Commonly Used Medicinal Plants In Arab-Islamic Medicine (3/4)

Eryngium creticum, “Qors Aanneh” is used in traditional Arab medicine for a wide range of diseases; in particular, the roots are used against various inflammatory disorders, edema, sinusitis, urinary infections and inflammations, and snake or scorpion bites or goiter; roots and leaves for infertility; and herbs for wound healing as well as food while fresh. Traditional reports stressed the use of E. creticum as an antidote for scorpion poison, as well as for its hypoglycemic effects.

Gundelia tournefortii, commonly known as Akkoub in the Arab world, is a medicinal plant and also used as a nutritious food. It is recorded that the flowers, leaves, seeds, and stems of Akkoub are used as food sources. In the Middle East, the young and still undeveloped flower buds are sold in the local markets just like artichoke hearts; it is a highly sought item. In Arab–Islamic traditional medicine, Akkoub is known for its hypoglycemic and laxative properties.

Urtica dioica, stinging nettle, is widely used in Greco-Arab medicine to treat stomachaches, rheumatic pain, colds and cough, and liver insufficiency. It is also used as a hypotensive and anti-inflammatory agent.

Chamomilla recutita, chamomile, is an annual herbaceous plant indigenous to Europe and Western Asia. Also known as German chamomile or wild chamomile, the plant is cultivated for the flower heads. Infusions and essential oils from fresh or dried flower heads have aromatic, flavoring, and coloring properties. Both are used in a number of commercial products including soaps, detergents, perfumes, lotions, ointments, hair products, baked goods, confections, alcoholic beverages, and herbal teas. Chamomile tea, brewed from dried flower heads, has been used traditionally for medicinal purposes. The main constituents of the flowers include several phenolic compounds, primarily the flavonoids apigenin, quercetin, patuletin, and luteolin. The principal components of the essential oil extracted from the flowers are the terpenoids a-bisabolol and its oxides and azulenes, including chamazulene. Chamomile has moderate antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, and significant antiplatelet activity in vitro. Animal model studies indicate potent anti-inflammatory action, some antimutagenic and cholesterol-lowering activities, as well as antispasmodic and anxiolytic effects. However, human studies are limited, and clinical trials examining the purported sedative properties of chamomile tea are absent.

Pimpinella anisum, anise, is a member of the Apiaceae family that includes fennel, caraway, cumin, cilantro, dill, and carrots. It is commonly used to flavor candy, foods, and liqueurs. The seeds (“fruits”) are used in traditional Arab medicine for a wide range of diseases, particularly for their ability to bring about a reduction in gas and bloating and to settle the problems related to digestion. Seed-based remedies are commonly used with infants and children to induce relief from cases of colic; these remedies are also given to people of all ages to help in relieving the symptoms associated with indigestion and nausea arising from a variety of causes. An additional therapeutic effect of the seeds is their antispasmodic properties, which are effective in reducing the symptoms of menstrual pain, the discomfort during asthma attacks, as well as in the treatment of whooping cough and other spasmodic coughs. Furthermore, remedies made from the seeds are also believed to be able to bring about an increase in the production of breast milk; these remedies may also be beneficial in the treatment of impotence and frigidity. The essential herbal oils derived from anise are also used in the treatment of similar complaints in patients. It is recommended that patients should consume the essential oil while they are under careful and responsible professional supervision. Women in the term of pregnancy must also abstain from taking anise, with the exception of minute amounts, such as those normally used during cooking.

Hypericum triquetrifolium, wavy leaf St John’s wort or tangled hypericum, is native to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area. H. triquetrifolium-derived remedies have been used in traditional Greco-Arab and Islamic herbal medicine to treat inflammatory diseases. The classic Arabic name for this plant species is Dathi or Nabtat Yohanna. Unfortunately, this plant is no longer used within the practitioner communities in Palestine. This fact reflects a process of extinction of important elements of the Arab herbal medicine heritage.

Ferula asafoetida, devil’s dung, is plant native to central Asia and it is held in great esteem among indigenous Indian medicine men. The roots are thick and pulpy and also yield a similar resin to that of the stems, it is said the roots look like “carrots.” All parts of the plant have a distinctive stinky smell. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is highly regarded as a condiment and medicinal remedy for various conditions. Traditional Chinese herbalists say this resin enters the liver, spleen, and stomach channels where it stimulates the intestinal, respiratory, and nervous systems. Asafoetida has digestive, sedative, stimulant, antispasmodic, expectorant, emmenagogue (promoting menstrual discharge), and vermifuge (expelling worms or other parasites in the intestines) properties.

Zallouh is the common name in the Middle East for the roots of the species Ferula hermonis growing on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the Syrian Golan Heights and has been used for centuries as a folk remedy to treat frigidity in women, and erectile and sexual dysfunction in men. Greco-Arab and Islamic medicine supports its use as a sexual tonic to encourage potency. Al-Razi (Rhazes 864–930) reported that Indians use F. asafoetida L. as the main botanical aphrodisiac, several centuries before his time. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Antaki have also emphasized the aphrodisiac effect of F. asafoetida L.

Melissa officinalis, lemon balm, is a perennial herb in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and southern Europe. The therapeutic uses of this plant dates back into ancient times. Greco-Arab and Islamic physicians used the herb to treat heart disorders. In the Middle Ages, a sprig of lemon balm was said to staunch the blood of a sword wound and to help relieve an earache, toothache, pregnancy sickness, fix crooked necks, and prevent baldness. In more recent history, M. officinalis was used against catarrh, fevers, and flatulence problems. People realized that the oil makes for great surgical dressing because it kills off germs and while the oil dries, it seals up wounds. Physicians used the herb to entice sweat for fevers and regulating menstrual cycles; however, lemon balm was not as preferred as other mints because it contains less volatile oil. Pharmacological properties of this plant on the nervous system are documented in medicinal history that extending back to the Materia Medica in approximately 50–80 BC. M. officinalis gained widespread usage throughout Europe by the Middle Ages, with medicinal use during this early epoch including a recommendation by Paracelsus (1493–1541) that balm would completely revivify a man, and as an indication for all complaints supposed to proceed from a disordered state of the nervous system.

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