Galbanum essential oil is pale yellow to yellowish brown clear liquid that is extracted through steam distillation from resin ducts of the plant. Galbanum is a large perennial herb having smooth stem shiny leaflets with small flowers. It contains resin ducts that exude a milky juice, a natural oleoresin. Galbanum, a perennial herb with a smooth, hollow stem and small white flowers, is native to the Middle East and Western Asia. It is currently cultivated in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. The whole plant contains a milky sap, but the gum resin known as the galbanum of commerce comes from the base of the plant and the root. It is obtained by making incisions first in the base of the plant to let the resin exude then in the root. Through steam distillation, the resin of galbanum can produce a volatile oil which is colorless to pale yellow or olive with an earthy, woody aroma.

Galbanum was used by ancient civilizations as an incense. In Egypt, Galbanum was used along with Frankincense and Myrrh in baths, and in making perfume oils and cosmetics. Galbanum, sometimes confused with similar resins, has been known and used since ancient times. Galbanum is mentioned in the Bible (Exodus 30.34-35), not as a medicinal drug, but as an ingredient of a sacred incense (also including frankincense, onycha, etc.) destined to be burned in the “Tabernacle of the Congregation.” Pliny and Dioscorides refer to ancient Syria as the habitat of the galbanum plant. Galbanum was widely used in ancient Mesopotamia for medicinal purposes.