Improving the quality of almaciga resin

The time may not be long when resin obtained from the bark of almaciga tree in the country can be refined and upgraded.

A technology is now being developed by researchers of the Los Baños-based DOST-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) to improve the quality of almaciga resin and thus enhance its export value.

The project is being funded by the Japan-based International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO).

A large columnar tree, almaciga thrives in the mountain slopes of the Cagayan Valley, Southern Tagalog, and some Visayas and Mindanao provinces. Known in the international market as Manila copal, the resin is usually processed into varnish for use in small furniture and handicraft shops.

Mildrid Fidel, leader of an FPRDI research team studying ways to refine the almaciga resin for use in making high-value industrial products, said:

"We are not making the most out of the resource. We have been dethroned by Indonesia as the world leader in almaciga resin trade because the quality of our product has deteriorated through the years."

FPRDI director Dr. Florence Soriano also reported: "Because the country does not yet have any local means to refine almaciga resin on a commercial scale, we are testing a refinery that can process up to 200 kilos of resin and 500 liters of denatured alcohol per batch. If it works, the plant can yield 80,400 kilos of refined resin a year worth P6 million to P9 million." – RAF