Pure abietic acid is a colorless solid, but commercial samples are usually a glassy or partly crystalline yellowish solid that melts at temperatures as low as 85 °C (185 °F).[4]
It is also used in soaps, for the analysis of resins, and the preparation of metal resinates.
As rosin
Rosin, of which abietic acid is the principal component:
Has been used for centuries as a flux for soldering. (Abietic acid in the flux removes oxidation from the surfaces of metals, increasing their ability to bond with the liquified solder.)
Is rubbed on the hair of a violin bow to increase friction.
50% ethanol extracts from Resina pini of Pinus sp. (Pinaceae) showed inhibitory activity against testosterone 5α-reductase prepared from rat prostate. The fraction responsible for this activity was purified, and the active constituent was isolated and identified as abietic acid, which exhibited potent inhibitory activity against testosterone 5α-reductase in vitro.[10]
References
^National Toxicology Program, Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NTP). 1992. National Toxicology Program Chemical Repository Database. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
^Hausen, BM; Krohn, K; Budianto, E (1990). "Contact allergy due to colophony (VII). Sensitizing studies with oxidation products of abietic and related acids". Contact Dermatitis. 23 (5): 352–8. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0536.1990.tb05171.x. PMID2096024. S2CID34726630.