COPAIBA or COPAIVA, an oleo-resin—sometimes termed a balsam—obtained from the trunk of the Copaifera Lansdorfii (family Leguminosae) and from other species of Copaifera in the West Indies and Amazon valley. It is a viscous transparent liquid, occasionally fluorescent and light yellow to pale golden in colour. The odour is aromatic and characteristic, the taste acrid and bitter. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in absolute alcohol, ether and oils.