2.7.1 Distribution of Resins in Plants
Interestingly, the resins and resinous substances are more or less extensively distributed throughout the entire plant kingdom, specifically the Spermatophyta i.e., the seed plants. Notably, their presence is almost rare and practically negligible in the Pteridophyta i.e., the ferns and their allies. However, the resins have not been reported in the Thallophyta i.e., the sea-weeds, fungi etc.
Therefore, all these findings and observations lead one to the fact the resins are the overall and net result of metabolism in the higher plants, since the majority of them belong to the phyllum Angiosperum i.e., seed-enclosed flowering plants, and Gymnosperm i.e., naked-seed non-flowering plants.
In general, the most important and extensively studied resin-containing families are, namely: Pinaceae (Colophory or Rosin); Leguminosae (Tolu Balsam and Balsam of Peru); Dipterocarpaceae (‘Garijan’—a Balsam substitute for copaiba); Burseraceae (Myrrh) and Umbelliferae (Asafoetida).
