A
gum resin (mostly gum) can be extracted from this plant by cutting at the base of a
stem and sun-drying the juice that flows out. It has a strong unpleasant odor, unlike the
perfumery's opopanax which is aromatic. The resin has been used in the treatment of
spasms, and, before that, as an
emmenagogue, in the treatment of
asthma, chronic visceral infections,
hysteria and
hypochondria. Opopanax resin is most frequently sold in dried irregular pieces, though tear-shaped gems are not uncommon. ==References==