Grant: Cat. Gr.: Indigenous Approaches to Wellness Research- Wellness in Cancer control

Birch bark oil is a natural product derived from the dry distillation process of the bark of birch trees. Indigenous communities in Canada have been using this birch bark oil as ointment in combination with animal fats for the treatment of various skin conditions. Issues with birch bark oil are its very unpleasant odour (stench!), and the very labour intensive and time consuming extraction processing. Recent developments within the principal research team allow the scaling-up of birch bark oil production in addition to a novel de-odourization process. Detailed analysis of chemical compounds shows a complex mixture of more than 200 organic compounds including betulin and betulinic acid (class of pentacyclic triterpenes) that have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-microbial activities. The proposed research will reach out to indigenous communities (Membertou First Nation) in a 2-eyed seeing approach. This community research project is looking for knowledge on processing of the oil as well as medical treatment indications and procedures, and bring together the chemical knowledge and improvements for birch bark processing and de-odourization. The principal applicants have already established connections with some indigenous communities and industrial partners to bring this knowledge and products back to the communities as well as to Canada. The research will also involve preliminary testing of bioactivities of the processed birch bark oils. This project aims to develop birch bark oil based ointments suitable for human skin applications.