Balsam oil is derived from Balsam Peru, which is a large tropical tree having straight smooth trunk & beautiful foliage including very fragrant flowers. Resinous juice for making the oil is obtained from exposed lacerated wood after strips of bark are removed. It is initially collected in form of a dark brown or amber semi-solid mass and later distilled to achieve pure oil extract.

Peru balsam oil also known as black balsam, quina, tolu, Balsam fir oil, and balsamo, comes from the balsam of Peru which is a resinous substance obtained from the tree known as Myroxylon balsamum or Myroxylon pereirae. This resin is oily in nature and smells like a mixture of clove, cinnamon and vanilla. This is a unique aromatic combination of sweet and spicy. Myroxylon genus was originally described in 1753 by Linnaeus, such description was made using a specimen collected in the province of Cartagena and named it as Toluifera balsamum. It was established firstly by Linnaeus filius in 1781, when he described Myroxylon peruiferum based on a specimen collected by Mutis in South America. The crude gum resin collected from Myroxylon pereira is subjected to steam distillation to obtain the sweet spicy Peru Balsam oil which has multiple applications for its aroma.