Natural resins

Natural resins and products of the resins have been known since the time of civilisation in Egypt and the knowledge about resins and their use has spread as quickly as shopkeepers and craftsman have travelled. Natural resins are secondary metabolites of living systems and mixture of the resins acids. The resino resins contain alcohols, phenols and a mixture of unsaturated substances. In this paper are described the most important natural resins: colophony, sandarac, mastic, damar, shellac, copal and amber, source, the physical and chemical properties and the uses.