Medicine

Dipteryx odorata (Aubl.) Willd. (Fabaceae) Dutch Tonka Bean, Tonga Bean, Tonka Bean, Cumaru, Tonquin (Medicine)

Synonyms — Coumarouna odorata Aubl., Coumarouna punctata Blake Medicinal Uses (Tonka Bean) — The plant is used as an anticoagulant, antidyspeptic, antipyretic, antitussive, cardiotonic, diaphoretic, fumigant, narcotic, stimulant, and stomachic (DAV). The fluid extract has been recommended in whooping cough. In China, seed extracts are used rectally for schistosomiasis. Guyanese use the astringent gum for […]

Capparis spinosa L. (Capparaceae) Caper, Caperbush (Medicine)

Synonym — Capparis rupestris Sm. Medicinal Uses (Caper) — The caper contains some of the same isothiocyanates found in the mustard family and may serve a similar role medicinally. Root and root bark of the Biblical caper, prepared variously (malagmas, cataplasms, drunk with wine or vinegar, etc.), are folk remedies for indurations (of the bladder, […]

Bixa orellana L. (Bixaceae) Achiote, Annatto, Annoto, Arnato, Bija, Lipstick pod, Lipstick Tree (Medicine)

Medicinal Uses (Annatto) — Seeds and latex used for tumors, cancer, and condyloma. Seeds gargled with vinegar and rice water for cancer of the mouth. Leaf infusion used in Costa Rica to prevent baldness. Leaf infusion gargled for tonsilitis. Bolivians press leaves on aching body parts. Seeds are reportedly aphrodisiac, astringent, cordial, expectorant (laxative and […]

Aframomum melegueta K. Schum. (Zingiberaceae) Alligator Pepper, Grains of Paradise, Guinea Grains, Melegueta Pepper (Medicine)

Synonym — Amomum melegueta Roscoe. Medicinal Uses (Grains of Paradise) — Viewed as an African panacea (UPW), the plant was introduced to the West Indies, probably during the slave trade days. Newly captured slaves were so dependent on the spice that slave ships had to carry an ample supply. Crushed seeds are rubbed on the […]

U.S. spice imports, cerca (Medicine)

500 years of the Columbian Exchange, updated from my Columbian Exchange lectures ( 1991, 1992). Allspice Native American, allspice is still mostly produced in America, Grenada being the major producer. Allspice, of which I imported more than 1000 tons in 1989, worth nearly $2 million, is essentially the dried unripe fruit of tropical Pimenta racemosa, […]

Abbreviations (Medicine)

Full reference citations, in their proper alphabetical (by author) sequences, will be found under References. Many of our primary reference citations follow the consistent system (abbreviation, volume, page) format. These are more meaningful to us, the compilers, than the PMID abstract number, e.g., EB, or JE, or PR followed by a number then a colon […]

Synergy (Medicine)

Pepper and citric acid play special roles as synergists. “Citric acid potentiates the antibacterial effects of other spices, because low pH disrupts bacterial cell membranes” (Sherman and Billing, 1999). “Black pepper comes from Piper nigrum, an exclusively tropical plant which has several useful properties. For example, the compound piperine inhibits the ubiquitous, deadly bacterium Clostridium […]

Avoidance (Medicine)

Sherman and Flaxman (2001) stress that, even in those countries using spices heavily and regularly, pre-adolescent children and women in their first trimester typically avoid highly spiced foods. Morning sickness may reduce maternal intake of foods containing teratogens during the early embryogenesis, when delicate fetal tissues are most susceptible to chemical disruption. Women who experience […]

Spice statistics (Medicine)

Today, spice use is ubiquitous, but spices are far more important in some cuisines than others. “Japanese dishes are often described as delicate, Indonesian and Szechwan as ‘hot,’ and middle European and Scandinavian dishes as ‘bland’” (Sherman and Billing, 1999). “Cooktopics generally distinguish between seasonings (spices used in food preparation) and condiments (spices added after […]

DATELINE — SPICE TIMETABLE (Medicine)

• ~60,000,000 b.p. Flowering plants, the subject of this topic, emerge and begin to evolve phytochemicals defensive against phytovores. • ~6,000,000 b.p. Primates evolve into man who begins co-evolving with the flowering plants, some edible, some medicinal, some poisonous. • ~50,000 b.p. Man learns of the culinary attributes of leaves wrapped around meat for cooking […]

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