INDIGO IS A HEALTH-GIVING PLANT: HISTORY AND USES OF TRUE INDIGO

INDIGO OR TRUE INDIGO, INDIGOFERA TINCTORIA

Indigo has been used as a dye for millennia as have woad (Isatis tincotria) and madder, (Rubia tinctoria). Indigo is native to Asia and was the blue dye used there, while woad was used in Europe. In India indigo has been used in Ayurveda and other traditional medicine systems to cure a number of ailments, despite the fact that the whole plant contains indican, which is a carcinogenic glucoside. The plant also contains rotenoids which are effective insecticides against mosquito larvae.

  Because of its use in traditional medicine there have been studies to attempt to support these uses. Indigotin, the substance responsible for the blue of the dye is thought to have antiseptic and astringent properties, and there are studies currently underway on indirubin, also found in woad, to discover if it has anti-cancer properties. Early studies have shown that the alcohol extracts of indigo’s stems and leaves protect the liver from damage by chemicals such as carbon tetrachloride, found in cleaning agents, refrigerants and aerosols and the leaves can help to lower blood pressure. One study reported in the International Journal of Pharmacology vol 7 (3) pages 356-63 2011 by Renukadevi, K.P. and Suhani Sultana, S. suggests that the plant’s extracts from the leaves have potent antioxidant actions and antibacterial and anti-cancer ones. However the studies were carried out on animals and in vitro, no tests have been done on human subjects in any of the research quoted here.

  In the same study the leaves were analyzed and found to contain flavonoids, saponins, tannins, steroidal terpenes, phenols and anthroquinone, and were found to be effective against lung cancer cells in vitro. The report concludes with this sentence “This study suggests that ethanol extract (sic) of Indigofera tinctoria have profound antibacterial, antioxidant and cytotoxic effect. (sic)”

  In another study, “Anti-hyperglycaemic activity of ethanol extract and chloroform extract of Indigofera tinctoria leaves in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice (Family Papilionaceae)” published in the  Research Journal of Pharmaceutical. Biological and Chemical Sciences Jan-March 2011, Bangar, A.V. and Saralaya M.G. conclude “…from the present study that Indigofera tinctoria leaves alcoholic extract long-term treatment may be beneficial in the management of type-1, type-2 diabetes.”                            

Yet another study looked at the traditional use of the plant in treating epilepsy and in the Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical  Research published 2010 vol9 (2) pages 149-56, it is concluded that extracts from the whole plant were “useful in controlling lithium/pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in albino rats.”

  Indigofera tinctoria means dyer’s indigo-bearing plant (tinctoria means dyer and indigofera means indigo bearing). There are many plants in the genus; it is thought that there are around 700, which is of the Fabaceae family, making indigo a relative of the pea. Marco Polo wrote about the indigo dying industry in the 13^th century on his travels around what is now Quilon in the Indian state of Kerala in 1298. However we know that indigo was used as a dye by the people of the Indus Valley Civilization between the 4^th and 2^nd millennia BC. In the Industrial Revolution the dye was used for European military uniforms and of course has been used in the US to dye blue jeans their distinctive colour. However imported indigo was banned in many countries in Europe in the 17^th century so that it did not compete with woad, as dyers and cultivators of this native European plant protested against the importing of indigo. Later indigo and woad were used together to strengthen the colour of the dye.

  In India indigo has been used to colour paper used for writing letters as well as for ink and oil-based paints for artists. A Persian rug dating back to the 5^th century BC has been found to have indigo-dyed fibres and at Thebes Egyptian mummies were found to have indigo-dyed cloth with them. The Greek historian Herodotus (who wrote rather fancifully of the collection of cinnamon bark, claiming it was from the nest of the fabled bird, the phoenix), writing circa 450 BC described the use of indigo in the Mediterranean region at that time, and we know that ancient Greeks and Romans used indigo imported from India in “cakes”. The ancient Egyptians and Romans applied it to wounds and ulcerous sores.

  In traditional Chinese medicine indigo has been used as a pain reliever, for fever, inflammation and to purify the liver and blood. In Indian traditional medicine it has been used to promote hair growth and is used as a hair dye for black hair, just as henna is used for red hair. It has been used for centuries in Ayurveda to treat depression, for cancer, bronchitis and other respiratory problems such as asthma, hemorrhaging, as well as problems with the spleen, lungs and kidneys. Some research suggests that it has liver protective properties. In other traditional medicine systems in the Indian subcontinent it has also been used for cardio-vascular problems, urinary tract problems and the paste made with the leaves is applied to sores, ulcers and piles and a decoction of the leaves was applied to the stings and bites of venomous creatures as well as to relieve pain and aid fast healing of burns and scalds. At one time in India it was used to cure bites from rabid dogs and the resulting hydrophobia.

  Indigo is sometimes used as ground cover in tea, coffee and rubber plantations and often food crops such as potatoes are interspersed with cultivated indigo.

  It is likely that many of these treatments will be the basis for future research into Indigofera tinctoria and other related indigo bearing plants.

WOAD - NOT ONLY FOR DYING: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF WOAD

WOAD, ISATIS TINCTORIA

Woad is native to south-eastern Europe or to the grasslands of south-western Russia. In prehistory it spread throughout Europe and was used by ancient Britons as body paint used by warriors going into battle. As the woad plant has antiseptic properties this may have been why the tribes wore it – to heal battle wounds. In films the Picts are shown wearing woad- think about the film “Braveheart”- the Scots wore woad. However, the tribe of the Iceni whose one-time queen was Boudicca, used woad as body paint in East Anglia in Britain. This would explain why Julius Caesar wrote in his history books that British tribes (not Scots) used woad as body paint which he noted during his campaign of 55 BC. Woad may have been prolific in Britain then, but may have been over-harvested for use as body paint and dye by our ancestors.

Colour of woad dye

  Woad is also known as Dyer’s woad as it was used to dye textiles blue. In Asia indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) was used for this purpose (the two plants are not related). In the 16^th century Queen Elizabeth I issued a “Proclamation against the sowing of woade” (14^th October 1585) because a lot of arable land was being turned over to woad production at a time when there was a shortage of food in Britain. With the introduction of synthetic dyes woad cultivation virtually ceased in Europe. However there has been a resurgence of interest in the plant and in 2004 the European Sustainable Production of Indigo (SPINDIGO) and it is once again being cultivated in Toulouse, France and around Norfolk in East Anglia UK.

  Woad was also used as a blue ink by the monks who illuminated the Lindisfarne Gospels in the 7^th or 8^th century AD. Blue inks made with woad are also being manufactured once again.

  In Britain woad has been found in an Iron Age pit at Dragonby in South Humberside, dating back to the first century AD. Woad has been used as a shape-shifter and to investigate past lives in magic and shamanic rituals through the ages.

  The Anglo-Saxon name for this plant was wad, which shows how the word came to be woad; and wad has been incorporated into place names, presumably showing where woad was cultivated or where it grew wild in the distant past. Such names are Wadland Furlong in Warwickshire (my favourite of these names), Wadborough in Worcestershire and Wadden in Dorset and Surrey but this list is not complete by any means.

  Writing in the 16^th century the herbalist John Gerard has this to say about the plant:-  

 “Garden Woad is dry but not sharp, Wild Woad is drier and sharper and biting. The decoction made of Woad is good for hardness of the spleen, also good for wounds and ulcers to those of strong constitution and those accustomed to much physical labour and coarse fare. It is used as a dye, profitable to some, hurtful to many.”

  Culpeper, writing a century later concurs, but also says that woad is beneficial when used in ointments for ulcers, and to staunch bleeding. Because of these old herbalists it was accepted for centuries in the western world that woad should not be taken internally. However times have changed and we now know that woad leaves are edible if they have been soaked for a very long time in water to remove some of their astringency and bitterness. (It isn’t worth your while bothering – it takes too long and you may not like the taste.)

  Woad is a Brassica and so related to cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and broccoli. Research has shown that woad is rich in the compound glucobrassicin and has 20 times more of it than is found in broccoli. Foods rich in glucosinolates are known to have a beneficial effect on smoking-related lung cancers, and glucobrassicin in particular has shown itself to have anti-tumour properties being especially effective against breast cancer. This substance is released by woad when its leaves are damaged, so it is easier to obtain from this source than from broccoli. (University of Bologna research published 2006 and reported by the BBC.) This also kills pests which try to eat the leaves - it’s a good defence mechanism.

  Earlier research, published in the Alternative Medicine Review, vol. 7 (6) 2000 states that the root and leaves have anti-microbial actions although exactly what is responsible for these is still not known. Extracts from the Chinese woad plant root have anti-microbial, antiviral and antiparasitic actions. The indole compounds found in the Brassica plants have anti-cancer effects, and tryptanthrin in the European woad root has anti-inflammatory properties.

  Woad is therefore a useful plant for our health and has properties the older Western herbalists could not have dreamed about!

Woad seeds

  The first year’s leaves look like those of spinach and it is these that are harvested for their dye. The plant flowers between June and August and the black tongue-shaped seeds ripen between August and the end of September. Oil can be extracted from these and used to make soap. The seeds produce an olive-coloured dye too.

  It would appear to be a good thing that woad is making a comeback.

  

BUTTERNUT SQUASH - HEALTHY WINTER FOOD: MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND USES OF BUTTERNUT SQUASH

BUTTERNUT SQUASH, CUCURBITA MOSCHATA

September marks the beginning of the butternut squash season, as well as the start of the pumpkin and other winter squashes hitting the shelves of your local market or supermarket. The butternut squash is one of the Cucurbitaceae family of plants and as such it is related to the pumpkin, cucumber, courgette, melon and watermelon, to name but a few of its many relatives.

  The butternut squash is one of my favourites with its orangey flesh promising lots of beta-carotene and lycopene, so I know it’s healthy and tastes good. It is rich in vitamins C and A; it also has vitamins E and K as well as a good number of the B-complex vitamins. It is also a source of Omega-3 fatty acid and Omega-6. As for minerals it is rich in magnesium, manganese and potassium and also contains calcium, iron, phosphorous and zinc with traces of selenium and copper. Tryptophan is one of the 18 amino acids in a butternut squash’s seeds and this helps produce GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) needed for neurotransmitters in the brain to function well.  The polysaccharides in this squash have anti-inflammatory properties and are insulin-regulating, making this a good food for diabetics. The squash is also high in dietary fibre, adding bulk to our diets, so preventing constipation and thus helping to prevent piles and colon cancer. This also helps in a weight-reducing diet.

  It is heart-healthy as it has no cholesterol and vitamin A including that converted by the body from the polyphenolic flavonoids lutein and carotene, which have potent antioxidant actions. There is more vitamin A in the butternut squash than in the pumpkin, and this helps to prevent lung and oral cavity cancers and helps our vision.

  The seeds are edible, like the pumpkin seeds and can be eaten raw and roasted, so don’t throw them away when you prepare a butternut squash for cooking.

  In fact the first butternut squashes were cultivated for their seeds, and it is believed that the early squash was much less fleshy than the varieties we have today. It is thought that the butternut squash originated in Central America, in Mexico and Guatemala, and was consumed by ancient peoples there 10,000 years ago.

  You can cook this versatile squash in many ways, baked, boiled, steamed, casseroled, made into thin game chips (crisps); puree it for use in soups or as a spicy dip, with celery and carrot sticks to scoop it up with – there are lots of things you can do with one.

  Below is a recipe for baked butternut squash, to use with other vegetables and meats as a side dish. Check out the other recipes we have such as butternut squash with pecans, or topped with macadamia nuts, or substitute it for the pumpkin in the pumpkin and stevia recipe. Bon appetite!

BAKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small butternut squash

olive oil

2 tbsps butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

few sprigs of thyme stripped of leaves

few whole sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 inch piece of cinnamon

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4.

Cut the squash in half lengthways and remove the seeds then cut each piece into quarters.

Grease a baking tray and put the quarters onto it cut side up.

Grind the cinnamon stick and sprinkle over the pieces along with the thyme, nutmeg, cumin seeds salt and freshly ground pepper.

Drizzle well with olive oil and dot with butter.

Bake in the oven for 40 – 50 mins or until the squash is tender and some parts are golden brown.

Scoop the flesh out of the rind if you wish (it’s edible too) and puree the flesh, or leaves as they are and serve.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

WILD SUGAR CANE, KANS GRASS: MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND USES OF WILD SUGAR CANE

WILD SUGAR CANE, SACCHARUM SPONTANEUM

Wild sugar cane is a weed in the Indian subcontinent and covers vast tracts of waste land. I thought it was a type of papyrus such as is found in the middle of carefully manicured lawns in Britain. I was clearly wrong. Wild sugar cane can be useful because it can be crossed with sugar cane, Saccharum officinarum to create a more disease resistant sugar cane. Because of its deep root system and rhizomes it is also useful in preventing soil erosion. It is a member of the Poaceae family of plants so is related to maize or sweet corn, black rice (other rice too), sorghum, millet, rye, oats, barley and wheat.

   Apart from being common in the Indian subcontinent it is also prolific in South Africa, Central America, the USA, the Middle East, tropical Africa, and South-East Asia as well as to the Pacific Basin.  It’s a tall perennial grass growing to heights of up to 4 metres. In India large tracts of arable lad have been abandoned to it because it is so difficult to get rid of. The roots and rhizomes go deep into the soil, and only if land is very well ploughed can they be got rid of. Unfortunately many villagers with land can’t afford a tractor.

  It has been used in traditional medicine in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, with its roots said to have astringent and emollient properties so it can soothe irritated skin and heal wounds. It is used to treat indigestion, and to relieve biliousness, as well as to cool the body. The leaves can be heated and used in a poultice to relieve the inflammation of painful joints, perhaps as a result of arthritis or rheumatism. It can also be used as a purgative and the aerial parts are supposed to have aphrodisiac qualities. In India it is used for erectile dysfunctions, gynaecological problems and respiratory disorders among other ailments.

  A decoction made from the roots and rhizomes of the wild sugar cane, or Kans grass as it is also known, is used to promote milk in breast feeding mothers and as a diuretic. A decoction of the top parts of the plant is used for blood disorders, haemorrhages and biliousness among other things. Modern clinical trials have been few and far between, but on study conducted in 2009 seemed to show that the plant can kill cancer cells in vitro and has antioxidant properties as well as having antibacterial ones.

 The leaves and stems of the plant can be utilized to make paper, as well as being used for thatch. They also provide a live hedge around small-holders’ vegetable patches. It is thought that this wild plant just may be the ancestor of sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum).

GINKGO BILOBA TREE - EXISTED BEFORE THE DINOSAURS: HISTORY, USES AND MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF MAIDENHAIR TREE

THE MAIDENHAIR TREE, GINKGO BILOBA

Darwin called this tree a “living fossil” and it is thought that it bridges the gap between ferns and cone-bearing trees. The leaves of Ginkgo biloba resemble those of the maidenhair fern, which graced many a bathroom in Britain in the late 1970s and early 80s. Fossilized leaves of this tree have been found dating back to 270 million years ago so it was on the planet before the dinosaurs. The oldest specimen recorded is 3,500 years and that’s a great age for a tree. It is the only plant in its genus, just as rock samphire is in its.

  The first Ginkgo biloba tree planted in Britain was in the first Kew Gardens and as people then didn’t know much about these trees, they planted it close to a wall for protection, later the wall was demolished, but the same tree is still standing. In 1773 Sir Joseph Banks oversaw several other ginkgo trees planted at Kew, and the original tree is one of the “Great British Trees” listed by the British Tree Council in a scheme which celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee.

  The trees are native to a small area in China and were looked after by monks in temple gardens, for a thousand years. No one is sure whether China’s “wild” ginkgo trees are actually wild, or whether they were those planted by those ancient monks. They are highly revered because it is said that Confucius taught under a ginkgo tree. The trees are remnants of the last Ice Age and lived through that as well as the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima in 1945. After that the ginkgo tree was the first to bud and one tree at Anraku-ji hill has scorch marks way up its trunk, as a result of the blast. The ginkgo is a real survivor. Its now extinct ancestors were Gingko adiantoide and Ginkgo gardneri.

  The tree was first recorded scientifically by Kaempfer in 1690, and prior to that we have its external uses documented by Lan Mao in his work, Dian Nan Ben Cao which dates back to around 1436 and the Ming dynasty. It was used to get rid of freckles and for skin and head sores. In 1505 Liu Wen wrote Tai Ben Cao Pin Hui Jing Yao which describes the internal use of the leaves to treat diarrhoea.

  Modern research has shown that the leaves have properties which can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and have some value in the treatment of angina pectoris. In the West the trees have been planted in plantations for use in medicines as Western research (there have been about 500 studies in the last 20-30 years) seems to have proved that the leaves and extracts from them are helpful in macular degeneration, improve the cognitive functions including age-related memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s and age-related dementia. They can also help in cases of depression, attention problems, information-processing and other neuropsychological problems. They also help with relieving PMT/PMS symptoms, tinnitus, vertigo, and in preventing altitude sickness. Studies have also found that they can arrest liver fibrosis associated with chronic hepatitis B and the bioflavonoids protect the cell walls and improve blood circulation. The leaves are also a help in cardio-vascular diseases.

  The trees change colour in autumn and the oldest one in China is 164 feet tall, so it makes for a spectacular sight in autumn. The trees flower and then produce a “nut” in a case which looks rather like a plum or greengage. The Chinese prize the fruit highly, although they have a foetid smell by all accounts. These only grow on female trees and I’m told that gardeners prefer male trees. The fruits are now eaten at weddings and festivals and are known as silver apricots or white nuts which can be found in canned. The Chinese traditional medicine system lays more store in the tree bark and the seeds than does Western medicine but the leaves are used for their aphrodisiac properties. The bark, leaves and seeds are used for a variety of ailments such as to heal wounds and inflammations, to strengthen the memory, for bronchial problems including asthma, for improved blood circulation and digestion. They are also used to halt incontinence and spermatorrhoea.

  The seeds have to be thoroughly cooked before they are eaten as they contain a toxin, but when roasted they are said to taste. Like pinenuts or sweet chestnuts.

  It is thought that the tree population was depleted due to deforestation, but even though there are no conservation projects to protect the ginkgo trees, there are so many planted around the world and their health benefits are widely known, so it is unlikely that they will face extinction at least in the near future.

CARNATIONS - FLOWER OF POETS AND WRITERS: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF CARNATIONS

CARNATIONS, DIANTHUS CAROPHYLLUS

Carnations have been cultivated for at least 2,000 years, making it a little difficult to pinpoint where they originated, but it is probable that they came from the Mediterranean region, perhaps Greece. Theophrastus first gave them the name Dianthus, meaning flowers of the gods. They smell rather like cloves to which they are related, and they are also in the same family, Carophylliaceae, as soapwort, (Saponaria officinalis) and the soapnut, or reetha. If you simmer the carnation leaves in water you will get a solution which can be used to wash delicate clothes or your skin.

  It is thought that the original carnations were a rich dark pink although no one can be sure. The ancient Greeks used them in garlands and probably ate the edible petals too. In fact they can be substituted in preserves and syrups for rose petals. The petals, but not the bitter parts of the flower head are good in salads and used as garnishes They yield an essential oil used in aromatherapy to calm frazzled nerves and have a soothing effect although at one time the flowers were considered aphrodisiacs.

  In the late 17^th century, the countess of Dorset used carnations in her love potion which consisted of these flowers, bay leaves, marjoram, and lavender. Today the flower head can be dried and mixed in pot-pourri along with a few cloves, sandalwood, rose petals and your other favourite herbs and/or spices. They can also, when dried be placed in sachets and put in wardrobes and drawers to scent clothes and linen.

  Culpeper, in his Herball of the 17^th century had this to say of them; carnations “are gallant, fine, temperate flowers…they are great strengtheners of the brain and heart…” In Indian medicine systems they are considered to have anti-spasmodic properties, useful to stop stomach cramps, diaphoretic, promoting sweat in fevers and to reduce other fever symptoms. They are also regarded as a useful heart tonic and as a soothing herb for nervous disorders and stress. They are also thought to counteract the effects of some poisons. However there has been little clinical research to bear out these traditional uses.

  In the Language of Flowers carnations in general symbolize bonds of affection, health and energy, a fascination for another person and the message they sent was “Alas, my poor heart!” Pink carnations mean “I’ll never forget you!” while red ones symbolize admiration, while sending the message, “My heart aches for you.” Carnations are given on first wedding anniversaries and are traditionally worn as buttonholes at weddings. Oscar Wilde famously wore a green carnation and these are associated by the Irish with Saint Patrick’s Day.

 In Europe in traditional medicine carnations were used for nervous complaints and for the heart, while in China they are used to get rid of internal worms.

  The pink carnation is said by Christians to have sprung from the Virgin Mary’s tears, and so they symbolize a mother’s undying love for her child.

  Carnations have been candied and used in a liqueur as well as in cocktails. They are the state flower of Ohio- the red one, and have figured in May Day celebrations worn and thrown by the labour movement in various countries including Austria Italy and some of the countries formerly part of Yugoslavia.

  Shakespeare, Chaucer and Spenser called these flowers both gillyflowers and carnations according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, and Shakespeare coined the verb “incarnadine” from the Italian incarnardino, meaning carnation or flesh-colour, to express the idea of to stain carnation red in Macbeth.

  “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas incarnardine,

Making the green - one red.”  Macbeth, Act 2 scene ii.

In “A Winter’s Tale” he writes this line:-

  “Of trembling winter, the fairest flowers o' the season are our carnations, and streak'd gillyvors.” – (A Winter's Tale Act 4 scene.iii)

 Pablo Neruda the Chilean writer also uses carnation imagery in one of his 100 Love Sonnets

Sonnet XVII
”I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.”

 Clearly they are a potent symbol in literature and not just that which is written in English. Here is an extract from a Takis Papatsonis poem taken from his second collection of poetry, Ursa Minor, published in 1944.

  “You have the courage to adorn yourself

    With carnations and I admire you.

    Not only because you are lovely

    And fresh and they become you

    But because you assume the wounds,

    You become the image of a legion new martyrs.”

  Carnations may not have been the subject of clinical research, but poets and writers have more than made up for this lack.

SQUIRTING CUCUMBER - AMUSING GARDEN ORNAMENTAL BUT TOXIC

THE SQUIRTING CUCUMBER, ECBALLIUM ELATERIUM

The squirting cucumber is native to Europe and cultivated in Britain, where it is an annual rather than perennial which it is in its natural environment. It is also native to North Africa and western Asia and it has been introduced to the US, although it is thought that it may be native to Alabama. It gets its name because when the fruit of the plant is ripe it forcefully ejects its seeds, followed by a slimy trail of mucilage. This is how David Attenborough describes it in his film: “The Private Life of Plants”

  "The little Mediterranean squirting cucumber, as it ripens, fills with a slimy juice. Eventually, the pressure within becomes so great that the cucumber bursts off its stalk and shoots through the air for as far as twenty feet. Behind it, streaming from the hole in its base like gases flaring behind a space rocket, comes a trail of slime and with it, seeds." (Attenborough, D. 1995)

  An amusing plant for a garden!

  In the ancient world the plant was used as an abortifacient, although you would have had to be desperate to use it as it can be fatal. It is highly toxic and should not be used in home remedies.

   Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine used this plant as a laxative, and given the description of its action it is akin to jamalgota and more dangerous to use. Writing in is Materia De Medica in the 1^st century A.D., Dioscorides says that it was used for treating gout, toothache, sciatica and oedema. It has a diuretic effect, although it would be much safer to use other plants with diuretic properties.

  It gets its botanical name from the Greek, elatos meaning to drive or strike and ekballein, to cast out, which is pretty descriptive of its action. It is a member of the Cucrbitaceae family, which makes it a relation of the cucumber, courgette and pumpkin.

  The juice has been employed in medicine in more recent times and this is collected by harvesting the squirting cucumber before it has fully matured so that it ejects its mucilage in controlled environments. This is dried and sold in flakes for inclusion in medications for sinusitis, and other ailments. It has been used in Turkey to unblock the sinuses in folk medicine and the juice is applied directly to the nostrils. However, this has caused severe breathing problems in some people who have been treated with antihistamines and corticosteroids, although they were people who had an allergy to other cucurbitae foods.

  Even small doses of this plant can be fatal, as it has a profound effect on the bowels and stomach, so please don’t try to use any part of it at home.

ARJUNA, THE BARK HAS BENEFITS FOR HEART HEALTH; HISTORY,HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF ARJUNA

ARJUN, ARJUNA, TERMINALIA ARJUNA

Arjuna is a member of the Combretaceae family of plants and so is closely related to hareer (Terminalia chebula) and the Indian almond tree, Terminalia catappa and like these hardwood trees, arjuna is native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been used for centuries in both the Unani and Ayuvedic systems of medicine in the Indian subcontinent, and modern medical research has so far concurred with many of it uses.

 The tree can grow to height of around 30 metres, and flowers in India between April and July. The small white flowers are followed by fruit which is encased in 5 wings-like segments, in much the same way as the tomatillo or the Chinese lantern fruit is. It grows along river banks and likes moist places. All parts of the tree are used in the medicinal preparations of traditional healers, but it is the bark which is used most often for heart problems.

  It was mentioned in writings of the 6^th or 7^th centuries (AD) by Vagbhata as being useful in the treatment of wounds, haemorrhages and ulcers, being used externally in such cases. In Ayurveda it is used now for a variety of ailments which include the removal of internal parasites, biliousness, a cardiac tonic, anaemia, for fractures (not to mend bones per se, but to repair the damaged tissues around the fractures) and for cancerous tumours. In the Unani (Greek) system of medicine it is an aphrodisiac, diuretic, and expectorant. It is used for spermatorrhea and gonorrhoea and other STDs with the bark being combined with that of Santalum album or sandalwood. It has anti-microbial, antifungal and antioxidant properties and medical research has so far upheld its traditional uses.
  Clinical trials with animals have also shown it to have cardio-protective properties, as well as blood pressure reducing and cholesterol lowering properties. (Dwivadi S. [2007] “Terminalia arjuna Wright and Arn. A useful drug for cardio-vascular disorders” Journal of Ethnopharmacy vol.114 (2): pp 114-129.) Maulik SK and Kaliyar K in “Terminalia arjuna in cardio-vascular diseases-making the transition from traditional to modern medicine in India” (Dec 2010) in the Pharmacology and Biotechnology Journal vol.11 (8): pp 855-860. It should be noted that there are no corroborating studies on Arjuna as yet.

  The flavonoids found in the bark have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and the glycosides contained in it are probably responsible for its cardio-tonic properties. Arjunatin is one glycoside which has been found in the bark of T. arjuna, and the fruit contains arjunone, while other glucosides have also been isolated from the tree, for example, cerasidin, β-sitosterol, friedlin, methyl oleanolate and gallic, ellagic and arjunic acids.

  The tree is also used for its timber in boat-building, for houses and other construction work, for carts and agricultural implements. The leaves are food for the tussar silkworm too so all parts of the tree have their uses.

FIELD SCABIOUS - FOR SKIN PROBLEMS: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF FIELD SCABIOUS

FIELD SCABIOUS, KNAUTIA ARVENSIS

Field scabious is native to Europe and parts of North Africa, and is an invasive or noxious weed in North America, having escaped from gardens where it grew as an ornamental plant. It starts with rosette shaped foliage and winters in this for, but in summer, July through to September it has light lilac, or blue flower heads which grow from a leafless stalk. It’s a member of the Dipsacaceae family so is a relative of teazle. The plant was named Knautia in honour of the 17^th century botanist Dr. Knaut who came from Saxony.

   Field scabious can grow to heights of up to 4 feet high, and likes fields and woodlands, preferring moist conditions.

   The seed head which closely follows the flowers has several bristly hairs growing from its top and the many seeds contain an oil which contains capric and caprylic acid, both of which are used in high-performance jet engine oils and top-quality lubricants as well as in the preparation of some dietary fats which are currently obtained from coconut oil and palm kernel oil. Having locally grown sources of such oil whether in Europe or on North America would clearly have economic benefits. Research is being undertaken to discover whether or not it would be commercially viable to grow field scabies for their oil.

  The plant has been used in traditional medicine for centuries, and John Gerard, the English herbalist of the 16^th century wrote that the plant was good for skin problems and a decoction should be drunk for a few days as a treatment for scabs and the juice was good for this to if used as an ointment. He also wrote that drinking the decoction with treacle promoted sweating, “freeing the heart from any infection or pestilence.” Writing a century later Culpeper declared that it was “very effectual for coughs, shortness of breath and other diseases of the lungs.” He also suggested taking a decoction of the herb, either fresh or dried, and making it into wine, and drinking it over an unspecified period of time for pleurisy. Fresh bruised leaves were recommended for getting rid of carbuncles, which would disappear, so Culpeper averred, in three hours. He also said that the decoction of the root was good for skin complaints, applied on affected parts, and if drunk was a blood purifier.

  The whole plant has astringent properties and is mildly diuretic. An infusion of the chopped whole plant can be used for all skin complaints. Scabious comes from the Latin word scabiosa meaning a type of leprosy or other bad skin disease, so it is clear how the ancients used this plant. The Welsh call this plant clafrllys y maes, and in Irish Gaelic it is cab an ghasain. It is known by a number of colloquial names including Blue Buttons, Meadow Widow Flower, Gypsy Rose, Lady’s Pincushion and others.

  The Physicians of Myddfai used the field scabious with other plants for fevers, as this remedy illustrates:

  “There are four kinds of fevers, deriving their origin from the summer, viz. latent fever, intermittent fever, ephemeral fever, and inflammatory fever. The fifth fever is typhus, and this kind proceeds from the brain. A latent fever is relieved by an emetic, a cordial, and cauteries. Thus it originates; from the over generating of tough humor in the stomach, from which results a distaste for food, and lassitude during summer. The mugwort, madder, meadow sweet, milfoil, hemp, red cabbage, and the tutsan, all these seven herbs enter into the composition of the medicine required. Whosoever obtains them all, will not languish long from a wounded lung, or need fear for his life. Any of the following herbs may be added thereto, butcher's broom, agrimony, dwarf elder, amphibious persicaria, centaury, round birth wort, field scabious, pepper mint, daisy, knap weed, roots of the red nettle, crake berry, St. John's wort, privet, wood betony, the roots of the yellow goat's beard, heath, water avens, woodruff, leaves of the earth nut, agrimony, wormwood, the bastard balm, small burdock, and the orpine.”

   This is another use they had for this plant:-

“For the bite of a viper. Take the round birthwort, knapweed, and field scabious; mix with water and drink. The Physician's three master difficulties are, a wounded lung, a wounded mammary gland, and a wounded knee joint.”

  Clearly the physicians of old found this a very useful, beneficial herb.