Mastiha History

It was born in Chios. It traveled all over the world. A natural product, enthusiastically welcomed, widely accepted and used in various ways. Today, more than ever, Mastiha attracts the interest of the international scientific society to study its beneficial medicinal attributes; it inspires the "virtuosos" of the traditional and modern cuisine. Over the centuries, this legendary resin has motivated exciting encounters and cultural interchanges along the Mediterranean and beyond.

In ancient times well known Greek and Roman doctors like Hippocrates, Galen, Dioskurides and later on other Greek and latin doctors, studied the beneficial pharmaceuticals attributes of "Mastiha resin". Great historians like Herodotus, Diodoros Siculus and Plinius have recorded numerous references and information on various uses of Mastiha in ancient Carthage, Egypt and Arabia.

In Roman times, Emperor Heliogavalus for the first time blended Mastiha essential oil (mastichium oleum) with wine and produced "masticatum". The ladies of the aristocracy in Rome as well as the women of the harem later on in Constantinople, used toothpicks made from wood of the Mastiha tree as a teeth whitener, a practice that continued until the Middle Age in France, England, Holland and Spain.

During the Byzantine period, Mastiha held one of the highest places on the list of exported luxury goods, bringing an income of 120,000 coins to the island's Imperial Commander.

The island's Genoese occupation (1346-1566 A.D) marked a new era in Mastiha trade. The restless Genoese traders systemically organized and tightly controlled the trade of the precious resin, bringing Mastiha to the big markets of the East as well of the West. Mastiha gained prestige and traveled to the major cities of the famous trading routes of the times: Yerevan, Rhodes, Cyprus, Damascus, Alexandria, Bursa, Odessa, Bagdad, Venice, Pisa, Florence, Trieste, Marseille, London…cities where various people, cultures, religions, customs, flavors and aromas coexisted in a colorful setting.

In the period of Ottoman Empire, the island of Chios was self-ruled, enjoying special privileges only because of Mastiha. The finest quality Mastiha, of the year's harvest was sent to the Sultan in Constantinople for the 300 ladies of this harem.

Nowadays, Mastiha continues its voyage in time in the multicultural and colourful area of the Eastern Mediterranean, bringing closer different people and cultures that Mastiha reflects in its ever-changing forms and uses, making life "sweeter" either as a spice or as a medicament.