Common millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) and foxtail millet, also known as Italian millet (Setaria italica P. Beauv.), are among crop grasses that in the Antiquity and the early Byzantine period were grown on a relatively large scale. Yet although the sources indicate that they were among popular crops, they were neither as widespread not as highly regarded by consumers as wheat and barley. Views pertinent to the dietetic doctrine with regard to those to plants evolved before Galen's lifetime and were very consistent, considering that they did not change over the period from the 2 nd to the 7 th century. This doctrine pointed to the less beneficial qualities of both these crop plants in comparison to the most highly values grains used in bread-making, especially to wheat. Also, common and foxtail millet were constantly present in the cuisine of the period in question, both being used as food in the rural areas rather than in cities. They were usually put in boiled dishes, because millet bread was unpopular owing to its brittleness and disagreeable taste. Both common and foxtail millet were included among the fármaka used in the period between the 2 nd and 7 th century, although they certainly were not as favoured in medicine as wheat and barley. Common millet was more often mentioned in the healing role. Both grains were used in medical procedures as components of healing diets, especially foods helpful in alleviating gastric disorders. Flour ground from common millet was applied as powder, whereas the grain itself found use as a component of warming cataplasms and poultices which usually had a drying quality. In addition, millet to was considered to be an efficacious antidote against poisons.
The article discusses rice (ὄρυζα) on the basis of medical writings compiled between the first and seventh centuries, and consists of four parts. The first tries to assess the spread of rice in the Greco-Roman agriculture. The results of the analysis support conclusions present in the literature and confirm the fact that rice was never popular in the Mediterranean in antiquity and later during the period of early and middle Byzantium. A gradual change in its status appeared along with the Arab agricultural revolution. The second chapter of the study is devoted to dietetic characterizations of rice and enlists features attributed to it, which were consistently made use of in medical procedures. The third part of the study tries to retrieve from medical writings main culinary guidelines concerning rice. The authors conclude that the cereal usually was the basis for preparation of cooked dishes and was hardly ever used in baking. The fourth chapter enumerates medical procedures which included rice (cure of intestinal problems, hemorrhages, other ailments resulting in excessive excretion of fluids of the body, gout etc.).
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