Ibn al-Jazzar= Zad al-Musafir (Diseases and Their Treatment-Book review
Ibn al-Jazzar was a tenth-century Arab physician and member of a distinguished medical family in Qayrawan, the mediaeval capital of Tunisia. The present volume, one of seven written by Ibn al-Jazzar, provides a concise presentation of sex-related ailments, providing an illuminating snapshot of the development of medical science in the tenth century; it also provides insights for anyone interested in the view of sex and sexuality in Arab society in that period. By the early eleventh century, Zad al-Musafir had already been translated into Greek, and in the twelve century, into Latin and Hebrew. It was among the standard texts for medical instruction at Salerno, Montpellier, Bologne, Paris, and Oxford. Furthermore, Zad reflects the long-received wisdom from such classical figures of medicine and philosophy as Hypocrites, Aristotle, Rufus, Galen, Paul of Aegina, and Polemen.
Zad comprises an introduction and twenty chapters, divided into sections dealing with the sexual ailments of men (chapters 1-8) and women (chs. 9-18), as well as sciatica (ch. 19), and gout (ch. 20). Translator-editor Gerrit Bos approached his task by means of philological comparison, collating the available extant manuscripts of Zad in Berlin, Dresden, Oxford’s Boodlian Huntington, Teheran-Malik, Copenhagen, the Wellcome Institute, and the Tarim al-Ahqaf Library.
Ibn al-Jazzar’s approach to the aetiology of disease was based on Galen’s humoural theory, according to which the four basic fluids of blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile determine, by their relative proportions in the body, determine a person’s physical and mental constitution. He furthermore embraced Galen’s allopathic principle of treatment, contraria contrariis curantur (opposites are cured by opposites). Galen also is the source of some of the specific remedies Ibn al-Jazzar recommends. Another of Ibn al-Jazzar’s important sources is Paul of Aegina, a seventh-century compiler of medical texts widely used in the Islamic world, where he was known as al-qawabili, The Obstetrician. In matters relating to pharmacology, Ibn al-Jazzar relies on several sources. When discussing simple drugs, he relies mainly on the first-century physician Dioscurides; when discussing compound drugs, he relies mainly on various Arab authorities. The few magical prescriptions Ibn al-Jazzar recommends appear to be based on the work Firdaws al-Hikma, by the ninth-century Arab physician al-Tabari.
In the Introduction, Ibn al-Jazzar explains animal lust and the nature of sexual power. His source is Galen, whose ideas, in turn, may have been an adaptation of Aristotle’s views on sexuality, as something natural and necessary for the survival of species. In the original Arabic, Ibn al-Jazzar uses the term of Creator, which mean God created procreative organs.
Chapter One deals with impotence and its treatment. Ibn al-Jazzar invokes Polemen, positing the importance of both the mind and the senses in engendering sexual
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excitement. The author also describes the anatomy and physiology of the sexual organs. The chapter is mainly based on the writings of Galen.
Ibn al-Jazzar goes on to discuss impotence, explaining erections as the product of two elements: the first, which man has in common with lower animals, is natural desire; the second, unique to man, is imagination. It is worth mentioning that imagination features prominently in Latin writings on coitus.
According to Ibn al-Jazzar, the brain is the source of sperm cells. This idea, originally propounded by Plato, and espoused by the Arab medical writers al-Kindi and al- Tabari, was one of the three theories concerning the source of sperm widely accepted among the classical Greek thinkers. The second theory, propounded in the pseudo- Maimonidaic mediaeval treatise Ma’amar Razei ha-Hayyim ha-Miniyyim (Tract on the Secrets of Sexual Life), was that sperm originates in all parts of the body. The third theory was that sperm, like blood, is merely a residual product derived from food. In mediaeval Arabic medical literature, this last idea was propounded in K. al- Dhakhira, ascribed to Thabit ibn Qurra.
Ibn al-Jazzar believed that the seat of lust is the liver, a view widely reflected in mediaeval Arab medical writings, including those of al-Tabari, al-Kindi, and ibn Sina. Ibn al-Jazzar describes the function of the testicles, contending that they impart power to the whole body; it is this power that causes males to be masculine and females feminine. Implicit in this view, originally propounded by Galen and widespread in the Middle Ages, is the assumption that women also have testicles, albeit smaller and less perfectly formed than men, namely the ovaries.
The final part of Chapter One is devoted to aphrodisiacs. Ibn al-Jazzar recommends various foods and remedies, simple and compound, to increase the amount of one’s sperm, and to enhance one’s potency and sexual desire. Most of Ibn al-Jazzar’s recommendations feature in medical writings from ancient Greece through the Arab authorities mentioned above. Enhanced production of sperm is attributed to fresh meat, especially brain, egg yolk, pine nuts, and pepper.
Chapter Two deals with priapism, a condition involving a swelling of the penis and constant erection. Ibn al-Jazzar’s views here derive from Galen and the early Byzantine medical writers. He prefaces his prescriptions for priapism with a reference to Galen’s dictum, contraria contrariis curantur, in this case, the avoidance of any stimulus to sexual desire. Thus, Ibn al-Jazzar recommends cold remedies and the avoidance of anything that induces flatulence. One such remedy is the chaste-tree’s seed, on which, according to Galen, the women of Athens would sleep during chief festivals, to be rid of sexual desire. Ibn al-Jazzar concludes with an explicit warning against hot food and drink.
Chapter Three deals with the condition involving a constant, involuntary flow of sperm, referred to as ‘gonorrhoea’ (sayalan) in the ancient medical literature. Ibn al- Jazzar, like Galen, ascribes this affliction to either of two causes: a weakness in the seminal vesicles, in which case there is no erection; or a malady of the sperm themselves, in which case an erection can exist.
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The treatment prescribed is a compound of cold [?] and various oils rubbed on the penis and loins.
Chapter Four deals with nocturnal emissions (ihtilam), which Ibn al-Jazzar believes could have any of the following causes:
1. a surplus of sperm, which is common among young adults;
2. a feeling of closeness during sleep with the woman one loves;
3. imaginary intercourse during sleep with the woman one fancies.
The treatments Ibn al-Jazzar recommends are:
• eating cold foods;
• rubbing cooling remedies on the thighs and penis;
• rubbing the penis with camphor and rose oil;
• sleeping on one’s side on a cold bed.
Chapter Five deals with ulcers and tumours of the penis, and their treatment. In accordance with the humoural theory he subscribes to throughout his treatise, Ibn al- Jazzar contends that ulcers and tumours are caused by an excess of humours flowing to the penis from all other areas of the body. His prescribed remedies for moist ulcers and ulcers unaccompanied by tumours, are similar to those prescribed by Galen. Also, like Galen, Ibn al-Jazzar recommends plasters for tumours, pustules, and swelling of the penis.
The subject of tumours is carried over into the Chapter Six, where testicular neoplasms and their treatment are discussed. Here too, in following the humoural analysis of disease, hot and cold tumours are believed to be caused by excessive amounts of hot and cold humours, respectively, reaching the testicles. Ibn al-Jazzar prescribes various dressings and plasters, some of them similar to those recommended by Galen.
Chapter Seven treats various other afflictions of the testicles: vesicular ulcers, itching, open sores, and fissures. His therapeutic recommendations are derived from Galen, Oribasius, Paul of Aegina, and al-Tabari.
In Chapter Eight, scrotal hernias are dealt with. Here, Ibn al-Jazzar prescribes treatments he developed himself, as well as treatments prescribed by Dioscurides and Sabur ibn-Sahl, a Christian physician from Gondeshapur who compiled a compendium of drugs widely used by apothecaries.
Ibn al-Jazzar commences his discussion of women’s diseases in Chapter Nine, with amenorrhoea, the absence of the menses. Adhering to the Aristotelian-Galenic analysis of menstruation, Ibn al-Jazzar contends that women are naturally cold and moist.; as they lack the natural body heat to burn excess humours, they expel them by means of menstruation. Ibn al-Jazzar believes that this lack of natural body heat means that women are less perfect then men. The notion of the biological inferiority of women was widely prevalent in mediaeval medical literature, and often reinforced by data concerning putative feminine psychological and ethical inferiority. It is worth
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noting, however, that the medical writer Soranus took issue with the idea of a supposed feminine constitutional inferiority deriving from moisture and cold. All in all, Ibn al-Jazzar’s proposed aetiology reflects a highly formalised Galenic, humoural analysis. Yet Ibn al-Jazzar also offers additional possible causes of amenorrhoea: psychological stress, anxiety, continuous sorrow, anger, and fear.
Ibn al-Jazzar believes the symptoms of amenorrhoea are: lack of appetite, nausea, and a craving for harmful things to eat, including charcoal and dirt. Here too, he follows adheres to Galen.
Chapter Ten deals with excessive bleeding during menstruation (hypermenorrhoea). Ibn al-Jazzar’s highly schematic exposition of the ailment’s aetiology in Galenic and humoural. Among the main causes of hypermenorrhoea, according to this approach, is low quality blood, which takes on different hues, depending on whether it is sharp, bitter, or heavy with mucous.
Ibn al-Jazzar recommends a variety of decoctions, electuaries, pills, pessaries, and powders.
Chapter Eleven is devoted to hysterical suffocation. Its symptoms are: lack of appetite, coldness, fainting spells, weak pulse, and occasionally convulsive contractions. Two categories of women are at particular risk: widows and virgins. Among the recommended treatments are:
• message
• sniffing various ingredients with a disagreeable odour
• sternutatories
• fumigation
• cupping glasses
• suffumigation
• fragrant drugs.
Chapter Twelve focuses on uteral tumours. The humoural aetiology Ibn al-Jazzar posits ascribes neoplasms of the uterus to an excess of either yellow bile or coarse black bile. Possible non-humoural causes Ibn al-Jazzar mentions are: coarse winds, injuries, and amenorrhoea.
The treatments Ibn al-Jazzar recommends include:
• bleeding the patient from the basilic or median cubital vein
• decoctions
• plasters
• poultices
• suppositories
• compresses and sitz baths with boiled nard (for hot tumours).
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As authorities for some of his prescribed treatments, Ibn al-Jazzar invokes Galen, Dioscurides, and Paul of Aegina.
Chapter Thirteen deals with uteral ulcers. Ibn al-Jazzar’s causes and symptoms are both based on the writings of Paul of Aegina. The treatments Ibn al-Jazzar proposes include:
• drugs, both simple and compound
• decoctions
• suppositories
• special diet
• sitz baths.
Ibn al-Jazzar concludes with instructions for the making of two types of suppositories recommended by Dioscurides. One type, consisting of meal made of fenugreek seed mixed with goose fat, was used to treat hardness and obstruction of the uterus. The second type, made of fig soup mixed with egg yolk, was used to treat ulcers and amenorrhoea.
The central topic of Chapter Fourteen is uteral prolapse. Ibn al-Jazzar believes that prolapse of the uterus results from an excess of moisture, which causes a relaxation of the uteral ligaments; continuous sitting on cold surfaces; bathing in cold water; and a difficult childbirth.
Among Ibn al-Jazzar’s prescribed treatments are:
• sleeping on one’s back, with knees together and the lower legs apart
• linen bandages
• ointments
• sitz baths
• rubbing of cow dung on vagina
• fumigation with foetid odours
• rubbing oils on vagina.
Some of these treatments are based on the writings of Soranus, Paul of Aegina, and Dioscurides.
In Chapter Fifteen, Ibn al-Jazzar proposes a healthy regimen for pregnant women. Such a regimen includes the application of ointments and poultices to strengthen the umbilical chord. For the final stages of pregnancy, bathing, ointments, and relaxing foods are what a woman needs.
Ibn al-Jazzar recommends that when a pregnant woman craves for what is injurious, such as clay or charcoal, she should be given roasted chickpeas, while fragrant poultices are applied to her stomach. Several of Ibn al-Jazzar’s recommendations are derived from Galen and Soranus.
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Chapter Sixteen deals with the subject of difficult childbirth. The causes according to Ibn al-Jazzar are similar to those enumerated in the pseudo-Galenic Definitiones Medicae, and include:
• worry
• narrowness of the uteral passage
• obesity
• very young pregnancies.
The means Ibn al-Jazzar recommends for dealing with difficult childbirth include:
• bathing in water containing fenugreek, marshmallow’s seeds, linseed and peeled barley.
• rubbing of thighs and abdomen with sesame oil and jasmine oil.
• massage of sides and waist, and rub with oil.
• drugs such as oxymel (sakanjabin).
• wine with pounded mint
• sneezing.
Ibn al-Jazzar also recommends the magic means of hanging a dry stone or cyclamen
on the woman’s thighs.
Chapter Seventeen covers the topics of contraception and abortion. Ibn al-Jazzar’s attitude towards these matters may be described as neutral: he offers lists of both fertility drugs and magic contraceptives. Such neutrality is in conformity with Islam; the use of contraceptives and abortifacients as means of birth control has been practised in Islamic society, and is sanctioned by Islamic law. That this had, in fact, been the attitude of Islam is born out in discussions of contraception and abortion in various categories of literature in Islamic cultures: medical, legal, erotic, and popular.
It is reasonable to infer that Ibn al-Jazzar’s prescription of magical contraceptives reflects a social reality wherein such contraceptives were the only ones the poor could afford; ‘normal’, particularly compound, drugs were very expensive. Ibn al-Jazzar includes a warning that contraceptives and abortifacients should only be used when medical justification exists: when childbirth posed a danger to a woman’s life, or in the case of a diseased or malfunctioning uterus. There are the two main justifications for Arab physicians to use birth control means.
Ibn al-Jazzar provides a list of contraceptives and abortifacients. These include, for women, putting alum in the vagina, to prevent insemination or to expel the foetus. For men, he recommends a contraceptive juice of mint, savin, cyclamen, lupine, birth wort, cinnamon, and castoreum.
Chapter Eighteen deals with the extraction of the placenta from the uterus after childbirth. The means Ibn al-Jazzar recommends include:
• sneezing induced by sniffing soapwort, with the mouth and nostrils shut
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• drinking any of several compound drugs, among them water with marshmallow ashes, which serve as emetics
• licking saffron.
Chapter Nineteen covers an affliction he terms ‘sciatica’, which affects the hip joint. According to Ibn al-Jazzar, sciatica is caused by a viscous, mucous-like humour that settles in the socket of the hip-bone. The symptoms are, amongst the elderly, pain and heaviness of the hip, or mainly amongst young men, severe pain; a constant, heavy throbbing; a burning sensation; and inflammation. Both the causes and symptoms Ibn al-Jazzar mentions are apparently derived from Paul of Aegina.
Among the treatments Ibn al-Jazzar recommends for sciatica caused by hot humours are: bleeding, purgatives, enemas, cold food, and cold ointments. The patient is further admonished to adhere to a special regimen of moderate eating and drinking, and abstention from sex.
Gout, another affliction of the joints, is the subject of Chapter Twenty. It is a heavy hurting pain occuring to the feet. Ibn al-Jazzar, as Paul of Aegina before him, bases his aetiology of the disease on bad humours and weakness of the joints. Ibn al-Jazzar believes such weakness is caused by a restful, easy life, and immoderate eating and drinking. When such an unhealthy regimen is accompanied by frequent sexual intercourse, the inevitable result is gout; frequent intercourse is harmful both to the nerves, which have been corrupted already by easy living, and to the joints, which become hot and attract superfluous humours.
According to Ibn al-Jazzar, three types of people do not suffer from gout:
• eunuchs
• young boys
• women.
Neither eunuchs nor young boys engage in sexual intercourse, and while women do engage in it, it is less physically taxing on them, and they furthermore expel bodily superfluities during menstruation. The treatments recommended by Ibn al-Jazzar include:
• evacuation of the harmful superfluities, both hot and cold, with various herbs and pills extract from such as colchicum, sagepenum, myrobalan, pepper, asafetida, leek, and oil of jasmine.
• eating foods that are quickly digested
• physical exercises.
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Comments:
This work done by translated and edited by Gerrit Bos is a useful reference for institutions, colleges and individuals that focus on the history of Islamic medicine. It is a unique masterpiece, with rich references and different languages.
I have however ....But this work, lack of certain things:
1. Page 39, line 3 (Ibn al-Jazzar text): ashrata, instead of ‘ashrata .
2. More details and explanation about Cimolian earth (pages: 256, 257, 286).
3. Page 286, written Cimolean earth.
4. Page 224, line 1383 the Arabic text: al-harif, instead of al-kharif.
5. Latin names of plants (at least an index ).
Published at: Mon Jan 20 2025
CAMEL MILK AS A COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Camel milk has always been a major traditional staple in the nutrition of the pastoral nomadic people. The milk is consumed either fresh, or soured for longer preservation. Camel milk has been employed as a medicine for centuries by pastoral nomadic people because of its richness in vitamins, minerals, and iron; and contains anti-bodies and immunological potency, mainly for infants. Camel milk is also a good substitute for human milk. It is low in cholesterol, sugar and protein, and contains a high concentration of insulin. Camel milk is used as an antioxidant, and tumor growth depressant; to treat prostate, breast cancer, and other cancers including leukemia, and can be used to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
The main argument in this paper is that people in Asia and Africa use camel milk as a complementary and alternative medicine, mainly for cancer, in addition to it being a source of food and drink.Methods:
The data for this paper are derived from a broader study of complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Middle East and North Africa that took place over the course of two decades. Unstructured interviews and observation of participants were carried out in the informants' homes (men and women), as well as in the homes of healers (men and women) of different ages (twenty to eighty years old), and from a variety of groups (urban, peasant and Bedouin): camel breeders, pastoral communities, healers, patients, and veterinarians. All the material was recorded in field logs. All interviews were conducted in Arabic.
Background:
Health care systems are based upon the dyadic core, consisting of a healer and a patient. In western society, this can be a family physician, cardiologist, oncologist, or a psychiatrist. In traditional society, the healer can be a shaman, herbalist, bonesetter, or a medium. In traditional society, the state may introduce a western medical system; in such a situation, an array of medical systems or a pattern of medical pluralism will coexist. From this perspective, the medical system of a society consists of the totality of medical subsystems that coexist in a cooperative relationship with one another (1).
The camel has been mentioned in the Quran among the animals as a superior creature and miraculous creation by Allah “Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made?” (2), and its milk is mentioned in the Quran as producing sufficient milk for everyone that in Paradise there are “rivers of milk the taste of which never changes” (3). It is also part of Islamic oral tradition (4).
Pastoral nomadic Bedouin tribes in the Middle East and North Africa rear camels. Almost all the pastoral Bedouins' food is obtained from grain, mostly wheat and barley, which is grown in areas that are mostly in the joint possession of each tribe. Some of their food is obtained from herd animals, mostly sheep and goats, with some cattle and camels. To find enough natural pastureland for the herds, part of the tribe moves through the desert, sometimes over considerable distances. The primary staple in the pastoral Bedouin nutrition, among other resources, is camel meat and milk (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). In fact, parallel to Arabs breeding their camels for greater milk production, ancient Arabian camel nomads were breeding themselves via consanguineous marriage and virtual consanguineous marriage to ensure that genetically their kin would continue to survive on milk in the waterless desert” (11).
Camel milk is not boiled before it is drunk. It is considered especially nutritious. Milk was the primary source of nourishment for the entire Rwala (12) family. One female camel can produce between one to seven liters of milk a day. The better the pasture, the more milk given. Fertile female camels produce milk for twelve months. The freshly obtained milk has a salty taste because the camels are fond of grazing on salty vegetation. The milk is either drunk immediately or any
remaining milk is poured into a leather bag (sheepskin or goatskin). The Rwala do not churn camel's milk. If they have too much, they boil it and from the curds make small cheeses which are eaten either dry or stewed with bread (13). The milk is used either fresh (termed halib), or soured for longer preservation (called laban). The latter is made by pouring the fresh milk into a leather bag for the purpose, where the requisite inoculants for controlled souring are maintained. Some plants on which camels graze tend to scent or flavor their milk. Camel milk is low in separable fat, but a form of butter called jbab, is sometimes made from it, as well as a cheese called igt produced by extending the souring process (13, 14). Camel breeds in Arabia ranging from coarse baggage-carrying types to high milk-yielding breeds and fine-featured breeds. Camel milk may also be mixed with well water that is too saline for human consumption, to make a mixture (shanin)) in which the salts are diluted to drinkable level (14). The Bedouin consume both camel meat and milk as a basic source of nutrition for the family. Camel milk contains a higher level of vitamin C, protein, and mineral content than either cow or goat milk (15). Milk, also, replaces to a great extent the water Bedouin would otherwise need to quench their thirst. Some Bedouin slaughter a she-camel's calf so that their children can live off the mother's milk, and if the she-camel doesn't spontaneously yield sufficient milk, they bring her the calf of another she-camel so that the nursing calf will stimulate increased milk flow (16). Sometimes three to four she-camels are gathered together with one calf to increase their flow of milk. When the calf is not slaughter, they reserve part of the milk for the calf, leaving one side of the udder to it and milking the other side to provide milk for their own children (17).
Camel milk contains vitamins B2, B12, and C; linoleic acid, lactose, and extracts of aromatic plants that camels graze on such as rosemary and hyssop; these extracts act as are stimulant on the liver, as a hepatic (18). The composition of the milk and its attributes, however, hinge on the camel's age, quality, and the nature of the food it consumes (including availability of pasture) and availability of water - the best quality being the milk of young camel's during the first 40 days after birth of their calf. The composition of pasture plants impact on their medicinal effects (18, 19).
Camel milk production has become a booming business in Middle Eastern countries. Camel milk is drunk throughout Arabia, and it is extremely nourishing and low in fat content (20). Recently, the European Union has also allowed import of camel milk from African and Asian countries into the EU.
Among the Bedouin in the Negev (21) it is customary for the midwife to hide the umbilical cord under the supporting pole of the tent (wasit al-bayt ) (22) or in the tent lining (btanit al-bayt) to symbolize the baby's ongoing loyalty to his family. One old informant (a woman, related to the author) revealed that she hung her son's umbilical cord on the neck of a she-camel (naqa) to symbolize his connection to camels; indeed, when he grew up he loved tending camels and was even nicknamed “father of the she-camels” (abu al-niaq) (23).
International Journal of Scientific Research
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ISSN No 2277 - 8179 | IF : 4.176 | IC Value : 93.98
Treatments:
Camel milk has been employed as medicine for centuries by nomadic people because its richness in vitamins, minerals and iron (24). It is commonly used to treat hepatitis, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, tuberculosis, asthma, flu, hypertension, and diabetes.
Camel's milk contains anti-bodies and immunological potency, mainly for infants. It is prescribed for asthma, diabetes, tuberculosis, liver inflammation, digestive ailments, cancer, smallpox, wounds, dental diseases, lung diseases, and ascites, and as an antidote for toxins. Milk is believed to strengthen teeth, bones, and the sexual organs, especially of old men. It is used to treat anemia, tuberculosis, senility, acne, leukemia, and impotency (18), and is also used as an aphrodisiac (25).
Camel milk is used to treat hepatitis, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, tuberculosis, asthma, flu, hypertension, and diabetes (26). Camel milk cures hepatitis B; the special fat in camel milk soothes the liver (27).
Camel milk has numerous uses in treating illnesses. It is a purgative, and should be consumed in moderation by persons not used to it (20). It is used to treat the digestive system: for spasms, as an antiseptic digestive (due to its antihelminthic, antiparasitic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antimicrobial properties), for helicobacter pylloripyllori, gastritis, peptic ulcers, and stomachaches (17). It is prescribed due to its anti-microbial factors and for viral infections (28), and as an alternative source of nutrition for children who are allergic to cow milk (29). Camel milk is also prescribed to treat viral and bacterial pathogens (30). Camel milk contains lysozyme, an enzyme with bactericidal activity which also stimulates a rise in antibodies (31). It is prescribed for chronic pulmonary tuberculosis (32).
To treat stomach ulcers/colic, the patient drinks camel milk in one of the following mixtures: a quarter of a teaspoon of myrrh mixed in a cup of camel's milk or half a spoonful of pulverized leaves from the mastic tree (lentisk) in a cup of camel's milk; a teaspoon of the juice of carob pods mixed in a cup of camel's milk (33). Camel milk is employed to treat constipation and stomachache/abdominal pain (33). It is also taken as an anti-acid for hyperacidity to treat heartburn/ excess gastric juices (33). It is prescribed to alleviate liver pain and treat a prolapsed liver (liver displacement) (33); and also, to treat cardiovascular system, nervous system, and respiratory system disorders, as well as insomnia, and allergies.
Camel milk is used to treat disorders in liver, kidneys, gall bladder and spleen (34). It is prescribed in cases of rheumatism, leg and joint pains; the patient may also wear a bracelet (swar) made of camel's wool (wabar), and drink camel milk (35). It acts as a laxative on people unaccustomed to drinking it; to treats reoccurring acute and chronic health problems including asthma, anemia, jaundice, and spleen problems (36).
Camel's milk is prescribed to treat breast cancer and antitumor (37, 38). The lactoferrin in camel milk also has medicinal values: antibacterial, antiviral properties, as well as inhibiting tumor growth. It inhibits the occurrence and development of cancer of the skin, breast, colon, and stomach; it is used to treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics as well as gestational diabetes (39, 40, 41). Camel milk can alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, making the treatment more effective and tolerable for the patient (42). It is used to treat diabetes, allergies, cancer, arthritis, tuberculosis, autism, liver disease, and more (24). A series of metabolic and autoimmune diseases have been successfully treated with camel milk (43), it is common practice to give camel milk to children as a nutritious diet that strengthens their bodies and immune system. Camel milk has been showed to improve the behavior of children on the autistic spectrum (44, 45). Blisters from burns are treated by applying goat, sheep, or camel milk to the affected area several times a day (33). To induce enhanced lactation, when the mother cannot breastfeed due to lack of milk, she and her baby drink the milk of she-camels mixed with water (33). Camel milk is used as a remedy for snakebites, and scorpion and spider bites. The dervish gives the victim camel milk and olive oil to drink (33, 13). Bedouin used to take pustules (bathr, pl. buthur) from patient with smallpox during recovery, mix them with camel milk, and give the milk to others to drink, to immunize them against smallpox (33, 46). The high mineral content (sodium, potassium, zinc, copper and magnesium) as well as a high vitamin C found in camel milk may act as antioxidant thereby removing free radicals (47). Camel milk is employed to treat diarrhea, tuberculosis, cancer, and liver cirrhosis (48). It is used to
treat dropsy, jaundice, problems of the spleen, tuberculosis (49, 50). Camel milk treats diabetes and reduces the risk of diabetic complications (51).
It is used to treat diabetes: treat Type 1 diabetes mellitus (52, 53), increases insulin level in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (54), Type 1 diabetes (55, 56), treat diarrhea (57), and epidemic diseases (58), and Crohn's disease (59). It has anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer properties (60, 61). It treats peptic ulcers (62), enhancing the immune system's defense mechanism. Recent studies also indicate that magnesium significantly enhances the body's antioxidant defenses, and is effective against alcohol-induced oxidative stress, disturbance of liver function, and elevated cholesterol, mainly when administrated with selenium (which has antioxidant properties and may help protect cells from damage) (63). Peptidoglycan in camel milk has the ability to inhibit cancer metastasis (64). Camel milk is very useful in the treatment of HIV and AIDS (65, 66). It is used to treat gastritis, stomach discomfort, HIV, tuberculosis, fever, urinary problems, hepatitis, jaundice, the common cold, diarrhea, nausea, diabetics, rickets, asthma, and anemia (67). Ibn-Sina (68) found camel milk has therapeutic effects in spleen, kidney, liver, cancer, and children diseases.
Camel milk has an anti-aging effect-filling in and smoothing fine skin wrinkles (69). Anti-tumor properties of camel milk are due to strong antimicrobial and anti-oxidative activities that help reduce liver inflammation (70). Camel milk has been used therapeutically against certain types of cancer, diabetes, colitis, autism and Crohn's disease (71). Camel milk contains protective proteins, including the immunoglobulins necessary for activating the immune system, and contains nutritional benefits for brain development (72). Camel's milk has been shown to trigger apoptosis (controlled cell death) in human breast cancer and liver cancer cells via epigenetic mechanisms; and has been applied to treat multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, Lupus, allergies- asthma (64, 70, 73).
In Sudan and the Arab world, camel milk together with garden rocket or arugula (Eruca sativa) are used traditionally to improve impaired liver functions. Camel milk is used in Kazakhstan as an adjunct to chemotherapy for some cancers of the digestive tract (74).
Camel milk composition:
Camel milk is low in cholesterol, sugar, and protein but high in minerals (sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc, and magnesium), vitamins A, B2, C and E, and contains a high concentration of insulin (75, 76). It was found that Fe and Zn occur in greater quantities in camel's milk than in cow's and goat's milk. Camel's milk contains insulin-like protein with its Zn (77). It also contains fat with a relatively large amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids and linoleic acids, which are essential for human nutrition (78). The composition of camel milk is closer to human milk and of high nutritional value and therapeutic effects (38, 48, 79). Camel milk has a high biological value compared to other ruminants' milk due to its higher levels of antimicrobial factors such as lysozyme, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, immunoglobulin G, and secretory immunoglobulin (28, 80). The lactoperoxidase has anti- tumor activity (38), the Peptydoglycon recognition protein (PGRP) impacts positively on breast cancer by controlling metastasis (37). Camel milk has the IgA and IgG that have proved effective against several viral and bacterial pathogens (30). Consumption of camel milk is well tolerated by children who are lactose-intolerant and therefore allergic to cow milk (29). It is used to treat viral and bacterial infections (28), and chronic pulmonary tuberculosis (32). Camel milk can be classified as a food with high nutritive and therapeutic applications, and is known for high protein, casein, potassium and vitamin C content. This milk can be the sole dietary source for a human (or for a camel for that matter) for a long period providing the minimum balance of nutrition (81). Caseins constitute 75-80 percent of the proteins in camel milk, and the increase of free radical scavenging activity by camel milk proteins and casein after their hydrolysis suggest that anti-oxidative peptides are being released and these peptides are mainly generated from the caseins rather than from the whey proteins (82). Camel milk proteins can be divided into two groups: caseins and whey proteins. The amount and type of amino acids in camel milk are high - except for lysine, glycine, threonine, and valine. The most important proteins in camel milk are whey proteins that contain albumin, lactoferrin, immunoglobulins, and so forth; it contains fats, lactose, vitamins, and minerals that treat diarrhea, tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes, and liver cirrhosis (48).
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It is claimed that the value of camel's milk is to be found in the high concentrations of volatile acids, especially, linoleum acid and polyunsaturated acids, which are essential for human nutrition (52).
There was a 30-35 percent reduction in daily doses of insulin in patients with Type 1 diabetes who received raw camel's milk, demonstrating that camel milk possesses insulin-like actions that decrease the requirement of exogenous insulin in Type 1 diabetes patients (55, 56). Camel milk is used to treat diarrhea (57), and epidemic diseases (58). Camel milk helps regulate cellular sugar in the absence of endogenous insulin and in presence of exogenous oral insulin. It is assumed that micelles in camel's milk may protect the insulin present in the milk from coagulation by acidity or from digestion by pepsin in the stomach, thus allowing it to be absorbed in the micelles or to be released again to be absorbed by insulin receptors in the small intestine (52).
Insulin is one of the camel milk proteins; this milk passes the human stomach into the intestines. Therefore, insulin is not destroyed and is absorbed into the bloodstream where it reduces blood sugar (83). Since camel's milk contain high levels of vitamins C, A, B2, E and very rich in potassium, iron, magnesium and other trace elements, these vitamins and polyunsaturated elements are antioxidants, thereby removing free radicals and useful in preventing tissues injury including β-cells in the pancreas. High concentrations of antioxidants and removal of fat from the body may make the insulin receptors more responsive to available insulin (52, 84). Moisture and protein levels are higher in camel milk compared to cow milk. The comparatively low percentages of total solids and fat in camel milk carry definite positive benefits for drinking camel milk over cow milk. Post-partum changes in gross chemical composition of camel milk showed an increase in fat, while protein decreases 27 days after parturition (85). In late phase of lactation, the ash, fat and total solids were significantly higher than in the early phase of lactation. The fat is present in fixed amount in milk and its percentage changes according to the water content (which varies according to the animal's water consumption); hence, a fall in water content will increase the fat percentage while an increase in water will decrease it. In the desert, high water content with low fat percentage is a definite advantage. The higher ash contents during late lactation suggest that camel milk can provide a satisfactory level of minerals (86, 87). Differences in macro-minerals levels might be due to breed variances or different environmental conditions such as feed and soil. Different breeds of camels have different capacities to deposit minerals in their milk (88). There was a concentration of Fe, Zn and Cu in Indian dromedary camels (85). The values of trace minerals Fe, Zn, and Cu were significantly higher in camel milk, compared to bovine milk (87). The role of Zn in the development and maintenance of a well-functioning immune system has been well-established (89). The levels of vitamin A, E and B1 were reported to be low in camel milk compared to cow milk (90). The vitamin C content in camel milk is two to three-fold higher compared to cow milk. The levels of vitamin A, E and B1 were higher in camel colostrum than mature camel milk. The camel milk contains higher concentration of lactoferrin and lysozyme than bovine milk. However, the vitamin C content remains higher in mature camel milk. The low pH due to the vitamin C content stabilizes the milk and it can be kept for relatively longer periods. Milk enzymes play an important role in maintaining milk quality. The availability of a relatively higher amount of vitamin C in raw camel milk is relevant from a nutritional standpoint, since vitamin C is a powerful anti- oxidant. Camel milk can be an alternative source of vitamin C under harsh environmental conditions in the arid and semi-arid areas (i.e. where vitamin C from fresh vegetables are scarce) (87). In addition, camel milk contains fatty acids: butyric, caproic, caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, myristoleic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and arachidic acids (85,91). A peptidoglycan recognition protein has been detected in camel milk. This enzyme has broad antimicrobial activity and has the ability to control cancer metastasis (64). Consumption of total whey proteins in the diet has been associated with retardation of chemically induced cancers in several animal models (87). Camel milk contains vitamins; B1, B2, niacin and C, amino and fatty acid compositions, and antimicrobial factors namely lysozyme (LZ), lactoferrin (LF) and immunoglobulins (Igs). Results indicate that camel milk contained higher fat, protein (especially casein), ash, Ca, Mg, P, K, Na, Fe, and Cu, lactose and Zn (92), contains protective proteins high levels of vitamin C, A, B2 and E is very rich in magnesium and zinc (93). These vitamins are antioxidants that seem to be useful in reducing the oxidative stress caused by toxic agent (94, 95).
The rearing conditions of the camel significantly affect the proximate composition and the mineral components of the milk. The milk normally has a sweet and sharp taste, but sometimes can also have a salty taste due to the type of plants eaten in the desert by the camels. There is a high concentration of mineral elements per biomass of plants that grow in the arid areas; the minerals are subsequently taken up by the grazing animals and bio-concentrated in their tissues, including milk. High mineral contents and vitamin C, make camel milk a good source of this vitamin for desert populations where fruit and vegetables are lacking (65, 66). Also, camel milk might be helpful in the treatment of HIV and AIDS cases. Camel milk is a good substitute for human milk, as it does not contain β-lacto globulin. It is rich in healthy vitamins and minerals, especially B vitamins, and vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, chloride, iodine, magnesium, and small amounts of iron. The main mineral compounds of milk are calcium and phosphorus, which are important elements for bone growth and proper development of newborns. The high bio- availability of these minerals enhances in a unique manner the nutritional value of camel milk (96). Camel milk has a positive impact for children with severe food allergies. Parents of such children were instructed not to heat the milk, since pasteurization would destroy the immunoglobulins and other protective proteins, mainly bacterial enzymes (97). It is claimed that the proteins of camel milk are critical components for preventing and curing food allergies because camel milk contains no beta-lactoglobulin (98) and it contains a different beta-casein (99)- the two components in cow milk that are responsible for allergies. Another relevant fact is that the components of camel milk include immunoglobulins similar to those in mothers' milk, which reduce children's allergic reactions and strengthen their future response to foods (97). Camel milk could play an important role in reduction of oxidative stress by increase in antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymatic antioxidant molecule levels, and it has been showed to improve autistic behavior in children (44, 100). Camel milk has an anti-aging effect due to the presence of α-hydroxyl acids which are known to fill out and smooth and skin wrinkles. Alpha-hydroxyl acids help to shed the outer horny layer of dead cells on the skin (epidermis) by helping to break down sugars used to hold skin cells together. This promotes the emergence of new cells, which are more elastic and clear. Alpha-hydroxyl acids helps to eliminate wrinkles and age spots and relieve dryness as they make the outer layer of the skin thinner and support the lower layer of the dermis by making it thicker. In addition, liposome occurring in camel milk is applicable as a potential cosmetic ingredient to improve anti-aging effects (69). Korashy et al., (70) investigated the molecular mechanisms that govern the effect of camel milk on human cancer cells; their study clearly demonstrates that camel milk induces apoptosis in human hepatoma (HepG2) and human breast (MCF7) cancer cells through apoptotic- and oxidative-stress- mediated mechanisms. Habib et al. (101) examined the functional properties of camel milk lactoferrin, the main iron binding protein of the milk which showed a 56 percent reduction of cancer growth.
Average milk yield of camel per day ranges between 3.5 (under desert conditions) to 40 liters (under intensive management). The best quality of young camel's milk is during the first 40 days after birth of their calf. This great variation in camel milk production may be attributed to the high genetic variation between individuals, breed, feeding and management conditions, type of work, milking frequency, and age of animal, frequency of lactation, lactation number and stage of lactation (70, 71, 72, 73).
Conclusion:
Camel milk has always been a major traditional staple in the nutrition of pastoral nomadic peoples in Asia and Africa, in addition to being a source of food and drink. Camel milk is also a good substitute for human milk. The milk is consumed either fresh, or soured for longer preservation. Camel milk is low in cholesterol, sugar and protein, but high in minerals and other trace elements, vitamins A, B2, C and E, and contains a high concentration of insulin.
Camel milk has been employed as a complementary and alternative medicine for centuries by pastoral nomadic peoples because of its richness in vitamins, minerals and iron; and it contains anti-bodies and immunological potency. It has anti-aging effect, filling in and smoothing skin wrinkles.
It is used as an antioxidant, and tumor growth depressant; to treat prostate, breast cancer, and other cancers including leukemia and can be used to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. It is also useful in the treatment of HIV and AIDS cases.It is used by pastoral nomadic peoples to treat diabetes, allergies arthritic, tuberculosis, liver disease, digestive system disorders, and dental diseases; and diseases of the cardiovascular, nervous and respiratory systems.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the Research Centre for Anthropology and Health/ Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal, for their kindly hospitality and assistance during the academic year 2016- 2017. In addition, I thank Prof. Ana Luisa Santos for her help, advice and generous hospitality.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my students and colleagues at the University of Coimbra; and to the pastoral nomadic and semi-nomadic communities, to their healers and people, without whose help and hospitality, cooperation, and willingness to share their knowledge and experiences with me this research could not have been conducted. However, I am solely responsible for any factual errors or omissions that might remain.
Published at: Mon Jan 20 2025
Herbs as a Food and Medicine Source in Palestine
Introduction
Human being have used herbs as both as a food source and as medicine for at least several thousands years. Ancient Arabic medicine was influenced by medicinal practices in Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, and India. The Greco-Roman system of medicine developed, based primarily on the writing of Hippocrates (460-360 B.C.), Dioscorides (circa 54 to 68 AD) and Galen (130-201 AD) in Alexandria, Antioch, Edessa, Amida and Gundishapur which flourished as centers of scientific and medical activity (Mursi 1966; Savage-Smith 1996).
The Arab system grew out of the work of physicians who were contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad (571- 632 AD), including al-Harith ibn Kalada and Ibn Abi Rimtha (Hawting 1989). The sayings (Hadith) of the Prophet on health and illness were systemized and became known as Medicine of the Prophet (al-Tibb al-Nabawi) (Hawting 1989; Savage-Smith 1996) and during the Umayyad rule (661-750) translations of ancient medical works began.
For over five centuries (750-1258), the Abbasids dominated the sociopolitical life of the greater part of the Muslim world and were generous in their promotion of knowledge and medicine. Countless manuscripts, particularly those written in Greek, were collected and stored in Bayt al-hikmah (house of wisdom, established in 830, by Caliph al-Ma’mun), where scholars labored at translating them into Arabic (Hitti 1952; Ullmann 1978). Within a century, Muslim physicians and scientists were writing original contributions to medical and botanical knowledge. One of the greatest and most famous Islamic doctors was Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980-1037), who compiled the “Canon of Medicine” (Kitab al-Qanun fi al-Tibb). Another leading Arabic philosopher-physicians was al-Razi (Rhazes 865-
923) who compiled the “Comprehensive Book on Medicine” (Kitab al-Hawi fi al-Tibb). It should be noted that Ibn Sina and al-Razi works were later translated into Latin, and continued to influence medical work up until the 18th and even the 19th century (Al-Said 1997; Johnstone 1998; Murad 1966; Al-Shatti 1970). The majority of physicians in the Andalus (Islamic Spain) were herbalists . Physicians such as Ibn al-Baytar (1197-1248) whose work “Compendium of Simple Drugs and Food” (al-jami’ li-mufradat al-adwiya wa’l-aghdhiya), described more than 1400 medicinal drugs, including 300 not previously covered by others. Other well- known physicians who also wrote on plant uses were: Ibn Juljul, al-Ghafiqi, Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Samajun, and Abu al- Hassan al-Andalusi (Al-Najjar 1994; Johnstone 1998). This medical tradition was molded in the 10th century, developed in the 11th and 12th centuries and reached its peak in the 13- 16th centuries, and later declined in the 17-19th centuries (Hamarneh 1991; Lev 2002). Medical literature and healing methods that had been at the focus of traditional medicine for over a thousand years, were marginalized by the advent of western medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the exclusive domain of traditional medicine and folk healers (Lev 2002; Lev and Amar 2000).
However, the use of traditional medicine in the 20th century, particularly herbal medicine, was widespread throughout the Middle East, including Palestine (Ali- Shtayeh, Yaniv and Mahajna 2000; Bailey and Danin 1981; Palevitch and Yaniv 2000). Most of the herbs were used both as food and as medicine (Abu-Rabia 1999; Canaan 1927; Granqvist 1947; Krispil 1986; Pillsbury 1978; Tal 1981). Wild leafy vegetables consumed by people generally had higher nutritional values than cultivated vegetables grown in their gardens (Booth et al 1992). Wild herb foods often show higher values and more inter-specific variation
Department of Middle East Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105 Israel Tel: 972-8-6472540 Fax: 972-8- 6472952 Email: aref@bgu.ac.il
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in their content of minerals than do cultivated herbs. Nutritional anthropologists are interested in monitoring what we eat; how we eat and why we eat what we eat. The considerable variation in dietary habits from culture to culture is widely accepted as a factor underlying differences in cancer incidences in different populations around the globe (World Cancer Research/American Association for Cancer Research 1997). The even much wider variation existing among different countries regarding intake of food – particularly consumption of herbs and vegetables, may provide revealing clues to modification potential (Moore and Tajima 2004). A comparative study between Arab and Jews in Israel reveals that the striking differences between the prevalence of cancer are, in fact, the result of different dietary patterns, which may include nutritional factors that serve as cancer-inducing or cancer-protective mechanisms.
Olive oil is the predominant oil (79%) used in Arab culture and one study suggested that olives have some protective effect against cancer (Bitterman et al 1991). In Italy, Buiatti et al (1989, 1990) found an inverse relation between gastric cancer and olive oil consumption; they suggest that vitamin E might contribute to this ‘protective impact’ and it should be noted that olive oil is composed of 73% oleic acid, 11% linoleic acid, 12% palmitoleic acid, and 1% other polyunsaturated fatty acids (Passmore & Eastwood 1986). Groen et al (1964) found among the semi- nomadic Bedouin tribes in the Negev desert that their diet consists of olive oil and bread-flour of wheat and little fat – a diet characterized by a very high percentage of carbohydrate calories, a low percentage of fat calories, and an adequate amount of linolenic and linoleic acid. Ben-Assa (1964) found that diabetes and heart disease were rare among the Bedouin during the 1960s. One of the favored condiments/flavoring among Arabs is Marjoram (Origanum- mardagush) with olive oil (Abu-Rabia 1999; Krispil 1986). In Turkey, Marjoram has been found to have potential benefit, with anti-cancer/anti-carcinoma (breast, colon, lung, pancreas, prostate) effects (Esiyok et al., 2004).
Methodology
The data for this paper are derived from a broader study of ethno-botany and folk medicine in Palestine over two decades. The paper is based on interviews with healers and patients. All the material was recorded in field logs, and some was tape recorded. Plant samples were collected and identified by healers, tribal elders, and university botanists. The samples were identified and classified according to the plant seeds, leaves, fruit, taste, color and shape.
Plants for Food and Medicine
Allium cepa L.: [Family: Liliaceae]
Arabic: Basal English: Onion
Properties and uses: antiseptic, aphrodisiac, appetizer, carminative, digestive, diuretic. Fresh green leaves are eaten as salad or with other food. Eating leaves and bulbs is
believed to treat genitourinary infections and prevent cancer. Increase sexual desire. Bulbs treat open wounds.
Allium sativum: [Family: Liliaceae]
Arabic: Thum English: Garlic.
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, carminative, diuretic. Fresh green leaves to be eaten with salad or with other food. Bulbs are believed useful for treating kidneys infections, intestinal worms, ulcer, piles, genitourinary infections, and prostate. Treat tumor and skin cancer.
Amaranthus retroflexus L. [Family: Amaranthaceae] Arabic: Urf al-Dik English: Amaranth
Properties and Uses: astringent, emmenagogue. Leave are used to treat venereal diseases, to ease the pains during the menstruation period, and to stimulate menstrual flow; increase production of breast milk; and treat skin diseases, bloody diarrhea, dysentery and mouth infections.
Ammi visnaga L. [Family: Umbelliferae]
Arabic: Khillah, Khall English: Toothpick plant Properties and Uses: diuretic, carminative, tonic, digestive, stomachic. Seeds are used to treat asthma, skin diseases - leucoderma, tumor and psoriasis; used as toothpicks and to treat mouth infections; urinary retention, prostate and swollen testicles. Vinegar (khall) is added to the food to relieve digestive problems.
Anchusa strigosa Banks et Sol. [Family: Boraginaceae] Arabic: Ihmim, Hemhem, Lisan al-Thawr. English: Bugloss, Ox Tongue.
Properties and Uses: diuretic, demulcent, diaphoretic. Leaves and roots treat bloody diarrhea, dysentery, fever, joints, muscles, rheumatism, skin tumors, sinusitis, varicose veins. The blue flowers have a sweet taste, and are therefore eaten or sucked.
Avena sterilis [Family: Gramineae]
Arabic: Shufan, Khafur English: Oats
Properties and Uses: Nutrient, sedative, stimulant, tonic. Crushed grains and straw is used to increase production of breast milk and to strengthen women after childbirth; treat genitourinary tract infections, and prostate; treat abdominal disorders; diabetes; fractures and wounds; and rheumatism. Increase sexual desire. Treat skin diseases, tumors and cancer.
Capparis spinosa L. [Family: Capparaceae]
Arabic: Qubbar, Lassaf. English: Caper.
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, condiment, diuretic. Leaves, stems and fruit are used to treat sterility ; to increase sexual desires, to increase menstrual flow; treat open wounds, mouth infections.
Carum carvi L.[Family: Umbelliferae]
Arabic: Karawiya English: Caraway
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, digestive, emmenagogue, galactogogue, stimulant. Seeds used to treat stomach ache, flatulence, to relieve digestive process; to stimulate menstrual flow and to increase sexual desire; to treat genitourinary tract; and prostate. Increase production of breast milk after childbirth, and stop internal bleeding.
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, Vol 6, 2005 405
Medicinal Herbs in Palestine
Aref Abu-Rabia
Cichorium intybus L.: [Family: Compositae]:
Arabic: Hindaba English: Chicory.
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, diuretic, sedative, laxative. Leaves are eaten raw in salads for food and to strengthen the body. Treat urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Increase sexual desire.
Coriandrum sativum L.:[Family:Umbelliferae ]
Arabic: Kusbara English: Coriander
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, diuretic, stimulant. Used by women after childbirth to strengthen the body and to increase production of breast milk, and to increase sexual desire. Treat urinary infections and prostate problems.
Cyclamen persicum Mill.:[Family: Primulaceae]
Arabic: Sabunit al-Ra’i English: Aleppo cyclamen Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac. The bulbs are used to treat genitourinary tract, sterility of men and women, prostate and cystitis; venereal disease; syphilis.
Ecballium elaterium (L.) Ric [Family: Cucurbitaceae] Arabic: Qitha al-Hamir. English: Squirting cucumber. Uses: diuretic. Treat urine’s retention, piles, swollen testicles and yellow fever.
Eruca sativa Miller. [Family: Cruciferae]
Arabic: Jarjir, Hab al-Rashad. English: Cress.
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, stimulant. Fresh plants are eaten as a salad green. Seeds are used to increase sexual desire and to treat impotency.
Eryngium creticum Lam: [Family: Umbelliferae]
Arabic: Kursannih English: Snake root
Properties and Uses: diuretic, emmenagogue. Roots and seeds are immersed in water, and drunk, to treat kidney stones and infections; skin diseases and tumors.
Foeniculum vulgare Mill.:[Family: Umbelliferae ]. Arabic: Shawmar English: Fennel
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, stimulant. Green leaves as eaten raw as a salad green, and also added to cooked food, or to tea. Used to increase production of breast milk; sexual desire; and to treat kidney infections.
Juniperus communis: [Family: Cupressaceae]
Arabic: ‘Ar’ar, ‘Itran, Qitran English: Commom juniper Properties and Uses: diuretic. Berries of the plant are soaked in water and drunk. The fruit and leaves are used to treat urinary infections ; skin lesions including tumors.
Lavandula stoechas L. [Family: Labiate]
Arabic :Durm English: French lavender, Stoechas. Properties and Uses: it is diuretic, tonic. Leaves are boiled in water and drunk to treat kidney stones, and urine retention.
Malva Spp.:[Family: Malvaceae]
Arabic: Khubaizih, Khubiza English: Mallow
Properties and Uses: expectorant, laxative, astringent. The leaves are cooked as food. It is a laxative and used to treat night blindness. Treat urinary tract diseases and vaginal diseases; skin disease and tumors.
Nigella sativa L.: [Family: Ranunculaceae]
Arabic: Habbit al-Barakah, Habbih Suda, Qazhih),
406 Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, Vol 6, 2005
English: Nigella, black cumin
Properties and Uses: it is a diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue. The seeds are boiled or soaked in water and drunk to treat urinary infection and urine retention. Oil is extracted from the seeds to treat prostate, relieve flatulence, increase production/flow of breast milk; used to delay menses. The extracted oil from the seeds is used to treat and prevent cancer and skin tumors.
Olea europaea L.: [Family: Oleaceae]
Arabic: Zaytun, Zeit English: Olive oil.
Properties and Uses: Olive oil used to treat urinary retention and infection, cancer and prostate problems. Smearing olive oil and a little salt over a baby’s body to strengthen its bones and muscles and prevent diaper rash; to treat venereal diseases and diabetes. Treat kidney stones.
Origanum majorana L.: [Family: Labiatae]
Arabic: Mardaqush English: Sweet or knotted marjoram. Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac; emmenagogue; tonic. Carminative, diuretic, stimulant. Treat kidney stone, genitourinary tract infections, and prostate; skin diseases and tumors. Strengthen the body and act as an appetizer.
Raphanus sativus L.: [Family: Cruciferae] :
Arabic: Fijil English: Radish; common radish
Properties and Uses: Appetite stimulant, aphrodisiac, diuretic, emmenagogu. Increase sexual desire, strengthen the body; to increase lactation; treat syphilis; rheumatism genitourinary tract diseases.
Rhus coriaria L.: [Family: Anacardiaceae]
Arabic: Summag, summaq.English: Sicilian sumach Properties and Uses: as an astringent to stop bleeding. Used to treat venereal diseases; urinary tract inflammations; as spice with olive oil. Treat piles and bloody diarrhea and dysentery.
Rosmarinus officinalis L.:[Family: Labiatae]
Arabic: Hasalban, Iklil al-Jabal English: Rosemary Properties and Uses: antiseptic, diuretic, carminative, stimulate, emmenagogue. Treat gonorrhea, and prostate.
Ruta chalepensis L.:[Family: Rutaceae]
Arabic: Faijan, Fijan, sadhab, shadhab English: Rue Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, diuretic, sedative, analgesic; venereal diseases; emmenagogue. Treat swollen testicles; syphilis and prostate. Treat skin diseases and tumors.
Salvia fruticosa Mill. [Family: Labiatae ]
Arabic: Marmarya, miramia English: Sage
Properties and Use: Used to treat genitourinary tract infections; stomachache, diarrhea, open wounds, nausea, to regulate menstruation and to ease menstrual pains.
Silybum marianum: [Family: Compositae]
Arabic: Khurfeish al-Jamal English: Milk/St. Mary’s Thistle.
Properties and Uses: galactagogue, nutritious.
Shoots are eaten as a raw salad green; or boiled in water to treat kidney stones and infections, to treat urine retention and kidney stone, cough and bronchitis; congestion of uterus
and varicose veins; and prostate.
Smilax aspera L. [Family: Liliaceae]
Arabic: Medaidet hayih, Sabrin, Fishagh English: Smilax, Rough bindweed, Prickly ivy.
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac, diuretic, tonic. To treat syphilis; dried roots and leaves are soaked in water and drunk to treat kidney infections and stones.
Taraxacum cyprium: [Family: Compositae]
Arabic: Salatat al-Ruhban English: Taraxacum
Properties and Uses: diuretic, nutritious. Flowers are eaten and leaves are used as a raw salad green to treat urinary infections and retentions; digestive disorders, VD.
Urtica pilulifera L. .:[Family: Urticaceae ]
Arabic: Hurriq, Qurris English: Roman nettle
Properties and Uses: aphrodisiac; diuretic. Fresh young leaves are eaten to treat kidney stone and infections; rheumatism; treat female sterility, bleeding.
Vitex agnus-castus L.:[Family: Verbenaceae]
Arabic: Shajarat Ibrahim, Yarnahin English: Chaste tree Properties and Uses: To treat eye diseases; toothaches; venereal diseases; ease menstrual pains; stomachaches, headaches and sore joints.
Summary
These herbs and foodstuffs commonly in Palestine clearly contain a host of biologically-active compounds. Their physiology effects warrant stress in future research to improve our understanding of human nutritional and medicinal requirements, especially with reference to cancer prevention.
Published at: Sun Dec 22 2024
Ethno-Botanic Treatments for Paralysis (Falij) in the Middle East
1. Introduction
The use of plant medicines in the Middle East has his- torical roots in Ancient Arabic medicine, which itself was influenced by the ancient medicinal practices of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia, and India. During the Umayyad rule (661-750 A.D.), translations of ancient medical works began. The Abbasids dominated the so- ciopolitical life of the greater part of the Muslim world from 750 to 1258 A.D. Within a century, Muslim physi- cians and scientists were making original contributions to medical and botanical knowledge. In Baghdad, and in other parts of the Muslim world, centers of medical learning had already been founded. The next 3 centuries saw the synthesis and creation of new drugs and thera- pies [1].
One of the greatest and most famous Islamic doctors was Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037 A.D.), who combined the Canon of Medicine, which includes many descrip- tions of uses for medicinal plants. Another Arabic phi- losopher-physician was al-Razi (Rhazes, 865-923 A.D.), who composed a Comprehensive Book on Medicine. This material composed was arranged under the headings of different diseases, with separate sections on pharma- cologic topics. Ibn al-Baytar’s (1197-1248 A.D) work, the Compendium of Simple Drugs and Food described more than 1400 medicinal drugs, including 300 previ- ously undocumented drugs. This scholarly medical tradi- tion which was molded in the tenth century matured through the eleventh and twelfth centuries, reached a
peak in the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries, and later declined during the seventeenth through the nine- teenth centuries. Medical information grounded in Arab classical medical scholarship of the Middle Ages was gradually transferred to local traditional healers and to the general public. Arabs relied primarily on their tradi- tional medicine [2]. In this way, Arab classical medicine became the exclusive domain of traditional medicine and folk healers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries [3]. Most of the herbs were used both as food and as medi- cine [4].
Many of the plants used by the Arab have direct ef- fects on the body as purgatives, emetics, astringents, or tonics, or cause/prevent vomiting or diarrhea. This tradi- tional medicine is based on a practical knowledge of plants and disease treatments over centuries. It should be noted that some plants are used similarly throughout the Middle East, while some plants have different uses in different countries in the region.
Based on their patterns of life, the Arab in the Middle East belongs to three distinct ethnic groups: the urban- ized (hadar); the peasants (fallahin); and the nomads and seminomad Bedouin tribes (badu) [1].
2. Methodology
The data for this paper are derived from a broader study of ethno-botany and folk medicine of the Middle East over three decades. The paper is based on interviews with healers and patients. Unstructured interviews and
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158 A. ABU-RABIA
the observation of participants were carried out in the informants’ homes (men and women), as well as in the homes of traditional healers (men and women). Most of the healers were in the age range of forty to eighty years old. All the informants were married and over thirty years old. All the material was recorded in field logs, and some was tape-recorded. Plant samples were collected and identified by healers, tribal elders, and university botanists. The samples were identified and classified according to the plant seeds, leaves, fruit, taste, color and shape.
3. Results
This paper describes beliefs and treatments for specific forms of Paralysis and other nervous disorders in the Middle East by traditional herbalists among the Arabs in the Middle East. In this study, we found that Arab use various parts of the plants, including leaves, flowers, barks, stems, stalks, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, fruit, corns, shells, seeds, stones/pits (in fruits), soft seed pods, grain buds, shoots, twigs, stolons, oils, resins and gums. These parts are used fresh and soft, or cooked or dried. Toxic plants/bulbs are dried, boiled several times in wa- ter, or placed in hot ashes and then used for medicines or foods. The dosages for patients with the same diseases or disorders may vary, according to the ages and the struc- tures of the patients’ bodies.
The rich variety of approaches employed by different healers to treat specific forms of paralysis and other nervous disorders is indicative of the depth and breadth of indigenous medicine practiced among the Arab in the twentieth century. It should be noted that wild desert plants also contain a host of other biologically active compounds besides nutrients. The physiological effects of these other compounds in relation to plant nutrients are not well known, but could affect nutrient and medical utilization or other functions. These topics are of rele- vance for future research in terms of improving our un- derstanding of human nutritional and medical require- ments of the people in the Middle East.
Analysis of the findings shows that the Middle East is the geographic origin of both wild and cultivated me- dicinal plants. In this research the author found 152 plants species belonging to 58 families that treat parlay- sis and other nervous disorders. The most significant plants species are found in the six families of herbs: Labiatae with 21 plants, Compositae with 15 plants, Umbelliferae with 15 plants, and Papilionaceae with 10 plants, Liliaceae with 7 plants, Solanaceae with 6 plants. An appendex shows the whole families with their plants species.
This paper deals with the six representative families; the Latin name of the species is given first followed by the Arabic and English names as described below:
4. Labiatae: (21 Plants)
4.1. Ballota Nigra L.
Arabic: Ferasyoun aswad.
English: Black hemp-nettle.
Plant parts: The whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannin, gallic acid
[5].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic, to make one less
nervous [5,6] and sedative (is a drug which quiets nerv- ous activity). Flowering branches are an antispasmodic [7] and tranquilizer (a drug used in calming persons suf- fering from nervous tension and anxiety). Leaves and flowers are boiled in water: used as anti-spasmodic [8] and sedative.
4.2. Coridothymus Capitatus (L.) Reichb
Arabic: Zahayfy, Za’tar Farisy.
English: Wild thyme.
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers.
Active constituents: The essential oil contains phenols:
carvacrol and thymol [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Boil leaves and flowers in water,
stay in the bathtub for one hour, once a day for one month to treat paralysis [10].
To treat paralysis: Prepare a steam bath from the leaves and use it daily for a month.
4.3. Lavandula Officinalis
Arabic: Khuzama, Khuzama ma’rufa
English: Common lavender
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers.
Active constituents: Pinene, limonene, geraniol, bor-
neol, essential oil, tannin [5,11]; lavender oil and cou- marins [8].
Ethno-botanical use: Infusion of flowering summits or lavender oil are antispasmodic [5,7,8].
4.4. Melissa Officinalis L.
Arabic: ’Ishbit el-Nahel, Turunjan.
English: Lemon-balm.
Plant parts: Leaves, and flowers.
Active constituents: Essential oil obtained from leaves
contain citral and citronal [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Leaves and flowers used to re-
lieve convulsions [12]. A water infusion is used as a tranquilizer; extracts of the leaves relax muscle spasms [9]. Infusion of leaves is an antispasmodic [7].
4.5. Mentha Longifolia L./Mentha Piperita L./ Mentha Pulegium L./Mentha Spicata L.
Arabic: Na’na’ barri, Na’na, Habaq.
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English: Mint, Horse mint.
Plant parts: Leaves.
Active constituents: Menthol, tannin, essential oil, bit-
ter principle [5]; Magnesium and potassium [13]; com- mercial menthe oil (menthylacetate, menthol and men- thone) [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Preparation: boil in water and drink; boil the leaves in water and drink two to four cups a day as a sedative and relieves spasms [5]. Treat muscle spasms and convulsions, and pain of facial paralysis [12]; an antispasmodic [7]; to prevent muscle spasms [9].
4.6. Micromeria Fruticosa (L.) Druce
Arabic: Qurnya, ’Ishbit esh-shai, Duqat ’Adas.
English: Thyme-leaved savory.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Active constituents: Essential oil: novel, natural mono-
terpene ketone [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Drink an infusion from the leaves
and flowers in order to strengthen and calm the nerves [9].
4.7. Nepeta Cataria
Arabic: Qatram, hashishat al-her.
English: Catmint, catnip.
Plant parts: Leaves, the whole plant.
Preparation: Boil leaves in water and drink.
Active constituents: Vitamin C [13]; thymol, carvacrol
and lactones [8].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [8].
4.8. Ocimum Basilicum L.
Arabic: Rayhan.
English: Sweet basil, basilica.
Plant parts: Leaves and seeds.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannin [5]; oil is the
active ingredient which consists: thymol, linalol, cineol, eugenol, terpenes, sesquiterpenes, and methylchavicol [11,14,15].
Ethno-botanical use: Used as a calming medicine [16]; used as a calming sedative and antispasmodic [8].
4.9. Origanum Vulgare L.
Arabic: Mardagush
English: Oregano, Organy, wild majorana
Plant parts: Leaves, the whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannin, thymol, car-
vacrol; and vitamin C [13].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispsmodic [5]. Treats pains of
facial paralysis [11,12]. Copyright © 2012 SciRes.
4.10. Rosmarinus Officinalis
Arabic: Iklil al-Jabal, Hasalban.
English: Rosemary
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Preparation: Boil the leaves in water and drink.
Active constituents: Essential oil, cineol, borneol, tan-
nin, acids, resin [5,11].
Ethno-botanical use: Antiepileptic [5] and antispas-
modic [7].
4.11. Salvia Fruticosa Mill/Salvia Officinalis L.
Arabic: Marmarya, miramia, Na’ema.
English: Three-lobed sage, Sage.
Plant parts: Leaves, seeds and flowers.
Active constituents: Vitamin B complex [13]; leaves
contain essential oil: phenols; and thujones which de- press the central nervous system; to prevent convulsions [8,9], tannin, camphor, cineol, borneol, pinene, resin [5,11], sulfur and steroid substances [13].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [5].
4.12. Stachys Lavandulaefolia/Stachys Arabica Hornem
Arabic: Sarmag.
English: Woundwort.
Plant parts: The whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannins, alkaloids
[5].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [5].
4.13. Thymbra Spicata L.
Arabic: Za’tar hmar, za’tar shibli.
English: Spiked thymbra.
Plant parts: Leaves and stalks.
Active constituents: Essential oil: Thujene, myrecene,
alpha-terpinene, paracymene, gama-terpinene, linalool, carvacrol and betacaryophyllene [17].
Ethno-botanical use: boil green leaves and stalks in water, put in bath tub and soak your body for one hour, to treat paralyzed limbs [10].
4.14. Thymus Algeriensis Boiss. & Reut./ Thymus Serpyllum L./Thymus Vulgaris
Arabic: Khieta, zahhayfy, za’tar.
English: Thyme.
Plant parts: The whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, cymol, thymol, tan-
nin [5].
Volatile oil: Phenols such as thymol, carvacrol, glyco-
side, and flavonoids [11,14,15].
Ethno-botanical use: Leaves and flowering branches
A. ABU-RABIA 159
are an antispasmodic [7] and sedative [5,14].
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160 A. ABU-RABIA
5. Compositae: (15 Plants)
5.1. Achillea Fragrantissima (Forssk)/Achillea Millefolium
Arabic: Qaysum, qisum, umm alf waraqa.
English: Lavender cotton, yarrow.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Flavonoids, sesquinterpene lac-
tones, which relieve convulsions and inflammations [9]; terpenoids, sterols, lactones, and chamazulenes [14]; and Potassium [13].
Ethno-botanical uses: Used as an antispasmodic [12]. Make a vapor bath by boiling leaves and flowers, or pre- pare an infusion to drink, in order to treat convulsions and muscle spasms.
5.2. Ambrosia Maritima L.
Arabic: Damsisa.
English: Sea Ambrosia.
Plant parts: Leaves, the whole plant.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Chlorosesquiterpene lactones [14]. Ethno-botanical uses: The whole plant is used as an
antispasmodic [14].
5.3. Anacyclus Pyrethrum L. Link
Arabic: Oud el-’attas, Agargarha.
English: Spanish pellitory.
Parts used: Roots.
Active constituents: The roots contain anacyclin [18]. Ethno-botanical use: A gargle of its infusion is pre-
scribed for partial paralysis of the tongue and lips, relief of neuralgia and palsy [7].
5.4. Artemisia Absinthium L./Artemesia Herba-Alba Asso
Arabic: Shih Rumi, Afsantin, Shih, sheeh.
English: Wormwood, absinthium.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink, or eat.
Active constituents: Vitamin C [13]. Its active sub-
stances include silica, two bitter substances (absinthin and anabsinthine), thujone, tannic and resinous substances, malic acid, and succinic acid. Essential oil, resin, pinene, cadinen, tannin [5,11]; Santonin, sterols and thujones [11,19]; it also contains essential oils, sesquiterpene lac- tones and thymol; leaves and stems contain three non- glycosidic flavonoids [14].
Ethno-botanical uses: To treat nervousness: prepare a sweetened extract, from the leaves, in glass of water and drink it [9]; to treat paralysis [20]. It is also used as an antispasmodic and calmative (having relaxing/quieting
effect or pacifying properties).
5.5. Atractylis Gummifera L.
Arabic: Heddad, Shawk el-’elk.
English: White chameleon, Spindle wort.
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers
Active constituents: Verapamil, or dithiothreitol [21]. Ethno-botanical use: Root fumigant for paralysis; in-
fusion of flowers for epilepsy and convulsions, paralysis of lips [7].
5.6. Calendula Officinalis L.
Arabic: Uqhuwan.
English: Marigold.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers and fruit.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Calendulin, essential oil, acids
mucilage and carotenoides [5]; Vitamin A and phosphor- rus [13].
Ethno-botanical uses: Flowers are used as an antispas- modic [7,11].
5.7. Carthamus Tinctorius L.
Arabic: Qurtum, zafaran, ’usfur.
English: Safflower.
Plant parts: Flowers and seeds.
Active constituents: Carthamin, fixed oil, yellow and
red coloring matters [5]. Safflower seeds are the source of oil [13]; flowers contain palmitic acid, myristic acid and lauric acid; flavonoids and sterols; seeds contain aphenolic amide [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Boil flowers in water for 15 min- utes, filter, and drink five table spoons a day, to treat paralyzed body organs [10].
5.8. Chrysanthemum Coronarium L.
Arabic: Bisbass, Sufirah, balsamiya.
English: Chrysanthemum.
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers.
Active constituents: Sesquiterpene lactones [9]. Ethno-botanical use: Use the leaves in a steam bath to
relieve muscle aches, nervousness and contractions of the uterus [9]; sedative and antispasmodic [8].
5.9. Echinops Ritro L.
Arabic: Qunfudhiya.
English: Globe thistle.
Plant parts: Flowers and seeds.
Active constituents: Echinospine, oil and minerals [5]. Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic and neurotonic
[5].
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5.10. Inula Viscose (L.) Ait
Arabic: ’Irq al-Tayun, Tayun.
English: Inula, Elecampane, clammy inula.
Plant parts: Leaves, roots and the whole herb. Preparation: Boil in water and drink
Active constituents: Inulin, levulin, mucilage, essential
oil [5]; flavonoids: Quercetin and inulin [9]. Ethno-botanical use: To cure muscle cramps—prepare a steam bath with the leaves or the whole herb; treat local paralysis: Extract oil from the leaves and massage the affected area. For nervousness, prepare a decoction from the roots and spread it on the body [9]. Or soak the leaves in water and drink a table spoon a day for one week as a
tranquilizer.
5.11. Lactuca Serriola L.
Arabic: Khass Barri.
English: Oil lettuce, Prickly lettuce.
Plant parts: Leaves, stems and stalks.
Preparation: Eat as raw salad.
Active constituents: Alkaloids, flavonoids and saponin
[22].
Ethno-botanical use: Calmative and antispasmodic [7].
5.12. Matricaria Recutita L.
Arabic: Uqhuwan, kahwan, babounaj.
English: Wild chamomile, German Chamomile.
Plant parts: Flowers, the whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, vitamin C, coumarin,
apigenin [5]; potassium [13]; volatile oil; proazulene, flavoles and coumarines; apigenin glycosides [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Flowers are an antispasmodic [7] and sedative [8].
5.13. Silybum Marianum L.
Arabic: Khurfeish al-jamal, shouk al-jamal.
English: Milk thistle, St. Mary’s Thistle.
Plant parts: Shoots, the whole herb, seeds.
Preparation: To be eaten as raw salad; or boiled in wa-
ter and drank.
Active constituents: Tyramine, tannin, resin, fixed oil
[5]; seeds contain a mixture of glycosides known as silymarine. Silymarine contain active ingredients: Silybin, silychristin, and silydianin [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [5].
6. Umbelliferae: (15 Plants)
6.1. Ammi Visnage L.
Arabic: Khella, Saq al-’Arus. English: Bishop’s weed. Part used: Seeds.
Active constituents: In modern medicine-substances produced from this plant are: Khellin, visnagin, visnadin and khellol-they are spasmolytic agents, and relax vari- ous smooth muscles [9,11].
Ethno-botanical use: To prepare a water infusion of the crushed seeds, and drink one cup a day, as an antis- pasmodic [5,7], and to prevent muscle spasms [11,12].
6.2. Anethum Graveolens L.
Arabic: Shebet, ’ayn Jaradeh.
English: Dill.
Plant parts: Seeds and flowers, fruit.
Active constituents: Essential oil, terpenes, carvone,
fixed oil, tannin [5]; sulfur [13]; essential oil: carvone [9]; seeds contain volatile oil: Anethofuran, carvone and li- monene [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Fruit is used as an antispasmodic and sedative [7]; and as tranquilizer.
6.3. Apium Graveolens L.
Arabic: Karafs.
English: Celery.
Part used: Leaves, roots and seeds.
Active constituents: The seeds contain essential oils of
which the main components are limonene and apiol [9,11]; Essential oil, apiin, asparagin, limonene [5].
Ethno-botanical uses: Roots are used in the form of infusion for relaxing nervous tension, and is antispas- modic [5,11].
6.4. Carum Carvi L.
Arabic: Krawya, Karawiya.
English: Caraway, common caraway.
Plant parts: Flowers and seeds.
Active constituents: Essential oil, fixed oil, carvone,
resin, tannin, coumarins [5]; and phosphorus [13]. Ethno-botanical use: Analgesic, ripe fruits are a nerve
calmative; ripe seeds antispasmodic [7,11].
6.5. Conium Maculatum
Arabic: Shiqran, Shawkaran.
English: Poison-hemlock, Hemlock.
Plant parts: Dried leaves, seeds and roots.
Preparation: The dried leaves are soaked in water and
drunk, a table spoon a day for two weeks.
Active constituents: Essential oil, coniine, conhydrine,
conicein [5]; alkaloids: Coniine, being the toxic constitu- ent, found in all parts of the plant [9]; Coniilne and con- hydrine [11].
Ethno-botanical use: Treat nervous excitability, acting on the paralysis tremors. Young branches and ripe fruits is effective as a tranquilizer, analagesic, prophylactic
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A. ABU-RABIA 161
162 A. ABU-RABIA
muscle relaxant; neuroleptic, antidepressant, and anti- convulsant [5,9]. The tincture is prescribed as a neuro- muscular sedative and antispasmodic for a paralyzed respiratory system [7,11].
6.6. Coriandrum Sativum L.
Arabic: kuzbarah, kusbara.
English: Coriander.
Plant parts: seeds and leaves.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Essential oil, corinadrol [5]; and
Vitamin C [13]; essential oil from the fruit has high con- tent of linalol, a material which is used in the production of vitamin A; leaves are a source of vitamin A, and C; and coriander oil [9]; fruit and leaves contain: fats, pro- tein, volatile oil [14].
Ethno-botanical use: The distilled essential oil from the fruits relieves muscle pains, and acts as a tranquillizer [9], antispasmodic [5], sedative and treat nervous disor- ders [7].
6.7. Cuminum Cyminum L.
Arabic: Kamun, sannut.
English: Cumin.
Plant parts: Seeds.
Active constituents: Cuminol, carvone, essential oil,
cymol, cuminic aldehyde [5]; seeds contain volatile oil [14].
Ethno-botanical use: infusion of fruits antispasmodic [7] and sedative [14].
6.8. Daucus Carota L. Subsp
Arabic: Jazar barri, jiziyr.
English: Wild carrot.
Plant parts: fruit, roots and seeds.
Preparation: eaten as raw food.
Active constituents: Vitamin A and B, pytosterine, ca-
rotin, asparagine, minerals [5]; Vitamins A, B6, B com- plex, and C; Chloride compounds, magnesium, potas- sium, sodium and iron; it is a source of carbohydrates [13]; roots contain glucose, sucrose, protein, salts, pectin, carotene, vitamins and asparagine; seeds contain: pinene, limonene, carotol, daucol, isobutyric acid and asarone [14].
Ethno-botanical use: fruits are an antispasmodic [7], and sedative [14].
6.9. Eryngium Creticum Lam
Arabic: Kursannih.
English: Eryngo, Snake root.
Plant parts: roots.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Sugar, saponins, essential oil [5].
Ethno-botanical use: to strengthen the nerves, to treat paralysis and nervous diseases [14].
6.10. Pimpinella Anisum/Pimpinella Cretica Poirt
Arabic: Yansun.
English: Anise, Sweet cumin, Aniseed plant.
Plant parts: seeds and flowers.
Active constituents: essential oil, anethol, fixed oil,
choline, mucilage [5]; anisic acid, fats, protein and sugar [14].
Ethno-botanical uses: To treat convulsion, facial pa- ralysis boil seeds in water, and allow the body to obserb the steam. The steams contain essential oil which affect on the face convulsions and heal them [10]. Seeds treat spasms [6,11].
6.11. Ferula Asafetida/Ferula Communis/Ferula Narthex
Arabic: haltit, Simgh al-Unjadhan, Jiddeh.
English: Asafoetida.
Plant parts: resin: oleo-gum-resin.
Preparation: boiled in water and drunk, chewed, or
burn on coals for inhaling the smoke.
Active constituents: Sulfur [13]. The oleo-gum-resin,
asafetida, is obtained from the plant’s rhizome; it consist volatile oil which contain sulphur compounds; the resin- ous portion include asaresinol ferulate and free ferulic acid [11,23].
Ethno-botanical use: the oleo-gum-resin is used as an antispasmodic [7,14].
6.12. Foeniculum Vulgare Mill
Arabic: Shawmar.
English: Fennel.
Plant parts: Stems, leaves and seeds.
Preparation: Boil leaves in water and drink two cups a
day for three weeks.
Active constituents: Essential oil, anethole, anisic acid,
acids, fixed oil [5]; Potassium and sulfur [13]; from the fruit we get fennel oil: anethole and enol; liquorice and senna [9]; seeds contain volatile oil; phenolic anethole and a ketone fenchone [14].
Ethno-botanical use: the fruit is an antispasmodic and calmative [7,11,12].
7. Papilionaceae: (10 Plants)
7.1. Glycyrrhiza Glabra L.
Arabic: ’Irq al-sus, ’ud al-sus. English: Liquorices, licorice.
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Plant parts: leaves, rhizome.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Glycyrrhizin asparagine, liquirtin,
coumarin, sugar, tannin [5], and phosphorus; and steroid substances [13]; glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetic acid [9]; the plant is a source of licorice, the sweet taste due to glycyrrhizin (the calcium and potassium salts of glycyr- rhizinic acid); flavonoids, starch, protein and bitter prin- ciples [11,14].
Ethno-botanical use: to relax uterine muscles, antispas- modic [7,8], and tranquilizer, sedative, rhizome is used for treating muscle pain [14].
7.2. Lotus corniculatus
Arabic: qarn al-ghazal, beseli.
English: Bird’s foot.
Plant parts: flowers.
Active constituents: cyanogenetiques, flavonoides [8]. Ethno-botanical use: sedative and antispasmodic [8].
7.3. Medicago sativa L.
7.6. Trifolium arvense/Trifolium pratense/Trifolium purpureum
Arabic: barsim ahmar, abu d’alabish, naflih.
English: red clover.
Plant parts: leaves and roots.
Active constituents: Tannin, trifoline, isotrifoline [5]. Ethno-botanical uses: used as sedative and an anti-
spasmodic; treat emotional tension and strain [10,24].
7.7. Vicia faba L.
Arabic: Foul, fool.
English: broad bean.
Plant parts: broad bean/brown bean.
Preparation: eat as coked food, eat broad bean once a
day for two to three weeks.
Active constituents: Vitamin B1, B complex; Phospho-
rus, potassium, copper and iron [13].
Ethno-botanical uses: flowers are an antispasmodic
[7].
8. Liliaceae: (7 Plants)
8.1. Asphodelus aestivus/Asphodelus fistulosus/Asphodelus ramosus/ Asphodelus Microcarpus Salzm. & Viv
Arabic: Swai.
English: Asphodel.
Plant parts: roots, leaves, flowers, seeds and bulbs. Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Asphodeline, inuline, mucilage
[5], Alkaloids, glycosides and anthraquinones [9]. Ethno-botanical use: antispasmodic [5]. Rubbing the body with roasted tubers and drinking decoction from
leaves treats paralysis [7].
8.2. Lilium candidum L.
Arabic: Zanbaq, Sawsan abyad.
English: White lily.
Plant parts: flowers and bulbs, leaves or dried seeds. Preparation: soak in water and drink.
Active constituents: Scillin, minerals, mucilage, pec-
tinds [5].
Ethno-botanical use: antispasmodic [5].
8.3. Ruscus aculeatus L.
Arabic: Ass Barri, Khizana.
English: Butcher’s broom, Kee holly.
Plant parts: roots, leaves.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: mixture of sterols and fatty acids
[9].
Ethno-botanical use: An infusion of the flowers tran-
Arabic: khubz al-Ra’ay, barsim hijazy.
English: Medick, locerne, alfalfa.
Plant parts: leaves, seeds, and the whole herb.
Active constituents: Saponin, alkaloids [5]; Vitamins
A, C, K and B complex; and enzymes [13]; saponin, glucose and medicagenic acid; lucernic acid, oil, flavon- oids, alkaloids and phenols [14].
Ethno-botanical use: sedative which quiets nervous ac- tivity [14].
7.4. Melilotus alba/Melilotus indicus (L.) All
Arabic: nafal.
English: Scented trefoil.
Plant parts: leaves, and flowers.
Active constituents: coumarins and flavonoids, terpe-
noid glycosides, herniarin, choline and aromatic com- pound [14].
Ethno-botanical use: infusion of flowering branches is an antispasmodic [7].
7.5. Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb
Arabic: ratam, ratama.
English: white broom, ratame.
Plant parts: The whole herb, flowers.
Active constituents: Essential oil [5]; alkaloids: reta-
mine and sparteine [9].
Ethno-botanical use: to treat limb paralysis: use the
upper branches to prepare a vapor bath; to treat local paralysis: use the roots-boil in water and spread the ex- tract on the affected area [9].
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A. ABU-RABIA 163
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quilizes the nerves and calms hysterical seizures and con- vulsions; a decoction of the branches mitigates convul- sions [9].
8.4. Urginea maritima L. Bak
Arabic: halluf, ’Unsol, bussayl.
English: Squil white.
Plant parts: leaves, bulbs.
Active constituents: Urginin, cardiotonic glycosides,
scillaren, mucilage [5,11]; bulbs contain glycoside: pros- cillaridin A.
Ethno-botanical uses: treatment of cathartic and upset nerves [7,11].
9. Solanaceae: (6 Plants)
9.1. Atropa belladonna L.
Arabic: Set al-Husn.
English: Deadly nightshade, Belladona.
Plant parts: leaves and roots.
Active constituents: atrosin [5]; atropine, hyoscyamine
and hyoscine cocaein [11].
Ethno-botanical use: antispasmodic and sedative [5,
11].
9.2. Datura stramonium L.
Arabic: Daturah, Semm al-far.
English: Jimsonweed, thorn-apple.
Plant parts: leaves, seeds and roots.
Active constituents: active ingredients like alkaloids of
the tropane group, such as atropine, scopolamine and hyoscamine [9]; daturine, hyoscyamine, atropine, sco- polamine, hyocine [5,11].
Ethno-botanical use: sedative, analgesic, antispasmo- dic, for asthma and neuralgic pain; acts as a tranquil- lizer. Tincture of leaves prescribed for spasmodic coughs and asthma; leaves used in fumigations and in cigarettes to ease asthma attacks [5]. Atropine is one of the active ingredients in this plant. Its physiological activity is mainly on the central nervous system. It is used to pre- vent convulsions of the smooth muscles, especially in the lower part of the body [9]. Leaves acts as an antispas- modic and sedative [7,11].
9.3. Hyoscyamus albus L./Hyoscyamus aureus
Arabic: Sikiran, banj.
English: White henbane.
Part used: Leaves and seeds.
Active constituents: Alkaloids, hyoscyamine, hyoscy-
picrin, essential oil [5]; atropine and hyoscine [11]. Ethno-botanical use: plant alleviates nervous irritation such as various forms of hysteria [7]; calmative, tran-
quilizer for hysteria and nervousness [9,11].
9.4. Nicotiana tabacum L.
Arabic: teten, tebgh, dukhan
English: Tobacco
Plant parts: Leaves.
Active constituents: Nicotine compounds [5]; nicotine
and anabacine [11].
Ethno-botanical use: CNS stimulant followed by de-
pression, hypertensive [5]; smoking dried leaves as tran- quilizer and antispasmodic.
9.5. Solanum nigrum L.
Arabic: Enab eddib, ‘Enb al-Tha’lab.
English: Black nightshade.
Part used: The whole herb, fruit (berries) and seeds.
Unripe berries are poisonous, ripe berries are edible. Active constituents: Saponin, solanine [5,9]; Vitamin
C and carotenes [14]; solasodine [11].
Ethno-botanical use: sedative, antispasmodic [5]. Leaves
to relieve nervous pains: use the leaves, prepare a decoc- tion and massage with it; the fruit have a narcotic and tranquilizing effect; extracts of this plant suppress the activity of the central nervous system and prevent muscle spasms [9].
Published at: Sun Dec 22 2024
Urinary diseases and ethnobotany among pastoral nomads in the Middle East
This article is derived from a broad, twenty-year study of ethnobotany and folk medicine among pastoral nomads in the Middle East which took place from 1984 to 2004. The article presents examples of different treatments of diseases and disorders of the urinary tract carried out by healer herbalists. The preparation of remedies includes boiling infusions, extraction of dry or fresh leaves, flowers, seeds or whole plants. Some of these plants were used both as food and as medicine, by ingesting different parts of the plants, such as leaves, flowers, fruits, and so on, either while soft, cooked or dried. Data were collected by using unstructured interviews and by observation. These plants were identified by healers, patients, and university botanists. This paper identified eighty-five plant species, which belong to thirty-six families. The most representative families are: Asteraceae (8), Brassicaceae (6), Poaceae (6), Umbelliferae (6).Introduction
People have been using traditional medicine including ethno-botany for several thousand years. Ancient Arabic medicine was influenced by the ancient medicinal prac- tices of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia and India. The Greco-Roman system of medicine was developed based primarily on the writings of Hippocrates (460-360 B.C.), Dioscorides (circa 54 to 68 AD) and Galen (130– 201 AD). A combination of political and religious factors caused many Greek and Syriac-speaking scholars to move eastward to Persia and to establish centers of learning there. The city of Gundishapur in southwest Iran also became a center of learning, with a well-known medical school, in the sixth century AD [1,2]. One of the Arab phy- sicians during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (571– 632 AD) was al-Harith ibn Kalada (d. 634), one of the most prominent physicians of his time, who traveled to Gundishapur in Persia and studied medicine prior to the
establishment of Islam. Another renowned Arab physi- cian was Ibn Abi Rimtha. The sayings (Hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad on health and illness were system- ized and became known as The Medicine of the Prophet (al- Tibb al-Nabawi) [3,2]. During the Umayyad rule (from 661–750 in the East, based in Damascus), many ancient medical works began to be translated. For five centuries (750–1258) the Abbasids, based in Baghdad, dominated the socio-political life of the greater part of the Muslim world. Countless manuscripts, particularly those written in Greek, were collected and stored in Bayt al-hikmah (The House of Wisdom, established in 830, by the Caliph al- Ma'mun), where scholars worked to translate them into Arabic [4,5].
Within a century, Muslim physicians and scientists were writing original contributions to medical and botanical knowledge. One of the greatest and most famous Islamic
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doctors was Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980–1037), author of The Canon of Medicine (Kitab al-Qanun fi al-Tibb), the epitome of Islamic medicine. This work is the culmination and masterpiece of the Arab systematization of medical sci- ence, and includes many descriptions of the uses of medicinal plants [6]. Other Arabic philosopher-physi- cians were al-Razi (Rhazes 865–923) who wrote The Com- prehensive Book on Medicine (Kitab al-Hawi fi al-Tibb). The material written by al-Hawi is arranged under headings of different diseases, with separate sections on pharmacolog- ical topics. Ibn Sina's and al-Razi's works were later trans- lated into Latin, and continued to influence medical science well into the nineteenth century [7-9].
In the western part of the Islamic empire, the Umayyads of Andalus (Islamic Spain) made their capital at Cordoba. Areas of Cordoba and Granada became centers of learn- ing. The richness and diversity of the flora of Spain were major contributing factors to the development of medical botany. The majority of physicians were herbalists and vice versa. The physician Ibn al-Baytar (1197–1248), authored The Compendium of Simple Drugs and Food (al- jami' li-mufradat al-adwiya wa'l-aghdhiya), in which he described more than 1400 medicinal drugs, 300 of which had not previously been described, recording them alpha- betically and discussing them with great clarity and detail. The work specified the names of herbs and remedies in various languages, thus providing a first class tool for the comparative research of medicinal plants. Other well- known physicians who wrote on plant uses were: Ibn Juljul, al-Ghafiqi, Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Samajun, and Abu'l- Hassan al-Andalusi [10,7]. Traditional medical informa- tion grounded in the Arab medicine of the Middle Ages was gradually transferred to traditional healers and to the general public [11]. The use of herbal medicine is still widespread throughout the populations of the Middle East, including the pastoral nomadic tribes [12-19].
Among the pastoral Bedouin, hundreds of species of trees and shrubs are employed as analgesics, astringent, diuret- ics, emetics, purgatives, poultices, salves, and tonics. Some of these herbs are aimed at cleansing the pastoralist's body of polluting influences, bad spirits, jinns, and the negative effects of sorcery and/or witchcraft. The pastoral nomadic tribes depend on their local healers and traditional medi- cine as recorded in Table 1 (see Additional file 1).
Methodology
The data for this paper are derived from a broad twenty- year study of ethnobotany and folk medicine among the pastoral nomadic Bedouin tribes in the Negev, Jordan and Sinai deserts, carried out from (1984–2004). The paper is based on interviews with healers and patients. All the material was recorded in field logs, and some was tape- recorded. Unstructured interviews and the observation of
participants were carried out in the informants' homes (120 men and 120 women), as well as in the homes of tra- ditional healers (15 men and 10 women). Most of the healers were in the age range of forty to eighty. All the informants were married and over thirty. There were five males from each desert, and four female healers from the Negev, three from Sinai and three from Jordan. The informants were divided into two groups of forty men and forty women from each desert. The collected information was used to construct a list of the indigenous ethnobo- tanic medicine. Samples from all the plants were collected and identified by healers, patients and university bota- nists.
Results and Discussion
This paper describes the treatment of diseases and disor- ders of the urinary tract by traditional herbalists among the pastoral nomadic Bedouin tribes in the Middle East. In this study, we identified eighty-five plant species, which belong to thirty-six families.
The use of traditional medicine by the pastoral nomads, and the appeal to traditional healers over the course of many centuries established a psychological-therapeutic dependence of the pastoral nomadic tribes upon these healers. The rich variety of approaches employed by pas- toral nomadic healers to treat disorders and diseases of the urinary tract is indicative of the depth and breadth of indigenous medicine practiced among the pastoral nomads in the twentieth century. The analysis of my col- lected data, together with the information extracted from the literature on herbal and ethnobotanic medicine of countries in the Middle East [14,20,15,21,18], yielded Table 1 (see Additional file 1). This table includes eighty- five plants with medicinal potential which have been used among the pastoral nomadic Bedouin tribes in the Middle East from generation to generation as reported by my informants.
Table 1 presents information on which parts of the plants are used and in what manner. It should be noted that for some plants, the uses in different countries of the Middle East are similar [22,16]. However, dissimilar uses were also observed for certain plants in different countries/ tribes in the Middle East [23,15,19,24]. The important information gathered in this study will help to preserve the heritage and knowledge of ethnobotanic and folk medicine of the indigenous pastoral tribes of the Middle East. This study will generate awareness in the region con- cerning the potential for conserving plant resources in medicine, food, nutrition and folk heritage. It is of the utmost importance to preserve this heritage, which relates to the traditional, economic and medicinal uses of availa- ble plant resources in the countries of the Middle East.
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The many medicinal substances which we were able to identify as used in traditional medicine included various plants species. The analysis of the findings shows that the three deserts where I conducted my research served as the geographic origin of the medicinal substances. These plants were available because they grew as wild and culti- vated plants and were part of the natural flora of these deserts. The pastoral nomads used these plants as food and as medicine, by eating different parts of the plants including the following: leaves, flowers, barks, stems, stalks, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, pith, fruit, corms, inflo- rescenes, shells, berries, seeds, stones/pits (in fruit), soft seed pods, buds, and shoots.
It should be noted that wild desert plants also contain a host of other biologically active compounds besides nutri- ents. The physiological effects of these other compounds in relation to plant nutrients are not well known, but could affect nutrient and medical utilization or other functions. These topics are of relevance for future research in terms of improving our understanding of human nutri- tional and medical requirements of the pastoral nomads in the Middle East.
Published at: Sun Dec 22 2024
Edible medicinal plants against COVID-19 in the Middle East
Introduction
COVID-19 is a pandemic respiratory illness caused by a highly infectious form of novel Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, discovered at the end of 2019. Most of the people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and may recover without requiring special treatment.i The elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness from SARS-CoV-2.ii The typical symptoms of COVID-19 patients, includes fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, muscle aches, confusion, acute respiratory distress syndrome, as well as the loss of taste and smell. Additionally, these symptoms may be accompanied by fatigue, headache, diarrhea, lymphopenia;iii catarrh, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, and sneezin;iv,v,vi,vii Various claims have been made about the pros and cons of herbal medicines in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.viii Historically, herbal medicines have been traditionally used to treat cold and flu symptoms, as well as other diseases of the respiratory system. Certain foods and herbs could be used as dietary or supplementary therapy to prevent infection and strengthen immunity.ix The longstanding use of dietary therapy and herbal medicine to prevent and treat diseases cannot be overemphasized, as several herbs do exhibit antiviral activity.x Treating influenza and the common cold with very large amounts of vitamin C has been practiced for decades; therefore, vitamin C may be effective against COVID-19.xi Evidence has also shown that vitamin D may decrease the risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID-19. Thus, by extension, an increased vitamin D intake may reduce the risk of influenza and COVID-19 infections and related deaths.xii Many foods and herbsxiii are also known to display antiviral and immunomodulatory activitiesxiv,xv these immunomodulatory herbs could enhance the immune system and protect the body against COVID- 19. The current literature carries strong evidence in support of dietary therapy and herbal medicine as preventive agents against COVID-19, as well as for strengthening immunity. Aromatherapy and vaporized essential oils of certain herbsxvi have also been used for thousands of years ago as anti-microbial and anti-viral agents in preventing the spread of airborne bacteria and viruses.xvii Many of these vaporized essential oils may provide therapeutic benefits for people suffering from influenza or other respiratory viral infections.xviii Thus, using essential oils could be a good way to prevent COVID-19.
Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Int J Complement Alt Med. 2021;14(3):151‒156.
Allium cepa L.
Family: Liliaceae
Arabic: Basal
English: onion
Plant parts: leaves, bulb. Preparation: Fresh, dried, or cooked.
Chemical constituents: quercetin, glucokinin, pectin, essential oilxix vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, and ironxx steroidal saponins and sapogenins, sulfur compounds (alkenyl cesteine sulphoxides), and flavonides (quercetin)xxi,xxii Onions contain S-propenylysteine sulphoxides and S-methylycteine sulphoxides, and are a major source of flavonoids,xxiii vitamin C, gluconin, and sex hormones.xxiv
Properties and Ethno-botanical uses: tonic, cardiac tonic, appetizer, and antiseptic; treat cough and fever. In Jordan, the bulbs, fresh leaves are an appetizer. Onion may be squeezed onto the hands or into the mouth and nose to prevent influenza, colds, and other epidemic diseases. Fresh green onion leaves are eaten as salad or with other foodxxv,xxvi In Eastern Turkey, onions, and garlic are commonly consumed to strengthen the immune system, notably during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
Allium sativum
Family: Liliaceae
Arabic: thoum, thum
English: garlic
Plant parts: leaves and cloves, bulbs.
Preparation: The fresh leaves and cloves, or dried cloves are edible.
Chemical constituents: alliin, essential oil, vitamins A, C, minerals (Karim and Quraan 1986:39; Khalifa 1998:201), phosphorus, sulfur, alliin, allicin, garlic oil. The chief constituent of garlic is the sulfur compound allicin, produced by crushing or chewing fresh
151
©2021 Rabia. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.
Edible medicinal plants against COVID-19 in the Middle East
garlic, which in turn produces other sulfur compounds: ajoene, mono- , di-, and tri-allyl sulfides, and vinyldithiins.xxvii
Properties and Ethno-botanical uses Allium sativum is carminative, cholagogue, aphrodisiac, diuretic, and purgative. Garlic can be used in the treatment of toothaches, ear infections and rheumatism; Garlic also has antiseptic, bacteriostatic, and antiviral effects. In Jordan, it used as an anti-hypertensive, treatment for whooping cough and diseases of the circulatory system. Fresh green leaves/bulbs are commonly eaten with salad. It is also used to treat asthma, and joint inflammations. Allium sativum was found to have several antimicrobial compounds, as well as active antitumor elements such allicin and ajoenexxviii,xxix bulbs treat respiratory problems. As noted previously in Eastern Turkey, the consumption of onions, alongside garlic is believed to strengthen the immune system during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 (Pieroni et al. 2020:5-9). Garlic is also shown to demonstrate antiviral activity against influenza virus.xxx Garlic can also treat respiratory diseases, such as the common cold, the cough, and other symptoms related to influenza;xxxi Garlic can also be used to treat chronic bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infections.xxxii Allicin-containing supplements can be taken as a preventative against the common cold virus, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Althaea officinalis L.
Family: Malvaceae
Arabic: khitmiya, khutmiya, Khutmiy English: Marshmallow, White mallow Plant parts: leaves, roots, flowers, seeds.
Preparation: The leaves can be eaten raw as salad, or soaked in water and eaten as a dish. The leaves and roots can also be boiled in water drank.
Chemical constituents: mucilage, starch, pectin, sugars, and asparagine, Vitamin C, tannin, and alum. Mucilage, flavonoids, phenolic acids, starch.
Properties and ethno-botanical use: Althaea officinalis is used as a calmative for cough, the crushed roots are boiled in water/ milk to treat fever, respiratory illnesses, coughing, throat infections, bronchitis, mucus secretions, asthma and spasmodic episodes. White Mallow can be made into an infusion for treatment of bronchial and throat catarrhs, and chronic coughs.xxxiii White Mallow is also an analgesic and anti-inflammatory. In Eastern Turkey, the use of Althaea spp. was recorded in cases of possible COVID-19 symptoms (shortness of breath and cough). White Mallow is also used as adjuvant in the treatment of early/mild cases of COVID-19. It is most useful in treating respiratory disease symptoms: dry, and irritable coughs, and irritations of oral and pharyngeal mucosa.xxxiv
Artemisia annua
Family: Compositae (Asteraceae)
Arabic: shih hawli
English: annual wormwood/sweet wormwood/mug wort Plant parts: Dried aerial parts, dried leaves, stalks.
Chemical constituents: arteannuin, peroxide group, misiaketone, cadinene, caryophyllene, chryososplenol, scopolin, scopoletin, ginghao acid, artemisinin, chloroquine,xxxv essential oils, flavonoids and coumarins; the main chemical constituents are sesquiterpenoids, including artemisinin.xxxvi
Properties and ethno-botanical uses: Artemisia annua is an antipyretic,xxxvii antibacterial and anti-inflammatory traditionally used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and malaria. It is still used in Asia and Africa to treat malariaxxxviii as well as COVID-19 symptoms.
Copyright: 152 ©2021 Rabia
Artemesia herba-alba Asso Family: Compositae Arabic: Shih, sheeh English: Wormwood
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Chemical constituents: essential oil, resin, pinene, cadinen, tannin; Santonin, sterols and thujones; it also contains essential oils, sesquiterpene lactones and thymol; the leaves and stems contain three non-glycosidic flavonoids, volatile components (monoterpene, Verbenol) (Bnouham 2012: 1-9). Properties and Ethno-botanical uses: Artemisa herba is a tonic, used to treat cough and colic (maghs). In Egypt and North Africa, an infusion of the flowering branches are tonic, carminative for the stomach, and used a cure for nervous troubles and ‘calming the emotions’. In Jordan, it is used to treat inflammation, and asthma, the common cold, kidney stones and the cough.
In Jordan and Palestine, Artemisia herba is used to treat the cold, coughing (also the chronic cough), sore throat, lung infections, fever, influenza, loss of appetite, malaria, and as a treatment for COVID-19 symptoms.xxxix
Citrus limon L.
Family: Rutaceae
Arabic: laimun, laymun, hamid, laymon hulu English: Lime, common lemon, Lemon Plant parts: fruit, leaves and flowers. Preparation: drink with water or tea.
Chemical constituents: Essential oil, vitamin C, hesperidin (Karim and Qura’an 1986:40); magnesium and phosphorus; limonoids, citronellal, volatile oil, citro-flavonoids, and citric acid, B6, riboflavine, calcium, iron, and potassium.
Properties and ethno-botanical uses: Citrus limon has anti- emetic, appetizer, and anti-nausea properties, and is used in the treatment of malaria, and fever, it is also used in the treatment of colds.
During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic in Milan, Italy, an increase in the consumption of some specific fresh fruits-especially, citrus fruits- was observed; it seems that this was one of many changes in food consumption habits adopted to treat COVID-19.
Citrus limon is also used to relieve cough and as expectorant for bronchitis, and as anti-inflammatory. It is also used to relieve respiratory symptoms, such as coughing and the sore throat, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commiphora myrrha (Nees)
Family: Burseraceae
Arabic: mur, myrrh, subr, Mur batarikh. English: Myrrh
Plant parts: resin.
Chemical constituents: the oleo-gum-resin contain volatile oil, resin, and gum. The constituents of Myrrh’s volatile oil include terpenes, sesquiterpenes, esters, cumic aldehyde and eugenol. The sesquiterpene fraction contains furanosesquiterpenes: furanogermacranes, furanoguaianes and furanoeudesmanes. The gum contains protein, and carbohydrates of galactose, arabinose and glucuronic acid units. Sandaracopimaric acid, abietic acid, dehydroabietic acid.xl
Citation: Rabia AA. Edible medicinal plants against COVID-19 in the Middle East. Int J Complement Alt Med. 2021;14(3):151‒156. DOI: 10.15406/ijcam.2021.14.00550
Edible medicinal plants against COVID-19 in the Middle East
Properties and ethno-botanical use: Myrrh is used in the treat asthma, coughing, wounds, and hemorrhoids. In Yemen, the resin is burnt and the smoke allowed to rise between the legs of women post- childbirth to assist with the expulsion of the placenta and stimulate bloodflow (Ghazanfar 1994: 65). It has also been used to treat chest pains.xli Myrrh is an exudate from the bark of the plant, which has therapeutic properties supporting its medicinal use (Singh 2015: 50- 55xlii), its essential oil provides antiviral activity against influenza, and herpes.). The extract of Myrrh is believed to treat respiratory diseases like chest infections, and there is a possibility that Myrrh could be effective in treating the current cases of COVID-19.xliii It is used in the alleviation of respiratory symptoms such as the inflammation of pharyngeal mucosa; as well as an adjuvant in the treatment of early/ mild cases of COVID-19 (Silveira et al. 2020: 8, 30).
Eucalyptus globules
Family: Myrtaceae
Arabic: Kina, Kineih, Kafour English: Eucalyptus, Blue gum tree Part used: Leaves.
Active constituents: Cineol (eucalyptol) pinene, essential oil, resin and tannin.
Properties and ethno-botanical use: The essential oil of Eucalyptus globules is oestrogenic, antiseptic, expectorant, and an anti-inflammatory treatment for the upper respiratory tract and for skin diseases. It is also used in the treatment of dysentery, malaria, cough, stomach aches, diarrhea, nausea, fever, flu and the common cold. The use of Eucalyptus has been recorded in possible cases of COVID-19 (for symptoms including shortness of breath and cough) Eucalyptus globules is also used as an adjuvant in the treatment of early/mild cases of COVID-19. It is an effective treatment for the following respiratory disease symptoms: dry coughs, throat irritation, and irritations of oral and pharyngeal mucosa.xliv
Glycyrrhiza glabra L.
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae) Arabic: ‘irq al-sus, ‘ud al-sus
English: Liquorice, licorice
Plant parts: root, leaves, rhizome, gum.
Active constituents: Glycyrrhizin asparagine, liquirtin, coumarin, sugar, tannin, glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetic acid. Glycyrrhiza glabra is a source of licorice, the sweet taste is due to glycyrrhizin (the calcium and potassium salts of glycyrrhizinic acid); flavonoids, starch, protein and bitter principles. The plant also contains protein, sulphur, calcium oxalates, and resin. Glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, flavonoids (liquiritin, isoliquiritin).
Properties and ethno-botanical use: Glycyrrhiza glabra is used as an expectorant, and antitussive. It is also used in the treatment of peptic ulcers, hypertension, as an anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and is useful for the treatment of peptic ulcers. In Palestine, Glycyrrhiza glabra is used to treat coughs, lung infections, throat infections, infections of the urinary system, a sedative nervous system, and in the treatmen of fevers, and asthma. In Yemen, the plant is used to increase sexual potency. The root is used in the treatment of ulcers and painful coughs. The Glycyrrhiza glabra root also demonstrates antiviral activity against influenza.xlv It is used in the treatment of the respiratory disease symptoms of coughing, sore throat and asthma. It is also an adjuvant in the treatment of early/mild cases of COVID-19.
Malva sylvestris L.
Family: Malvaceae
Arabic: khubiza, khubaiz, khubizah
Copyright: 153 ©2021 Rabia
English: common mallow, blue mallow
Plant parts: leaves, shoots, seeds and flowers.
Chemical constituents: malvine, tannin, mucilage sterols, terpenes, anthocyanins, beta-carotene, malvidin, leucuyanidins, mucilage.
Properties and Ethno-botanical use: Malva sylvestris is calmative, laxative and an emollient. It is used in the treatment of abscesses, aphthas, asthma, inflammations of the mouth, constipation, teeth ailments, bleeding, the nerves, throat infections, coughing, and eye inflammations. The leaves are used as a laxative, antitussive and emollient for the intestinal mucosa, as well as a treatment for urinary tract diseases, vaginal infections, and provides relief from skin irritation. It is also used in the treatment of colds, and cough.xlvi In Spain, a decoction of the roots are used orally for fever and to calm cough.
It is used in the treatment of respiratory diseases for pharyngeal irritation and dry coughs.xlvii and may be useful in the relief of COVID-19 symptoms by exerting a soothing effect on the respiratory tract (Silveira et al. 2020: 13-14).
Nigella sativa L.
Family: Ranunculaceae
Arabic: habbit al-barakah/ haba sawda, qazha
English: Nigella, black cumin
Plant parts: seeds or extracted oil.
Chemical constituents: Essential oil, fixed oil, nigellin, saponin, nigellimine N-oxide, and isoquinoline alkaloid.xlviii
Properties and ethno-botanical uses: Nigella sativa is used as a digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactagogue, and carminative. The seed is used to relieve flatulence, increase milk secretion, treat arthritis, general weakness, the common cold, and gynecological disorders. According to the Prophet Muhammad, it can treat warts, asthma and moles.xlix It also used as a liver tonic, a digestive, an anti- inflammatory, immuno-stimulant, and remedy for jaundice. It can be used for the relief of a severe cough and for asthma in the context of COVID-19.
Ocimum gratissimum L.
Arabic: raihan
Family: Lamiaceae
English: clove basil
Plant parts: leaves, seeds, roots, entire plant, whole plant.
Properties and ethno-botanical use: In West Africa, the leaves of Ocimum gratissimu are used for fever, dysentery, cough, headaches, snake bite, rheumatism and lumbag.l
In India the plant is used to treat paralysis, neuralgia, rheumatism, gonorrhea, and headache.li
In West Indies, fresh leaves in tea are used to treat the flu, fever, pneumonia, and dysmenorrhea. It is bactericidal and anthelmintic.lii
It can also be used to treat symptoms of cold, influenza, fever, asthma, and bronchitis.liii Its antitussive properties may allow for its potential use in the relief of early symptoms of COVID-19.liv
Pimpinella anisum L./Anisum vulgare L. Family: Umbelliferae (Apiaceae)
Arabic: yansun, anisun
English: Anise, aniseed
Citation: Rabia AA. Edible medicinal plants against COVID-19 in the Middle East. Int J Complement Alt Med. 2021;14(3):151‒156. DOI: 10.15406/ijcam.2021.14.00550
Edible medicinal plants against COVID-19 in the Middle East
Plant parts: Seeds and flowers.
Chemical constituents: essential oil, anethol, fixed oil, choline, mucilage, limonene, and rosin (Karim and Qura’an 1986:39; Khalifa 1998:601). Flavonoids isolated from anise include quercetin 3-glucuronide, rutin, luteolin 7-glucoside, isoorientin, isovitexin, apigenin 7-glucoside and a luteolin glycoside.lv,lvi Anise also contains aflatoxin, mycotoxin, acetaldehyde, alpha-pinene, alpha-terpineol, squalene, stigmasterol, trans-anethole, and zinc.lvii,lviii,lix
Properties and ethno-botanical uses: Pimpinella anisum has anti-spasmodic, aromatic, bronchodilator, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, properies, and can be used as a flavoring agent. Its diuretic properties make it an effective treatment for urinary tract infections and urine retention. The fruits are used to treat the common cold, and general weakness. In Palestine, the plant is used to treat stomach and intestinal pain, headaches, to increase fertility, and symptoms associated with the common cold and respiratory illnesses. The main constituent of the essential oil of anise is anethol, is an active estrogenic agent, and has been shown to block inflammations due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.lx The plant is also used the treatment of fevers and coughs, and thus, might be effective in the relief of the early symptoms of COVID-19 (Silveira et al. 2020:15-16).
Sambucus nigra L.
Family: Caprifoliaceae/Adoxaceae
Arabic: bailassan, khamman, khaman kabir, sabuqah English: black elder
Plant parts: berry, flower, bark, fruit, leaves.
Chemical constituents: Sambucin, sambunigrine, resin, tannin, tyrosin, essential oil; vitamin A and C; Iron, phosphorus and potassium, mucilage, flavonoids, anthocyanique. Anthocyanins (sambucin, sambucyanin), flavonoids, essential oil, ascorbic acid, phenolic acids, triterpenes (Bone 2007: 32).
Properties and ethno-botanical use: Sambucus nigra is a depurative, laxative, diuretic, calmative, and sedative, commonly used in the treatment of rheumatism, nervous system disorders, the common cold and inflammations of the respiratory system. Sambucus nigra is also used for treating coughing and flu, fever, and headaches. It can be used as an adjuvant in the treatment of early/mild cases of COVID-19.
Thymus vulgaris L.
Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Arabic: za’atar
English: Thyme
Plant parts: leaves, flower, the whole herb.
Chemical constituents: volatile oil contains phenols, including thymol, carvacrol, glycoside, and flavonoids, tannin, resin and saponoside. Its essential oil mainly includes phenols (such as thymol, carvacrol), carnosic acid, biphenyls, flavonoids, phenolic acids, acetophenone glycosides.
Properties and ethno-botanical uses: Thymus vulgaris has aphrodisiac, antispasmodic, and carminative properties. It is used in afterbirth, care, as a treatment for disorders of the digestive and respiratory systems, ulcerous migraines, whooping cough, asthma, and colic. It is one of the most commonly used spices in the Arab kitchen.
In Jordan, the shoots of the plants are used to treat hypertension, the common cold, abdominal pain, and as a blood purifier. Thymus
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vulgaris is also used to treat coughing associated with cold, laryngitis and tonsillitis.lxi Because of its spasmolytic and anti-inflammatory properties, it may be useful for relieving the respiratory symptoms, associated with COVID-19.
Zingiber officinalis
Family: Zingiberaceae
Arabic: Zingibil, Zenjabil English: ginger, East Indian ginger Plant parts: rhizome.
Chemical constituents: the rhizome contains volatile oil and resin, starch and mucilage. The oil contains cineole, citral, borneol and sesquiterpenes (zingiberene and bisabolene); the rhizome contains gingerol, phenols, and zingerone. Phenolic volatile oils (gingerol analogues: gingerols, shogaol), gum, resin, volatile oil, resin oil, gingerin, calcium, vitamins A and B, zingerone, shogaols, gingerols, paradols, wikstromol, and carinol.lxii
Properties and ethno-botanical uses: Zingiber officinalis is a stimulant, analgesic and aphrodisiac. It is used to treat postpartum mothers by stimulating blood circulation and preventing clotting.
In Jordan, the rhizomes are used in treating anemia, the common cold, and for general weakness. It can also be used to treat a sore throat, infections of the lungs, eye inflammations, hoarseness and flatulence.
In North Africa, its powdered rhizome is an ingredient in a popular drug imported from Southeast Asia, for its stimulant and aphrodisiac properties. In Lebanon, postpartum mothers are given a drink consisting of ginger boiled with cinnamon and other hot spices to stimulate circulation and prevent blood clotting. Ginger is has also been shown to demonstrate antiviral activity against the influenza virus. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, its use as a treatment in anti-inflammatory therapy for upper respiratory affections as well as its uses in treating the common cold, coughing, and asthma may prove effective in dealing with some of the disease’s respiratory symptoms.
Conclusions
Most of the institutionalized health services have struggled to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in its early stages. Although there are now several pharmaceutical companies with approved vaccines for this disease (and still more in development) unfortunately the cost of these vaccines prohibits many countries from carrying out vaccination campaigns among their populations. At the same time, there are numerous of medicinal plants, fruits and vegetable products that may very likely prove as effective adjuvants in preventing and treating the symptoms of COVID-19.
Furthermore Consuming healthy food produced from plants, fruits and vegetables, could enhance the immune system and protect the body against COVID- 19, as well as other viruses and diseases, and more broadly improve the general wellbeing of people. Thus, dietary therapy and medicinal plants should not be ruled out as a complementary preventive therapy, especially among at-risk populations with limited vaccine access during the COVID-19 pandemic. Far from being a pseudoscience, these therapies could exist side by side with modern/western medicine, and even enhance the effectiveness of western medical procedures. These edible medicinal plants contain a host of biologically-active compounds. Their physiological effects requires more research in future to improve our understanding of human nutritional and medicinal requirements, especially with reference to flu symptoms, diseases of the respiratory system, as well as COVID-19.
Published at: Fri Dec 20 2024
