history
The Travelling Botanist: Cinnamon, a spice of many tales
Guest blog by: Sophie Mogg
Cinnamon is a spice that we have all had the opportunity to try, whether in fancy coffees, liqueurs or delicious buns. Whilst the “true” cinnamon species is Cinnamomum verum, the most common source of cinnamon is Cinnamomum cassia. Both species originate in Asia, with C. verum being native to Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) and C. cassia originating in southern China. In order to distinguish the cinnamon produced by the two species in the spice trade, cinnamon refers to C. verum whilst cassia refers to C. cassia. This is because, C. verum is more expensive of the two due to its sweeter taste and aroma as less than 30% of cinnamon exports come from Sri Lanka.
Cinnamon has been traded for many thousands of years, with the imports into Egypt reported as early as 2000 BCE so it is no surprise that there are countless tales and historical events that surround this spice. From Sieur de Joinville believing cinnamon was fished from the Nile at the end of the world and Herodotus writing about mystical giant birds (such as a phoenix) that used cinnamon sticks to build their nests, the history of cinnamon is rich in legends of its origin as it wasn’t until 1270 that it was mentioned the spice grew in Sri Lanka. However as sweet as this spice may be it also appears to have a bloody history. Aside from the countless wars raged over the right to trade cinnamon, it was also used on the funeral pyre of Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Nero, in 65 AD. It is said that he burned over a years supply as recompense for the part he played in her death.
There are a total of 5 species (C. burmannii, C. cassia, C. citriodorum, C. loureiroi and C. verum) that produce cinnamon however C. verum and C. cassia are where the majority of international commerce is sourced from. Production of cinnamon is fairly straight forward albeit time-consuming. The outer bark of the tree is shaved off exposing the inner bark which is the cinnamon layer. This inner bark is also shaved off and left to dry, naturally curling as it does. By comparison the cinnamon of C. verum has a more delicate flavour than that of C. cassia as well as having thinner bark that is more easy to crush and produces a much more smooth texture. 
Cinnamon is prominent in the practice of Ayurveda medicine as well as traditional Chinese medicine, being one of the 50 fundamental herbs. Traditionally it has been used to treat a wide variety of ailments from digestive problems, respiratory problems, arthritis and infections. In traditional Chinese medicine it is believed that cinnamon is able to treat these ailments through it’s ability to balance the Yin and Wei as well being a counterflow for Qi. These terms are aptly explained here for those who are interested. While there is little scientific evidence for the treatment of digestive and respiratory disorders, cinnamon does appear to possess antibacterial, antifungal and antimicrobial properties which may help to fight infections although at this moment in time it is inconclusive in studies trialled on humans. Cinnamon produced from C. cassia coumarin, which thins the blood, can be toxic to the liver in high concentrations so it is advised that only a few grams per day be consumed.
For those avid tea lovers out there I’ve found instructions to brew your own cinnamon tea.
For more information check out the links below
Cinnamomum cassia in Chinese medicine
Rainforest Alliance – Cinnamon farms
Leave a comment below to tell me what you think or what you’d like to see next!
Fancy a bite? – Medicinal leeches
by Jemma
One of the most well-known animals in medicine is the leech, Hirudo medicinalis. Found over almost the whole of Europe and part of Asia, the leech has been collected from muddy freshwater pools and ditches for hundreds of years.
Fully mature leeches can reach up to 20 cm in length and are hermaphrodites that reproduce sexually. Leeches have suckers on each end, called the anterior and posterior suckers. The posterior (back) one is mainly used for leverage whilst the anterior (front) sucker has the jaw and teeth for feeding. Large adults can consume 5-15 ml in a single meal, which is about 10 times their body weight. After feeding, they can live up to a year before requiring another feed.
Image taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech_collector
After biting but before sucking out blood, Hirudo medicinalis secrete saliva containing about 60 different proteins. These include anticoagulants (such as hirudin), platelet aggregation inhibitors (to prevent clotting), anaesthetics and vasodilators (to widen blood vessels and increase blood flow).
Bloodletting was used by many ancient peoples, including the Egyptians and Greeks, and is one of the earliest known medical techniques. The first described use of leeches was in 800 BC by the ancient Indian surgeon Sushruta, who recommended their use for skin diseases and muscle pains.
Ancient Greek physicians Nicander, Hippocrates and Galen all advocated the use of bloodletting. Bloodletting was modelled on menstruation as they believed it purged women of bad humours (excess bodily fluid). The humours were blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile, and each represented air, water, earth and fire respectively. Those agreeing with this theory believed that any sickness that caused the patient’s skin to become red, such as fever and inflammation, must have been caused by too much blood in the body. Thus, removal of blood was supposed to balance the humours, allowing the body to function properly.
Image taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorism
The popularity of bloodletting rose through the centuries until it reached its peak in the early 19th century. In the 1830s, the French imported as many as 40 million leeches a year for medicinal purposes. By this time, bloodletting was used to treat almost every disease, from asthma to cholera, gangrene to epilepsy, smallpox to tuberculosis and beyond. Some of the ailments leeches were employed caused more harm than good. For example, after America’s first president George Washington developed a throat infection in 1799, he was bled for 10 hours and lost 3.75 litres of blood before dying of a throat infection.
The use of leeches fell drastically towards the end of the 19th century as knowledge of the bodies systems increased. However, they made a medical comeback in the 1970s. Leeches began to be used to stimulate circulation following skin grafts, particularly in finger reattachment. The therapeutic value of Hirudo medicinalis was no longer in bloodletting, but rather in the anticoagulants and anaesthetics in the saliva. Leeches are still used today but ‘mechanical leeches’ have been developed that perform the same function, though they are not yet commercially available.
Tea time!
by Jemma
It is time for a new blog post: this time on the tea plant Camellia sinensis. This has been a really interesting plant to research. Thank you to Stephen Welsh (Curator of Living Cultures at the Manchester Museum) for allowing me to use some pictures from his collection.
Appearance
Camellia sinensis is an evergreen shrub that can reach up to 17 metres in height, but is usually trimmed to below 2 metres when cultivated to facilitate picking of leaves. More commonly known as tea, the leaves of this bush are bright green, shiny and often hairy on the underside. It takes roughly 3 years before a new plant is ready to be harvested. However, once ready to be harvested, the leaves can be picked up to 30 times per year.
Image taken from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Camellia_sinensis
Due to the wide variety of habitats available to the plant, there are many different varieties of the tea plant. Of these varieties, there are two commonly grown today: Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (Chinese tea) and Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Assam or Indian tea). Chinese tea tends to be the hardier variety that produces small, narrow leaves used for green tea and China’s black tea. In contrast, the Indian variety possesses larger, leathery leaves that often appear to sag off the branches.
Image taken from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Camellia_sinensism
History of tea drinking
The origin of the tea plant is not clear but fossil records show that it has existed for millions of years. Tea is thought to have originated in China and ‘wild’ Camellia sinensis can be found in its forests, though these may only be relics of past cultivation. Either way, the earliest record of tea consumption is in China during the 10th century BCE. Though likely to have been originally drunk for medicinal purposes, by the 4th century ACE the art of tea drinking was deeply ingrained in Chinese culture. According to documents from the Tang dynasty, by 650 ACE Camellia sinensis was being grown in almost all of the Chinese provinces. The ritual of making a drink of tea, as well as the ability to recognise type and quality, became the height of sophisticated society. Around this time, tea was introduced to Japan for the first time by travelling Buddhist priests. It quickly spread among the elite and the Japanese tea culture soon developed. By the 12th century, all social classes in Japan drank tea.
For the most part, tea drinking remained an Eastern tradition until the 16th century. Travelling Portuguese priests and merchants were introduced to tea during their travels to China. They in turn spread Camellia sinensis to Europe and the West. The drink quickly became fashionable in Britain, though it was not widely consumed through the 17th century because it remained an expensive plant to import.
Tea smuggling became big business during over the next century as all social classes in Britain began drinking tea in large quantities. It became so lucrative that, in 1785, the British Government had to abolish tax on tea to try and eliminate the smuggling trade. They even began to break Chinese monopoly on the tea market, by mass cultivating Camellia sinensis in India and other British colonies. At first they tried to grow seeds from the Chinese variety, before discovering that there was a second type endemic to India (Camellia sinensis var. assamica). Tea steadily became more affordable and soon became a permanent fixture within British culture. By the early 18th century, Britain was consuming over nine million cups of tea per year.
Tea is now the most consumed beverage in the world, with the exception of water (Britain alone uses over 3 million tonnes per year). As a general rule, tea is divided into a number of categories based on how it is processed. There are many different social rituals (such as Japanese tea ceremonies and British tea time) associated with the plant and a vast number of different styles and additions (like milk and sugar). Flavourings and seasonings, such as chamomile and mint, can also be added to tea. Over the past decade, tea has even been used to create liqueurs and other beverages, including martinis.
Harvesting Camellia sinensis is a labour intensive process but overproduction of the plant has led to falling prices and poor wages for workers. To combat this, Fair Trade tea producers charge more for their products in order to pay suppliers a higher price, therefore providing better wages for workers.
Medicinal uses
Before the culture of drinking tea arose, Camellia sinensis was used for medicinal purposes. It is believed that as far back as prehistoric times, people have used the leaves for wound healing. The first definitive use of tea medicinally was around 5,000 years ago in ancient China. Since then, Camellia sinensis has featured heavily in traditional Chinese medicine and is used as a cure for over 200 illnesses. These include for digestive problems, fevers, paralysis, nervousness, insomnia and insect bites. The most common use for tea is as a stimulant, which is due to the caffeine content.
Caffeine makes up approximately 3% of tea’s dry weight and is included in many over-the-counter medicines. It is often combined with pain relieving remedies, like aspirin, to counteract their sedative-like effects. Camellia sinensis also contains small amounts of theobromine and theophylline, which are both stimulants similar to caffeine. Theophylline is used in the treatment of a number of respiratory diseases, including asthma. Tea also possesses a number of flavonoids, which are secondary metabolites (compounds whose absence can cause long-term effects on health). These flavonoids have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
Although not strictly an effect of Camellia sinensis, the process of making a cup of tea requires boiling water. This destroys pathogenic microorganisms, thereby preventing waterborne diseases from spreading.
Though used extensively in traditional medicines, studies into the compounds within Camellia sinensis have not conclusively shown that they have any effect against human diseases. In addition, tea does not possess any essential nutrients in a significant quantity, with the exception of manganese. Drinking tea also results in large amounts of aluminium in the human body, which has been associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this and the level of aluminium in tea is still generally regarded as safe.
For the most part, the concentrations of caffeine and other compounds in tea are considered safe. However, there can be negative side-effects if consumed in large quantities. The most common problem is that caffeine can cause headaches and anxiety. It can also inhibit iron absorption in the gut and stimulate the production of urine. Many of the undesired effects of caffeine are mitigated by other compounds, particularly antioxidants, in the tea unless consumed excessively.
When ingested in high doses, Theophylline can have more toxic effects than caffeine. These include heart problems (such as heart palpitations), insomnia and convulsions. Camellia sinensis also contains small amounts of tannins (which have been linked with cancer) and oxalate (which can cause kidney stones). However, prolonged overconsumption is required for them to reach a level that is harmful.
Other uses and interesting facts
In addition to its use as a beverage and in medicine, tea leaves have also been used as an ingredient in some food recipes and in some cosmetic products. Despite being hugely popular as a drink, Camellia sinensis is actually considered a pest species in some areas of the world. There have been reports of the tea plant spreading in Madagascan forests, dampening the regeneration of the native forests that are important lemur habitats.
A history of coffee
by Jemma
Appearance
Coffea Arabica is a an evergreen shrub that can reach up to 12 metres tall, though it is often trimmed to facilitate picking, and takes around 7 years to fully mature. The plant possesses foliage of broad, glossy, dark green leaves. It’s small, white flowers are not produced until 2-4 years after the shrub is planted. They are highly fragrant and often said to resemble the sweet smell of jasmine flowers. Over-flowering can lead to an inferior harvest of coffee beans, so the tree is often pruned to prevent this.
Image taken from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica
Image taken from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica
Once Coffea Arabic reaches around 4-6 years old it begins to produce berries. These oval-shaped berries are drupes, meaning that they have a fleshy exterior surrounding the seeds. Most berries contain 2 seeds, which are frequently called coffee beans. It takes approximately 7-9 months before the berries ripen from green to yellow to red in colour. Since the berries can ripen at different times, it is possible for a single tree to possess both ripe and unripe fruit at the same time. For this reason, hand harvesting is vital for collecting good quality beans. After the plant begins to produce fruit, it can stay productive for over 30 years.
Image taken from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica
History
The origin of Coffea Arabica is unclear, although it is believed that the plant was the first species of the genus Coffea to be cultivated for its beans. According to legend, cultivation began in Ethiopia after goats were seen mounting each other. Apparently they had become energetic after eating the leaves and fruit of the coffee tree. An herbal tea made from the plants leaves is still drunk in Ethiopia today.
Image taken from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica
Early uses of the fruit did not actually involve the beans being drunk by themselves. African tribes originally crushed ripened berries and then mixed with animal fat, which allowed them to shape the mixture into balls that could be carried into battle for energy. Any early drinks would have probably been made with the juice of fermented berries rather than the beans themselves.
Coffee beans were soon exported to Yemen, who began to cultivate Coffea Arabica and spread the plant throughout Arabia. Coffee similar to how it is drunk today, i.e. with the plant’s beans, started to be served in coffeehouses by the middle of the 15th century. Coffee was then traded with Venetian merchants, who in turn introduced it to the European market. The drink steadily grew popular in Europe and in 1645 Venice opened its first coffeehouse.
At first, Arabs tried to keep monopoly on coffee trade. They boiled or dried any beans that were to be exported so as to prevent the seeds from germinating. However, their attempts were unsuccessful. Smugglers soon took seeds that had not been treated from the region and grew them elsewhere, particularly in India and Sri Lanka. Soon Dutch plantations in Java overtook the Arab nations as the leading exporter of coffee.
To distinguish between the competing beans, Arabian coffee was called Mocha (after the port on the Red Sea from where it was shipped) and beans from Dutch plantations became known as Java coffee. A drink that included both types of beans was, therefore, called Mocha Java. The Dutch managed to dominate the coffee market until the mid-19th century, when plant diseases and political disturbances ended their monopoly. However, trade continued from other plantations that had already become established around the world. The most notable was Brazil, which soon became the primary exporter of the bean.
There was a dark side associated with the high demand for coffee: its role in the slave trade. Between 1511 and 1886, millions of Africans were sold as slaves. Though they were primarily used as labourers in the sugar industry, a large number of slaves were used for the cultivation of C. Arabica. The use of slaves meant that, despite it being a labour intensive plant to harvest, coffee prices remained relatively low.
Today, the plant is still tended and harvested by hand. It has become an immensely important industry that employs around 30 million people worldwide. Coffee is now one of the world’s most popular beverages and is drunk is almost every country.
There are two species of coffee plant that are commercially grown: Coffea Arabica and Coffea robusta. Arabica is the more subtle of the two as it contains less caffeine. It is also the more expensive variety that accounts for around 75% of the world’s coffee production. The higher caffeine content in robusta gives it a harsher and bitter flavour compared to Arabica.
Botany in Ancient Egypt – Part 1
by Jemma
During my research into the Materia Medica collection (plant, animal and mineral based medicines used in from the 1800s) at the Manchester Museum, I have notice a recurring feature; many of the plants had in fact been used by humans for thousands of years and a large portion of these by the ancient Egyptians!
Plants featured heavily in Egyptian culture: in food, medicine, religion, perfumes and beyond. Early medicinal texts, such as the Ebers Papyrus from 1550 BCE, provide detailed insight into their extensive herbal knowledge. Unfortunately no complete record has yet to be found, but the fragments that have survived show just how knowledgeable these ancient peoples were when it came to plants and their uses. Many of the applications documented are the same used right up until the introduction of modern medicinal practices. Even today, large portions of herbal remedies used as ‘alternative’ medicines feature plants used for similar purposes as those used by the ancient Egyptians.
Not all of the plants known to and used by the Egyptians were native to their homeland. Their extensive knowledge on the topic can partly be attributed to trade. Caravan and water routes connected Egypt to trade routes around the world, allowing the exchange of tradable items like spices and fabrics. Silk traded from China has been found on Egyptian mummies dating from around 1000 BCE. As well as the benefit of trade, this connection to the rest of the world also made it possible for botanical knowledge to spread to Egypt from distant countries like China and India.
Another notable factor that played a role in the vast accumulation of plant knowledge was that the Pharaoh’s actively sent out plant exploration parties. These parties, such as those sent by Queen Hatshepsut around 1500 BCE and by Pharaoh Sankhere in 2500 BCE, were sent to discover more plant resources that could be exploited.
There is one particular Pharaoh that is worth mentioning in regard to the mass accumulation of botanical knowledge in Egypt: Thutmose III. He was an 18th dynasty Pharaoh who reigned between 1479–1425 BCE (part of which was as co-regent with Queen Hatshepsut). During his rule, Thutmose led numerous military expeditions, from which many foreign plants and animals were brought to Egypt.
It was during his reign that the ‘Botanical Garden’ was erected in the temple of Akh-menu at Karnak. This ‘garden’ is a chamber whose walls depict carved representations of the plants and animals collected by Thutmose. Because of its physical isolation from the rest of the temple, the ‘Botanical Garden’ of Akh-menu is a particularly sacred chamber and believed to be the place in which the priests of the god Amun were initiated.
For part 2, click on the following link: https://herbologymanchester.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/botany-in-ancient-egypt-part-2/
Powerful poppies!
by Jemma
This blog post is going to focus on a particularly interesting plant called Papaver somniferum, more commonly known as the opium poppy. Not only does this plant have a fascinating medicinal history, it also impacted heavily on us socially.
Firstly, a bit on the poppy’s medicinal use. Opium, the narcotic extracted from the plant’s seed pod, contains a number of natural painkillers and has been used in pain relief for millennia. In the 17th century, a tincture of opium combined with alcohol became readily available to the general populace under the name laudanum. Along with acting as a painkiller, laudanum was quickly employed as a cure for almost every ailment: from colds to heart problems to menstrual cramps. The drug morphine was later extracted from the opium poppy by the German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner in the early 19th century. Morphine quickly became one of the most widely used painkillers in medicine. A further extract, called heroin, was released in 1898 by the drug company Bayer. This well known drug is now an illegal substance that is frequently abused. All of the forms of opium can be highly addictive and long term use may result in interference with the brain’s endorphin receptors. These receptors are responsible for preventing the transmission of pain signals, making withdrawal difficult.
P. somniferum use predates human recorded history and has been found in Neolithic burial sites as far back as 4,200 BC. The use of opium has been documented in numerous ancient medicinal texts including the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus from 1,500BC and those by Hippocrates in 460 BC and Dioscorides in 1st century AD.
One country that has played a big part in the history of opium is China, which was first introduced to P. somniferum between the 4th and 12th centuries via the trading route known as the Silk Road. By the 1600s, opium was smoked with tobacco and had become a popular pastime for the social elite. The recreational use of opium soon spread to the lower classes and its popularity soared. British traders from the East India Company sold large quantities of opium to smugglers to meet the growing demand for the drug. Worried by this, the Chinese Emperor began to take serious measurers to stop the illegal importation of opium, and in 1838 opium worth millions was destroyed by the Chinese Commissioner Lin Zexu.
Since opium smuggling accounted for 15-20% of income for the British Empire, they started of the First Opium War on 18th March 1839 to combat the clampdown. The British won in 1842 and implemented a series of Unequal Treaties. The first of which, the Treaty of Nanking, involved trade concessions as well as forcing the Chinese to pay a total of 21 million ounces of silver in compensation. When Britain tried to make further demands in the 1850s, the Chinese refused and the Second Opium War began. Once again, China lost and this time was forced to legalise the opium trade.
Soon opium use spread from China to the west and, as opium dens became commonplace in cities, Britain attempted to curb the use by its populace. From the 1880s onwards, they tried to reduce opium production in China by discouraging its use. However, this had the opposite effect and opium’s popularity continued to escalate. After the introduction of the more addictive heroin by Bayer, the use of opium and heroin soared even further.
In 1906, the anti-opium initiative was set up by the Chinese to attempt to eradicate the problem. The initiative tried to turn public opinion against the drug through numerous methods, such as meetings, legal action and the requiring of licence. Opium farmers had their properties destroyed, land confiscated and sometimes publically tortured in an attempt to turn the general population against using opium. Though cruel, this method was quickly deemed a success with the majority of Chinese provinces ceasing opium production. However, this success was short-lived. By 1930, China had become the primary source of opium in Eastern Asia. Today it is estimated that 27 million people[1] are addicted to opiates in one form or another and heroin continues to be a widely abused drug across the world.
Despite its chequered past and uses, the opium poppy has still contributed greatly to modern medicine and produces one of the most widely used painkillers today: morphine.
[1] According to the World Drug Report 2014 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
