author(s) : Mona M. Abdel-Mohsen and Abdel-Fattah M. Rizk

The family Cistaceae consists of 8 genera and 180 species, with 5 genera native to the Mediterranean area (Cistus, Fumana, Halimium, Helianthemum, and Tuberaria) (Papaefthimiou et al., 2014). Most members of this family are very fragrant and sweet smelling, being much appreciated in the perfume industry and for ornamental purposes (Ben Jemia et al., 2013). Since ancient times Cistus plants have been prized as the source of the substance labdanum, also known as ladanum or ladan, a sticky brown resin. The leaves of several species i.e. Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus, are coated with this highly aromatic resin, whereas other species are devoted of the resin. The use of labdanum was known to the Egyptians, at the times of pharaons and to Greeks, as early as the times of Herodotus and Theophrastus, as an ingredient in perfumes, herbal medicine and incense, and later cited by Dioscorides. Labdanum’s odour is very rich, complex and tenacious, variously described as amber, animalic, sweet, woody, dry musk, or leather.
Labdanum is the main ingredient used when making the scent of amber in perfumery.
Ambergris and labdanum scent similarity is due to the chemical composition of volatile fraction, rich of diterpenic constituents (Toniolo and Nicoletti, 2014).
The genus Cistus is a model for exploring labdane-type diterpenes, biosynthesis and a natural source of high value products with biological, aromatic, and pharmacological properties (Papaefthimiou et al., 2014).