COMMON DUCKWEED - NOT ONLY FOR DUCKS:HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF COMMON DUCKWEED

COMMON DUCKWEED, LEMNA MINOR

The Common or lesser Duckweed is often found on garden ponds and is the bane of gardeners who don’t want to get rid of it by using chemicals. It can spread on the feet of aquatic birds and on their bills. However it does have some uses and may be a useful source of biomass and biofuel in the future. It also has some surprising health benefits.

  The ancient Welsh Physicians of Myddfai had these two remedies which include it: -

“For swelling or hardness of the stomach. Boil duckweed in goat's milk, and foment it therewith frequently…

If the bowels become so constipated that they cannot be moved, take duckweed, boiling it briskly in a pot, then cast it into a pan, and fry with a quantity of blood and butter, eating it hot.”

  William Turner (c.1508-1568) often called the “Father of English Botany” had this to say of it, calling “duckis meate” for fairly obvious reasons, I suppose.

 “Duckis meate hath a cooling nature, whereof it is good to be laid to imposthumes and gatherings of the humours that run to one place, to the wildfire and great burnings, to the gouty members both alone and also with the meal of parched barley. It glueth or bindeth, or maketh fast the bowels of young chider. Galen writeth that duckis meate is of a cold and moist temperature and in manner is both cold and moist in the second degree.”

  Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the 17^th century has this to say of it:-

“Government and virtues. Cancer claims the herb, and the Moon will be lady of it; a word is enough to a wise man. It is effectual to help inflammations, and St. Anthony's fire, as also the gout, either applied by itself, or in a poultice with barley-meal. The distilled water by some is highly esteemed against all inward inflammations and pestilent fevers: as also to help the redness of the eyes, and swelling of the scrotum, and of the breasts before they be grown too much. The fresh herb applied to the forehead, easeth the pains of the head-ach coming of heat.”

  It has been used as a poultice as the common mallow and marsh mallow are for inflammations and swellings.

  It has often been used as poultry food and may have some value to the food industry in the future, one Turkish study published in 2010 showed that common duckweed has antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-candidal properties ( Ilhami Gűlçin et al. Turkish Journal of Biology Vol.34 pp 175-188); this study also found flavonoids such as quercetin and phenolic compounds which have antioxidant properties.

 Kiosov P.A.(2001) in Comprehensive Catalogue of Medicinal Plants ( EKSMO-Press: Moscow), states that duckweed has been used as raw material for the production of analgesic and antipyretic remedies. It is also used in pellet form in homeopathic remedies for asthma.

 Duckweed has been classed in the Araceae family of plants, having formerly been in the Lemnaceae, so as such is the relative of Gloriosa superba or the Flame Lily, the Calla Lily, taro, the Elephant’s foot yam, cuckoo-pint and the sweet flag.

   

HORSEMINT USEFUL FOR BOWEL PROBLEMS: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF HORSEMINT

HORSEMINT, MENTHA LONGIFOLIA 

Horsemint is a wild mint and related to garden mint and as a member of the mint family is also related to purple, yellow and white dead nettles, marsh woundwort, the teak tree, marjoram, basil, Holy basil, oregano, savory, thyme, lavender, lemon balm, Scarlet bee balm as well as bugle, motherwort, self-heal, catnip, the chaste tree, ground ivy, Jupiter’s sage, wall germander, Fragrant premna and hyssop. It is native to Europe including Britain and Siberia. The leaves are used both as a tisane and a condiment, as well as being eaten raw in salads or cooked as a flavouring for dishes, just like garden mint.

  If you plant it near cabbage or tomato plants in your garden it will keep them free of insects pests and rats and mice hate it too which is why it was once used as a strewing herb in granaries and homes.

  The leaves and flowering tops may be used in a tisane either fresh or dried, and added to green tea, really improve its flavour. The stem, leaves and flowering tops have stimulant, antispasmodic, anti-asthmatic and carminative properties, so it is a good aid to digestion, and can cure flatulence. The leaves bear an essential oil which is a good antiseptic. It is used as a food flavouring as it has a peppermint flavour.

Nicholas Culpeper the 17^th century English herbalist had this to say of horsemint:-

“It is good for wind and colic in the stomach.... The juice, laid on warm, helps the King's evil or kernels in the throat.... The decoction or distilled water helps a stinking breath, proceeding from corruption of the teeth, and snuffed up the nose, purges the head. It helps the scurf or dandruff of the head used with vinegar.”

  The tisane has been used for headaches, stomach problems, and fevers, but it is not advisable to take it in large doses if pregnant. It is a good remedy for diarrhoea and on study has supported this use; “Calcium channel blocking activity of Mentha longifolia L. explains its medicinal use in diarrhoea and gut spasm” Shah, A. J. et al. Journal of Phytotherapy Research, 2010 Vol. 24 (9) pp. 1392-97. This study concludes that it showed “indirect evidence for its medicinal use in diarrhoea and spasm.”

  Other research studies have shown that it has antibacterial properties Rahmat Ali Khan et al.2011 African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology Vol. 5 (12) pp. 1530-32 “Phytotoxic and antibacterial assays of crude methanolic extract of Mentha longifolia (Linn.)” Also in another study the apigenin derivatives (flavonoids) found in the plant were discovered to have antimutagenic properties; Ozlem Baris et al.   Journal of Food Science, Nov-Dec 2011 Vol76 (9).Yet another study published in 2011 found that horsemint does help symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and it was superior to nut grass (Cyperus rotundus) in it action.(Ahmed Salih Salib et al.) Another study published in 2009 has confirmed its antimicrobial properties and so supported its use for the treatment of mouth ulcers and other oral problems. (Firas A. Al-Bayedi)

  Scientists in the West, where the use of herbal medicine had largely fallen into disuse are lagging behind those scientists in countries where herbal medicine is still used in discovering alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs.

PARSLEY PIERT, SMALL AND EDIBLE: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARSLEY PIERT

PARSLEY PIERT, FIELD LADY’S MANTLE, APHANES ARVENSIS 

Parsley piert is a tiny plant that can be easily overlooked in its wild habitat, as it grows only to around four inches high. It is no relation to true parsley, but its leaves look similar. It is a close relation to Lady’s Mantle, hence the name Lady’s Field Mantle, and is a member of the Rosaceae or rose family of plants. That being so it is also related to the soft fruit, plums, peaches, apricots, loquats, sloes, quinces, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries as well as to almonds, apples, pears, the dog rose and a whole host of other plants.

  It is native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia and has been introduced to North America. It only grows to around four inches high, so you can easily overlook it. This is how Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the 17^th century describes it: -

“The root, although it be very small and thready, yet it continues many years, from which arise many leaves lying along on the ground, each standing upon a long small foot-stalk, the leaves as broad as a man's nail, very deeply dented on the edges, somewhat like a parsley-leaf, but of a very dusky green colour. The stalks are very weak and slender, about three or four fingers in length, set so full of leaves that they can hardly be seen, either having no foot-stalk at all, or but very short; the flowers are so small they can hardly be seen, and the seed as small as may be.”

  It was a popular remedy for dispersing gravel and stones in the body’s organs, and eaten as a salad green as it is a useful source of vitamin C and minerals. It gets the name parsley piert from the French, perce-pierre which means piercing stones, and this is a name for it in English too, Parsley Breakstone or Parsley Piercestone. Here is what Nicholas Culpeper wrote about it in his 17^th century herbal: -

“Government and virtues. Its operation is very prevalent to provoke urine, and to break the stone. It is a very good sallad herb. It were good the gentry would pickle it up as they pickle up Samphire for their use all the Winter. I cannot teach them how to do it; yet this I can tell them, it is a very wholesome herb. They may also keep the herb dry, or in a syrup, if they please. You may take a dram of the powder of it in white wine; it would bring away gravel from the kidneys insensibly, and without pain. It also helps the stranguary.”

  It was used with broom, pellitory-of-the-wall, juniper berries, parsley root (true parsley) for a more powerful diuretic action to remove gravel, and to soften the passage of the stones it was often combined with marsh mallow, hollyhock flowers, those of mullein, gum Arabic or slippery elm bark.

  The infusion was made with a handful of the whole herb, chopped to one pint of boiling water, steeped for 10 minutes, then strained and drunk in half a tea cupful doses three or four times a day.

  One scientific study has found that parsley piert is safe for human consumption and has “strong antioxidant activity.” (“Antioxidant and Cytotoxicity Activities of Aphanes arvensis Extracts” Journal of Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 2010, Vol. 65 (1) pp.44-49 Ismail Hamad et al.) However there have been few scientific studies carried out on this plant.

SUGAR BEET: SOURCE OF SUGAR IN COOL CLIMATES: HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF SUGAR BEET

SUGAR BEETS BETA VULGARIS RAPA OR ALISSIMA

Sugar beets were known for their sweetness and were developed form the white beet in the 18^th century. Previously the white beet was Beta vulgaris maritima, so writing in the 17^th century the English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper had this to say of the original white beet:-

“The common white beet hath many great leaves next the ground, somewhat large, and of a whitish green colour; the stalk is great, strong, and ribbed, bearing great store of leaves almost to the very top of it: the flowers grow in very long tufts, small at the ends, and turning down their heads, which are small, pale greenish-yellow, burs, giving corned prickly seed. The root is great, long, and hard, and when it hath given seed, is of no use at all….

Government and Virtues. The government of these two sorts of beet are far different, the red beet being under Saturn, and the white under Jupiter; therefore take the virtues of them apart, each by itself. The white beet doth much loosen the belly, and is of a cleansing digesting quality, and provoketh urine: the juce of it openeth obstructions, both of the liver and spleen, and is good for the head-ach and swimmings therein, and turnings of the brain; and is effectual also against all venomous creatures; and applied to the temples, stayeth inflammations in the eyes; it helpeth burnings, being used without oil, and with a little alum put to it, is good for St. Anthony's fire. Beet is hot and dry, and loosens the belly by reason of its nitrosity. It is an errhine, especially the root; for the juice of it received into the nostrils occasions sneeesing; the young plants, with their roots, gently boiled and eaten with vinegar, procure an appetite, extinguish thirst, and suppress choler in the stomach. Beet among the ancients was much noticed for its insipid taste, MARTIAL reproaches it in the following distich.

Ut sapiant fatuœ faborum prandia betœ.
O quam sœpe petet vina piperque coquus?
Insipid beet may bid a tradesman dine;
But ask of thee abundant spice and wine.

The juice of this herb drawn up into the nostrils powerfully evacuates phlegmatic humours from the brain, and cures inveterate head-achs. This is counted a great secret by some. It is also good for all wheals, pushes, blisters, and blains, in the skin: the herb boiled, and laid upon chilblains, or kibes, helpeth them: the decoction thereof in water and some vinegar, healeth the itch, if bathed therewith, and cleanseth the head of dandruff, scurf and dry scabs, and doth much good for fretting and running sores, ulcers, and cankers, in the head, legs, or other parts, and is much commended against baldness and sheding of hair.”

  Now the sugar beet is grown in the Northern hemisphere while sugar cane is grown in the Southern. Molasses for human consumption are from the latter, as is brown sugar, while white beets produce molasses as a by-product in the processing of sugar and these are used in the manufacture of citric acid, vinegar yeast and antibiotics. The tops and residue of the sugar beet pulp are used for cattle feed and dog food. The tops and the residue left over from processing sugar beet have potential for biomass and biofuel.  Molasses from sugar beet production are used in the manufacture of citric acid, vinegar yeast and antibiotics.

  Sugar beets have recently been under investigation as some of the substances, possibly betanin and choline, have been found to have the ability to kill human cancer tumour cells in vitro.

   The mature sugar beet can be up to a foot long and weigh between three and five pounds; from one of this size, 5 ounces of white sugar can be produced. The sugar is sucrose.

  The tubers used to be used to treat tumours in the intestines, and a decoction of the seeds was used as a remedy for tumours of the genitals. The juice has been applied externally to ulcers and used for skin problems too.

  The sugar beet is a member of the Chenopodiaceous family or goosefoot family of plants, making it a relative of quinoa, stinking goosefoot, good King Henry, Fat Hen, and Marsh Samphire, to name but a few of its relatives.

  The leaves may be used as a substitute for spinach and may be cooked or raw, although the raw leaves leave a disagreeable after-taste in the mouth. When the root is boiled some stringy fibres remain but it is edible. It can be grated finely and added to salads too, if you like the taste. However I think it is best left to make sugar with and of course there are its medical properties which are not new, but now there is some (but not overwhelming yet) scientific evidence to support its traditional use to kill cancerous tumours.