 23 meters, female 17 meters, the body is conical, the head accounts for about the length of the body of the l / 3, was barrel-shaped, the upper jaw blunt, far more than the lower jaw. Because of its head is particularly huge, so there is a "giant whale" name, its head is big, any creature can not be compared! Once, an old fisherman found a piece of ambergris when he was cutting open the intestines of a sperm whale. At the time, the fishermen thought it had been swallowed from the surface and didn't take it seriously. However, this news does not go, caused the marine biologists attach great importance to, they immediately carry out in-depth research, and finally solved the mystery of ambergris. It turns out that the big squid and octopus mouth with tough horny jaws and tongue teeth, very difficult to digest, when the sperm whale swallowed large mollusks, jaws and tongue teeth in the gastrointestinal accumulation, stimulate the intestinal tract, the intestinal tract will secrete a special kind of wax, the residual core of the food will be wrapped up, and slowly formed the ambergris. Scientists have found clots of intestinal fluid and foreign matter in the intestines of an 18-meter-long sperm whale, which is thought to be the beginning of ambergris. Scientists believe that some sperm whales vomit the clots, some excrete them from their intestines, and only a few keep the ambergris in their bodies.

Ambergris discharged into the sea is initially light black, and under the action of seawater, it gradually turns gray, light gray, and finally white. The white ambergris is of the best quality, and it has to be soaked in seawater for more than a hundred years to bleach out all the impurities before it can become the finest of all ambergris. Ambergris taken from the intestines of a killed sperm whale is is of no value, it must float and soak in seawater for decades (ambergris is lighter than water and will not sink) before it gains a high status, some ambergris blocks are soaked in seawater for up to a century or more. The highest valued ambergris is the white one; the lowest valued is the brown one, which has only been immersed in seawater for a decade or so.

Since ancient times, ambergris has been used as a high-grade spice, the spice company will acquire the ambergris graded, ground into a very fine powder foam, dissolved in alcohol, and then formulated into a 5% concentration of ambergris solution, used to configure the perfume, or as a fixative used. Therefore, the price of ambergris is expensive, almost the same price as gold. December 3, 1912, a Norwegian whaling company in Australian waters caught a sperm whale, from its intestines to obtain a piece of 455 kg of ambergris, and sold at a huge price of 23,000 pounds sterling. 1955, a New Zealander in the beach checked a piece of grey ambergris weighing 7 Kg, sold 26,000 U.S. dollars, if you check the white ambergris. In 1955, a New Zealander found a 7Kg piece of gray ambergris on the beach and sold it for $26,000, while a white ambergris would be priceless. However, to recognize ambergris, one must have relevant knowledge of biology, ecology and chemistry, as well as long-term experience in dealing with the sea, which is not something that can be done by ordinary people.

Modern chemistry experiments show that ambergris is a collection of some poly-terpene derivatives, most of which have an attractive fragrance and a ring-like molecular structure. Due to the special hobby of human beings for various scents, spices have a great market demand, as early as the 19th century, chemists determined the structure of most terpene compounds, from natural essential oils separated from geraniol, linalool, aniseed brain, sandalwood alcohol, lobster, etc., and industrial production. Synthetic fragrances derived from the benzene ring, such as benzoic acid, phenylmethyl acetate, phenylacetaldehyde and so on, also began production. In 1920, Swiss chemists discovered the molecular structure of musk and scented catone, then American scientists invented the synthesis of macrocyclic esters and synthesized artificial musk. Now, ambergris in a variety of ingredients can be synthesized, but can not completely replace the sea gifted mankind ambergris, because the current human technology is not up to the wonders of nature and harmony, especially natural ambergris ambergris in the ambergris steroid, added to the perfume will be generated after a layer of thin film on the skin, which can make the fragrance of the long-lasting.

Currently, the international market of natural ambergris, completely controlled by the perfume power France, the purchase price of each Kg between 1~45,000 francs, the spice company processed the selling price of each Kg6~100,000 francs. According to commercial information, the world's ambergris trade was at its peak at 600Kg per year, with the massive hunting of sperm whales by mankind, the resources of ambergris have been reduced year by year, and now the annual trade volume has been reduced to 100Kg, which is not good news for women and men who love perfume.

The marvelous ambergris is the essence of nature, a gift from the sea. In order to preserve the fragrance of ambergris for generations to come, we must protect the marine environment, protect the sperm whales, and allow them to reproduce and grow in the sea, and continue to contribute to the human race with the best of all possible worlds - ambergris.

Sperm whales live in tropical and subtropical waters, it is the diving champion of the cetacean family. Sperm whales are good at deep diving for the purpose of looking for king squid and octopus inhabiting the deep sea. People in the sperm whale's body once found like a child's head as big as the king squid's mouthpiece. Because the squid's mouth has hard, horny jaws and teeth and tongue, it is not easy to digest, and after the sperm whale swallows the squid, it is stimulated to secrete ambergris in its intestines. So far, ambergris has only been found inside the sperm whale's belly, a sickly gray or black secretion that can sometimes be expelled from the sperm whale's body and float on the surface of the sea, or occasionally be washed up on the beach by the waves. Ambergris usually weighs no more than a few kilograms each, with the largest known ambergris weighing up to 60 kilograms. Ambergris is an important and extremely valuable medicinal herb. Ambergris contains approximately 25% ambergrisin. Ambergrisin is a cholesterol derivative and contains benzoic acid. The Materia Medica Compendium states that ambergris can "invigorate the blood, benefit the essence, assist the yang channel, and clear the blood vessels. Ambergris is used by Chinese medicine practitioners as a medicine to "dissolve phlegm, disperse lumps and knots, promote qi, and invigorate blood circulation". It can be seen that ambergris is a valuable traditional Chinese medicine for curing diseases and tonifying and strengthening the body. If the patient has a cough and gas reversal, the spirit is wrong and stuffy and pain in the heart and abdomen and other diseases, you can use ambergris 1 Dao 3 parts, powdered and taken. Ambergrisin is the main component of ambergris flavor. This extremely valuable ambergris, because in the world production is very small and can not be synthesized, so its value far exceeds the value of gold. Ambergris is the best of the spices, it is a high-level perfume flavor indispensable "strange incense". The use of its preparation of perfume flavor, not only soft aroma, but also long-lasting fragrance, wonderful and moving, so loved by the people.