Oman’s secret pride, the indigenous frankincense will soon be seen adorning the shelves of European food and personal care sections of shopping malls, not in its raw form but in a variety of end user products.
After bagging the approval of the Swiss Drug Authority (SDA), the food variant made of this traditional gum has drawn attention from German, Swiss, Austrian, American, Indian and other companies which will give a shot in the arm for Omani frankincence.
Named ‘FrankOman’, this is the first product of frankincence to have gained such a title and is developed by Dhofar University and manufactured by the Swiss company AlbinaMed AG.
FrankOman is prescribed for some arthritis, colon and lung infections.
“We are expecting as many as seven products to be produced from Omani frankincense that is developed by Dhofar University during the year 2021,” Professor Luay Jamil Rashan, Principal Researcher at the Dhofar University Research Center told the Observer.
“These products are manufactured and marketed in the US as a first step by Pars Bioscience, a US company. Four of those products will be in capsule form for cases of bronchitis and joints, IBS and BPH whereas other products will be in the form of ointments for external application for arthritis, muscle spasms, wounds, burns and haemorrhoids,” Professor Luay added.
Indian frankincense is the only internationally approved and registered with the Swiss Medicines Authority and other international institutions, and there are more than 70 food supplement products that use Indian frankincense manufactured by many global companies and sold in a large number of countries. In addition, there is a product of Indian frankincense registered as an Indian drug and approved by the European Medicines Authority as a medicine used for some cases of brain cancer.
Oman’s FrankOman product can be used for, besides arthritis, colon and lung infections, and the package contains 100 tablets to be taken by mouth, according to the instructions mentioned on the package.
Certified by the SDA and manufactured according to the requirements of the Swiss Medicines Authority and GMP standards, FrankOman is also a dietary supplement in the form of tablets to be taken orally.
This achievement comes after more than a year of cooperation between Dhofar University and the Swiss Company for Drugs and Dietary Supplements.
The studies included conducting joint studies that involved chemical analyses of the active substances in Omani frankincense gum with advanced and sophisticated equipment in each of the company’s laboratories and Dhofar University independently.
“This is a great achievement for Omani frankincence and will open the door to the global adoption of the same, as is the case in Indian frankincense, and to be used in the pharmaceutical industries, nutritional supplements and cosmetic preparations by international companies,” Professor Luay hoped.
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