The short answer
Somali frankincense is graded by piece size, colour and cleanliness. Maydi is traditionally sorted into six or more grades and beeyo into three, but grade names and sizes vary between traders and are not an industry standard. Specify the grade in measurable terms (piece size range, colour, foreign matter limit, siftings, moisture) and tie the order to a sample and photographs of the actual lot.
When an offer for Somali frankincense says grade 1, or uses a Somali grade name, read it as the seller’s description of that lot. Grade names and sizes vary between traders, so two offers cannot be compared on the name alone.
This article covers what the published sources say about how beeyo and maydi are graded, where those sources stop, and how to write a grade into an RFQ so that every supplier answers the same question.
Two resins, sorted at origin
Two resins are traded as Somali frankincense: beeyo, from the tree Somalis call moxor, and maydi, from a different species, Boswellia frereana.1 Kew’s Plants of the World Online accepts Boswellia sacra as the name of the beeyo tree and treats Boswellia carteri as a synonym, while the trade still sells the resin as Boswellia carterii.23
They do not look alike: beeyo is milky and yellow-brown, and maydi forms large golden tears.1 See beeyo and maydi compared.
Somali exporters typically clean the resin at sorting houses they own or rent before it is shipped.1 Erigavo has been described as the main hub for gathering, sorting and storing Somaliland’s resins, and a 2014 report found the sorting there done by women at sorting boards.4
What the published sources say
J.J.W. Coppen’s chapter in a 2005 volume on gum resins from the Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa says the resin is graded by size, colour and cleanliness.5 The traditional ladders differ by resin: the chapter gives beeyo three grades, and maydi six or more in one passage and up to seven in another.5
Two detailed studies of the Somaliland supply chain, published in 2014 and 2020, contain no grade table.41 The price quotations in Coppen’s chapter, dated July 2005, describe Somali frankincense simply as first choice or graded.5
A count of grades and three criteria do not add up to a definition. A grade name has to be turned into measurements before it can be compared.
The same applies to the traditional Somali grade names. If maydi is offered or ordered under one, treat the name as a label and write down what it stands for in measurements, or work from a reference sample. The definition that counts is the one written into your order.
What separates one grade from the next
Each criterion can be written down. Size is the size of the single piece, or tear, and how much of the lot is broken pieces and powder. Colour is how light or dark the pieces are. Cleanliness is how much bark, stone and other foreign matter is left in.
Our own ladder shows how the three combine. We sort both resins into the same five working grades. They are our grades, not an industry standard.
| Working grade | What it looks like | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Superior, large tears | Largest, clean, light-coloured tears | Retail packing, gifts, top incense |
| Grade 1 | Large to medium tears, light colour, very clean | Fine incense, retail, distillation |
| Grade 2 | Medium tears, slightly darker, clean | Incense and bakhoor blends, distillation |
| Grade 3, pieces | Smaller tears and broken pieces | Distillation, blending |
| Siftings | Small pieces and powder left after grading | Distillation, extraction, powdered incense |
Each step down is a smaller piece, a slightly darker colour or more broken material. Those are descriptions, not measurements.
Which grade suits which use
Choose the grade by what the resin has to do.
Where the resin will be seen or chewed, size and colour are the specification. Maydi is valued for chewing, and its top grades are regarded as a prestigious chewing product in Saudi Arabia.5 Coppen’s chapter also records Egypt importing many of the lower grades of maydi for incense.5
Where the resin goes into a still or an extractor, the tear is not seen again. Both Somali resins are frequently distilled into essential oil, and the essential-oil market has driven much greater demand for beeyo.1 In our ladder, distillation is a typical use of every grade below the top one, down to siftings. A distiller’s specification is better spent on cleanliness, moisture and species than on tear size.
What a grade does not tell you
Grading is by size, colour and cleanliness, so several things a buyer may need are outside it.5
A grade does not tell you the species. A third frankincense tree, Boswellia occulta, was described from Sanaag in 2019.67 Its resin is sold as beeyo as well, and the two have been found mixed.78
A 2019 study found the marker compound of Boswellia occulta, 1-methoxydecane, in 9 of 13 commercial oils sold as pure Boswellia carterii.7 GC-MS is the test that finds it.7 If species matters to you, write the test into the specification, and see how to verify frankincense species and quality.
A grade does not tell you the oil content. Published essential-oil yields for Somali beeyo typically run from 4 to 8%.7 That is a range from the literature, not a property of a grade or of any lot we offer. If yield matters, distil the sample.
A grade does not tell you where or when the resin was collected. Our lot list does: it traces every bag back to its collection area and date.
Nor is a grade a certificate.
How to specify a grade in an RFQ
Write the grade as lines that can be measured or checked, and send the same lines to every supplier. The table below can be copied into a specification as it stands. The figures are yours to set.
| Line | What to state |
|---|---|
| Resin | Beeyo or maydi, with the botanical name. One resin per lot |
| Grade name | The seller’s name for the grade, and yours if you use one |
| Piece size | Smallest and largest piece in mm, and the share by weight allowed outside that range |
| Colour | The colour you expect, in plain words, and whether darker pieces are accepted |
| Bark, stone and other foreign matter | Maximum % by weight |
| Siftings | The size below which a piece counts as siftings, and the maximum % by weight |
| Moisture | Maximum %, and the test method |
| Other tests | Each test and its method, for example GC-MS with a 1-methoxydecane screen |
| Reference sample | A graded sample drawn from the lot on offer, approved before you order |
| Photographs | Photographs of the lot itself, with a ruler in the frame |
| Lot reference | The lot number of the sample, repeated on the bags, the packing list and the invoice |
A size range with a tolerance can be checked with a ruler and a scale; “large tears” cannot. Colour is judged against the reference sample, in the same light. Our frankincense sheet sets out the same lines, with what we fix for every order and what is yours to set, as the specification for a lot.
Moisture has its own line because the resins need protection from heat and moisture.4
For our part, we quote beeyo and maydi as separate lines. We agree the specification with you in writing and send photographs and a graded sample of the actual lot before you order. GC-MS and moisture tests can be arranged on request through an outside laboratory. Each bag carries a lot number that follows it to your export invoice.
Comparing the offers you get back
An offer that answers every line can be set beside another. An offer that answers with a grade name alone cannot, so ask for the missing lines before you ask for a sample.
Check every sample the same way. Weigh a portion. Sort it into pieces inside your size range, pieces outside it, foreign matter and siftings, and weigh each pile. Those four weights are the grade as delivered, whatever name is on the bag. Keep part of the sample you approve, because the shipment is checked against it.
If you already buy to a written specification, send it with your RFQ. If you do not, the table above is enough to start. Fill in the lines and request a quote.