Pharmacographia: a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India

Flückiger, F. A.; Hanbury, Daniel

doi:10.5962/bhl.title.109541

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the ensuing years, chicory roots were increasingly cultivated for the production of chicory coffee in Europe ( 67 ). Eventually, the food use of the chicory root changed completely at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century when inulin was discovered ( 70 ), together with its versatile physicochemical properties as a food ingredient. Consequently, chicory roots started to be used mainly as a source for inulin production, and their use as a root vegetable became less common, apart from certain regions, notably in Italy ( 41 ).…”

Section: Historical Use Of Chicory Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back to the Roots: Revisiting the Use of the Fiber-Rich Cichorium intybus L. Taproots

Puhlmann

Vos

2020

Advances in Nutrition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fibers are increasingly recognized as an indispensable part of our diet and vital for maintaining health. Notably, complex mixtures of fibers have been found to improve metabolic health. Following an analysis of the fiber content of plant-based products, we found the taproot of the chicory plant (Cichorium intybusL.) to be 1 of the vegetables with the highest fiber content, comprising nearly 90% of its dry weight. Chicory roots consist of a mixture of inulin, pectin, and (hemi-)cellulose and also contain complex phytochemicals, such as sesquiterpene lactones that have been characterized in detail. Nowaday, chicory roots are mainly applied as a source for the extraction of inulin, which is used as prebiotic fiber and food ingredient. Chicory roots, however, have long been consumed as a vegetable by humans. The whole root has been used for thousands of years for nutritional, medicinal, and other purposes, and it is still used in traditional dishes in various parts of the world. Here, we summarize the composition of chicory roots to explain their historic success in the human diet. We revisit the intake of chicory roots by humans and describe the different types of use along with their various methods of preparation. Hereby, we focus on the whole root in its complex, natural form, as well as in relation to its constituents, and discuss aspects regarding legal regulation and the safety of chicory root extracts for human consumption. Finally, we provide an overview of the current and future applications of chicory roots and their contribution to a fiber-rich diet.

show abstract

Section: Historical Use Of Chicory Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back to the Roots: Revisiting the Use of the Fiber-Rich Cichorium intybus L. Taproots

Puhlmann

Vos

2020

Advances in Nutrition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The first report which unequivocally refers to this resin comes from the fourteenth century Arab traveler Ibn Batuta. It was suggested that the Arabic name luban djawi (frankincense of Java) was later changed to banjawi to finally give benjoin or benzoin (Flückiger and Hanbury, 1874, p. 362; Tschirch and Lippmann, 1933, p. 1383). The only representative of the Styracaceae in the Mediterranean and native to Cyprus is Styrax officinalis (Meikle, 1977/1985), the source of solid storax.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resins and Gums in Historical Iatrosophia Texts from Cyprus – A Botanical and Medico-pharmacological Approach

Lardos¹,

Prieto²,

Heinrich³

2011

Front. Pharmacol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study explores historical iatrosophia texts from Cyprus from a botanical and medico-pharmacological point of view focusing on remedies containing resins and gums. The iatrosophia are a genre of Greek medical literature of Byzantine origin and can be described as medicine handbooks which serve as therapeutic repositories containing recipes or advice. To extract and analyze information on plant usage in such sources – which are largely unedited texts and so far have not been translated – we investigate (i) the relationship of the iatrosophia to Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica as well as historic pharmaceutical books or standard texts on modern phytotherapy and (ii) the validity of the remedies by comparing them to modern scientific data on reported biological activities. In the six texts investigated 27 substances incorporating plant exudates are mentioned. They are obtained from over 43 taxa of higher plants and in particular are used to treat dermatological, gastrointestinal, and respiratory tract conditions. The comparison to historic pharmaceutical books and phytotherapy texts reflects the gradual decline of the use of plant exudates in Western medicine. While remarkable parallels to Dioscorides’ text exist, the non-Dioscoridean influence suggests a complex pattern of knowledge exchange. Overall, this resulted in an integration of knowledge from so far poorly understood sources. The comparison with bioscientific data reveals a fragmentary picture and highlights the potential of these unexplored substances and their uses. Where relevant bioscientific data are available, we generally found a confirmation. This points to a largely rational use of the associated remedies. Taken together, the iatrosophia are a valuable resource for ethnopharmacological and natural product research. Most importantly they contribute to the understanding of the development of herbal medicines in the (Eastern) Mediterranean and Europe.

show abstract

“…In 1861, Strumpf in his Allgemeine Pharmakopöe, condensed all hitherto available data into his entry on Folia Bucco (Strumpf, 1861). Flückiger further investigated the microscopic structure of buchu leaves and reported a layer of mucilage on their upper side between the epidermis and the mesophyll [Flückiger 1873, cited in Flückiger andHanbury (1874)]. This description was part of a detailed monograph, which once again summarized the current knowledge.…”

Section: Scientific Investigation and Compendial Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buchu (Agathosma betulina and A. crenulata): Rightfully Forgotten or Underutilized?

Brendler

Abdel‐Tawab

2022

Front. Pharmacol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Today, the term buchu refers to the two species in commerce, Agathosma betulina (P.J.Bergius) Pillans and Agathosma crenulata (L.) Pillans (Rutaceae). Its traditional use in urinary tract infections and related ailments made it a popular remedy, specifically in the US, in 19th century, but with the advent of antibiotics it became largely obsolete. Recent focus is on technological use and on the essential oil for use in the perfume and food-flavouring industry. A review of the scarce pharmacological research revealed moderate antimicrobial activity for a leaf extract but not the essential oil of both species in the MIC assay. In the 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) assay the essential oil of both species revealed IC50 values of 50.37 ± 1.87 μg/ml and 59.15 ± 7.44 μg/ml, respectively. In another study 98% inhibitory activity was determined for 250 μg/ml of an ethanolic extract of A. betulina on cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and a 25% inhibitory activity on COX-2. Analgesic activity of an ethanolic extract of A. betulina was shown in mice. Moderate antioxidant activity was determined for methanol:dichlormethane extracts of A. betulina and A. crenulata and an aqueous extract of A. betulina showed a Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) of 11.8 µM Trolox. Recent in vitro studies with a commercial aqueous extract of buchu revealed increased uptake of glucose added to 3T3-L1 cell line, significant inhibition of the respiratory burst of neutrophils and monocytes, reduction in the expression of adhesion molecules and inhibition of the release of IL-6 and TNF-α. In diabetic rats the ingestion of aqueous buchu extract completely normalized the glucose level and in rats receiving a high fat diet the consumption of aqueous buchu extract resulted in less weight gain and less intraperitoneal fat gain as well as reduction of elevated blood pressure to normal associated with cardioprotective effects. Limitations in the hitherto conducted research lie in the undisclosed composition of the buchu extracts used and the difficulty in extrapolating data from animal studies to humans. Health claims for buchu products need to be substantiated by randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled studies. Only then can they be promoted for their true therapeutic potential.

show abstract

Pharmacographia: a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Back to the Roots: Revisiting the Use of the Fiber-Rich Cichorium intybus L. Taproots

Back to the Roots: Revisiting the Use of the Fiber-Rich Cichorium intybus L. Taproots

Resins and Gums in Historical Iatrosophia Texts from Cyprus – A Botanical and Medico-pharmacological Approach

Buchu (Agathosma betulina and A. crenulata): Rightfully Forgotten or Underutilized?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About