Talk:Mastic

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Mastic tree only grows in Chios island and only in 'Mastichohoria' which are located in the southern part of the island. You can find it nowhere else in the world. This is a fact. I don;t know where you got this information about "Mediterranean region from Morocco and Iberia east to Greece and Turkey". This is not true.Petogamosayros

See for example Germplasm Resources Information Network or Greuter, Burdet & Long (1984), Med-Checklist – A critical inventory of vascular plants of the circum-Mediterranean countries. Or any other standard flora of the region. - MPF 18:06, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok. I did some more research and here is the outcome. Mastic tree is native throughout "Mediterranean region from Morocco and Iberia east to Greece and Turkey". But there is a catch. Mastic, the actual valuable resin itself, can be extracted only from the mastic tree that grows in southern Chios. Nowhere else. Not even in northern part of Chios (and I tell you it's not a big island). You can find all the references you want at [1]. You can't buy mastic from Spain, or Turkey or Crete (which is also in Greece), because there is no mastic produced there (not just because Chios Mastic production is granted protected designation of origin (PDO) and a protected geographical indication (PGI) name). Petogamosayros

Three things: first, isn't the lack of broader geographical sources a result of it being granted the PDO, and not any actual difference in the plant across the range? I gather you COULD extract mastic resin from mastic trees across the whole range, but simply not legally sell it under that name unless it is from the Mastic Producing Villages (as mentioned in article). Perhaps that has kept it from being profitable to extract from other regions. Secondly, and more importantly, could someone please offer a description of what it tastes and smells like? All this just has me more curious, yet doesn't touch on the single most important question when discussing food stuffs: what it is like to eat! Used in sweets just doesn't tell anything about the flavor. Is there anything it can be compared to, perhaps a combination of other flavors or something it is in the same family of flavors as? I'd appreciate any additional information. Lastly, how is this related to mastic adhesive, as used for tile etc.? -Fitzhugh 10:23, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

No one ever answered the question of taste? It was mentioned briefly in the Suzanne Sommers book on aging for the relief of acid reflux, and recently spelled mastica gum on Mercola. I am wondering more about it. Has anyone tasted it?````Charfair

Initially, the resin has a brittle texture as you bite into it (the first few bites seem like you are biting into dirt/sand), but quickly takes on the consistency of chewing gum, albeit not as springy as normal gum. The taste is relatively earthy at the beginning, however, after those few bites, the pleasant mastic flavour is released and becomes more and more pronounced as you chew. It is somewhat bland compared to normal over-the-counter chewing gum, though (unlike chewing gum, it is not sweetened). Dragases 10:09, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sentence Fragments Bolded

There were several sentence fragments in the article that appeared to be intended as subheadings; I have bolded them. Bill Jefferys 23:25, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

this page is inaccurate, mastic is not useful unless it is from chios. It has been tried time after time to make use of it elsewhere but simple not possible because the "tears" that drip from the tree after being scraped do not dry. Mastic is very valuable and expensive and it has been attempted to make use of by planting it in other places but is not possible. And as far as not being allowed to sell it, that is not the reason because morocco and turkey are not in the EU.

[edit] Balm of Gilead

Under Balm of Gilead (disambiguation), several trees are mentioned, none of which is this one. What is the reference for that? LachlanA 04:57, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Is Chios the only place in the world where the resin is harvested?--Kayboldum01 10:28, 28 July 2007 (UTC)