Download Some useful plants for renal therapy listed in De Plantis Aegypti

JNEPHROL 2013; 26 ( Suppl 22): S180-S186
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
DOI: 10.5301/jn.5000352
Some useful plants for renal therapy listed in
De Plantis Aegypti Liber by Prospero Alpini in
the 16th century: modern considerations
Giovanni Aliotta 1, Natale G. De Santo 2,
Giuseppe Ongaro 3, Antonino Pollio 4
Introduction
With the introduction of the printing press during the
Renaissance, many books about edible and medicinal
plants were printed, so the number of known species increased, and their iconography was related to reality rather
than imagination. Moreover, colonial expansion, the spice
trade and the presence of European settlements worldwide
enabled improvements to historical sources, and generated
a new figure, the traveling naturalist. The job of the naturalist has always overlapped that of the historian, as gathering
information on the lifestyle of indigenous peoples in faraway
regions is based also on studying historical sources (1, 2).
Indeed, new crops and spices, once considered as precious as gold, were highly sought after in Europe during the
16th and 17th centuries, when the major powers, while trying to obtain these plants, undertook actions that changed
the course of history. Traveling naturalists and spice traders
supplied botanical gardens, natural history museums and
scientists with specimens that had to be classified. This
is how many new species were discovered, and the way
was paved to have more solid bases on which to develop
new crops and classify different forms of life (3). Prospero
Alpini was one of the first and most important scientist who
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University Center for Research in Bioethics, Naples - Italy
Department of Medicine, Second University of Naples,
Naples - Italy
3
Center for the History of the University of Padua, University of Padua, Padua - Italy
4
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Naples
Federico II, Naples - Italy
1
2
visited the African continent in modern times, gathering
new and fundamental information on plants that for different reasons played an important role in Western countries.
Prospero Alpini was born in 1553 in Marostica, Italy, and
studied in Padua, where he graduated in philosophy and
medicine. He spent some years in Egypt as the physician
of Giorgio Emo, consul of the Venice Republic. Alpini’s scientific activity was very intense, and his observations, not
only in medicine and natural history but also ethnology and
archaeology, were the basis of his work De Plantis Aegypti
Liber (4), recently translated into Italian by Cappelletti and
Ongaro (5). The first of 2, Cappelletti, also gave the scientific names of the plants it cited. In 1603, at age 50, Alpini
was appointed Prefect of the first ever Botanical Garden in
Padua, a prestigious institution founded in 1545 that has
always been exchanging plants, seeds and scientific material with other international institutions. (For more details of
Alpini’s biography, see De Santo et al, in this volume of the
Journal of Nephrology).
The origin and evolution of some important cultivated
plants have come into sharp focus only in recent years.
New studies have been launched on near relatives, their
distribution, their ecological behavior and their genetic interaction with cultivated races. However, some unresolved
© 2013 Società Italiana di Nefrologia - ISSN 1121-8428
JNEPHROL 2013; 26 ( Suppl 22): S180-S186
questions remain, especially for indigenous African plants
(such as coffee, sweet melons and watermelons), although
the evidence indicates that the genus Homo originated in
Africa over 2 million years ago and most of human evolution has taken place in this area (6). Indeed, contact between the Mediterranean world and sub-Saharan Africa
was extraordinarily tenuous from the beginnings of recorded history until the rise of Islam, and the Western World did
not learn much about Africa until Portuguese explorations
in the 15th century (7). In this paper, the authors have combined their expertise to focus on some African plants listed
in De Plantis Aegypti Liber by Prospero Alpini, reviewing
past and present botanical and ethnomedicinal aspects,
with a special focus on their use against kidney affections.
Alpini’s De Plantis Aegypti Liber and
its modern outcomes
De Plantis Aegypti Liber (Fig. 1) was written in the form of
a dialogue, reporting conversations between Alpini himself and his mentor Melchiorre Guilandino, taking place
in the Padua Botanical Garden. Alpini aimed to spread
knowledge mainly on therapeutic uses of wild and cultivated plants in Egypt, thus legitimating medicines that
were unknown to physicians. Alpini describes the plant
named Bon by the Egyptians as well as the preparation
and the properties of a coffee beverage, but does not
mention its diuretic properties.
“De Bon” (Chap. 16)
Alpini: I saw a tree in the garden of the Turkish-man Halybei, and you will see a picture of it too; it produces seeds
known as bon or ban. Everybody from Egyptians to Arabs
use these seeds to make a very popular decoction that is
drunk instead of wine. This decoction is served at local diners, just like wine is sold in ours: they call it caova. These
seeds come from the Arabia Felix. It seems that the tree
I saw is similar to Evonimo, but it featured thicker leaves,
harder and greener. Everybody knows how to use the seeds
to prepare the decoction I am talking about: I already explained how to prepare it in the De Medicina Egyptorium.
They use it to strengthen a cold stomach, to favor digestion, and also to remove obstructions in the guts. They drink
the decoction for many days, successfully treating liver and
gallbladder tumors, and chronic obstructions of veins as
well. The decoction can also cure uterus, warming it up, and
removing obstructions: thus, it is very popular among Egyptian and Arab women, and when they are on their period,
Fig. 1 - Title page of De Plantis Aegypti Liber (1592) by Prospero Alpini.
they drink large amount[s] of it, taking small sip[s] of this hot
drink, to facilitate the menstrual flow. The prolonged use of
this decoction has a cleansing effect, and it helps putting an
end to the period.
Guilandino: Avicenna talks about these seeds, and he describes characteristics similar to those you talked about. In
his opinion, they are warm at the third degree, and dry at
the second degree. I don’t think this is correct though, since
their taste is rather sweet, slightly bitter, not irritating at all.
Alpini: Anyhow, he explained that these seeds are very helpful in the obstructions of the guts and in liver and gallbladder
tumors. He also says they cause nausea, and while I was in
Egypt I learned by experience other effects of these seeds.
This is the tree I once saw in Cairo (4).
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Aliotta et al: Plants for renal therapy by Prospero Alpini
Uses of Coffee
Leonhard Rauwolf (1535-1596), a German physician and botanist became acquainted with the beverage in Aleppo in 1573,
and was the first European to mention coffee, telling how the
drink was prepared by the Turks. But Alpini was the first to print a
description of the coffee plant and the drink, in De Plantis
Aegypti (Fig. 2). He also makes note of the medicinal qualities
attributed to coffee by those living in the East, and many of
these were soon incorporated into Europe’s materia medica
(8). The word coffee is derived from the Italian caffè, Turk
kahve from Arab qawva (1598). It indicates both the beverage
and the plant (9).
In 1753, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
published his work Species Plantarum, which contained a
brief description of every known species of plants and their
scientific names. The coffee plant is reported as Coffea arabica L (10).
Joseph Plenck (1735-1807), a forerunner of modern diuretic
therapy, published his work Icones Plantarum Medicinalium
secundum systema Lynnaei cum enumeratione virium et usus
medici chirurgici et diaetetici. This work, published in folio and
in several volumes beginning from 1788, was written in both
Latin and German. Plenck reports the therapeutical uses of
758 plants, 111 of which have diuretic properties The diuretic
properties and uses of Coffea arabica L. are described in the
second volume, folio 30:
Fig. 2 - Illustration of the bon (coffee) plant from De Plantis
Aegypti Liber (1592) by Prospero Alpini.
VIRTUS. Semina ustulatione redduntur, subempyreumatica, motum sanguinis accelerant, calefaciunt, exsiccant, humores attenuant, stomachum roborant, urinam
et diaphoresim movent, vermes et flatus pellunt. Virtues:
Seeds improve blood circulation, dry up fluids, strengthen the stomach, favor urination, and eliminate worms.
taken orally for the treatment of diarrhea and amoebiasis (13).
In Gimbi Woreda, in the West Wellega zone, western Ethiopia,
the roasted, powdered seed is eaten or drunk on an empty
stomach for 2-3 days against diarrhea (14).
According to John Crawford:
USUS. In indigestione, menstruatione nimis tarda aut par-
The greatest curiosity about the use of coffee is the discov-
ca, in febris nervosae languore. Cephalalgiam ex ventric-
ery of its property by roasting, as the seed in its raw state is
uli debilitate nervosa vel transpiratione suppressa ortam
insipid until its virtues are developed by a partial roasting.
discutit, urinam movendo sabulum expellit. Diarrhaeam
Who discovered this process is not known; but it was most
chronicam sanat. (Use. For indigestion, slow menstrual
probably the Arabs, for the Christians of Abyssinia, on what
flow, and high fever. It is diuretic and cures chronic diar-
pretext is unknown, hold its use to be unlawful, and do not
rhea) (11).
cultivate it for their own use (15).
The species Coffea arabica L. is considered native to the
Ethiopian highlands (6), where the plant is used as a folk remedy by different ethnic groups presently living in Ethiopia. In
the Wonega Woreda region, dried leaves and an infusion of
the leaves are used as an emetic (12). In rural central Ethiopia, roasted and powdered coffee is pasted with honey and
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Over the course of the 16th century, coffee’s popularity
spread from Yemen to Egypt, Syria and Turkey, and then into
Europe (15). The popular use of coffee as a diuretic is known
in the Makkah Al-Mukarramah area, Saudi Arabia (16), and
traditional Indian medicine prescribes of coffee as diuretic
in dropsy (17).
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In Western medicine, dried ripe seeds of coffee are used as a
stimulant, nervine and diuretic, acting on the central nervous
system, kidney, heart and muscle. Reported to be analgesic,
anaphrodisiac, anorexic, cardiotonic. diuretic, hypnotic,
nervine and stimulant, coffee has also been used as a folk
remedy for asthma, jaundice, nephrosis, opium poisoning
and vertigo. In humans, caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine)
is demethylated into 3 primary metabolites: theophylline,
theobromine and paraxanthine (18).
“De Cypero” (Chap. 37).
The Cyperus rotundus (nut grass) that the Egyptians call
Hodveg is widespread by the river Nile and around swamps
and creeks in Egypt. Its leaves have a distinct midrib, are
very dark green and are similar to those of chive. The roots
are black; they feature some round swellings, the size of a
big olive, and most of them hang together from the same
string of the root, and they have a nice smell and pungent
taste (Fig. 3). The Egyptians made a decoction with the root,
and also crushed it to a dust that was used to break stones
in the kidney and in the bladder, and to induce urination;
they also used it to cure chronic fevers, and all long-term
diseases.
Surprisingly, Cyperus rotundus L. is described by some as
the world’s worst weed today. It is a sedge, native to India and is widely known by the common names nut grass
or purple nut sedge. The outstanding characteristic of this
plant is the prolific production of tubers that can remain dormant and the plant through the extreme conditions of heat,
drought and flooding (19). Thus, nut grass properties have
been verified with recent research. Today, in North Africa the
tubercles of nut grass are used in folk medicine to cure a
wide range of affections. The plant is considered an aphrodisiac, carminative, diuretic, sedative, stomachic, tonic and
is administered as a colic remedy and to remove renal calculi (20). In several countries of the Maghreb, it is frequently
used for hair care (21). Crawford has confirmed that Cyperus rotundus and other members of the Cyperaceae family
were highly appreciated in ancient Egypt, as edible and medicinal plants (22). Alkaloids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids,
phenolic acids, quinones, sesquiterpenes, along with a steroid glycoside and furochromones have been isolated and
identified from C. rotundus (23).
“Chatè, Abdellavi e batecha el navi” (Chap. 38).
Alpini: the present day Egyptians use a kind of melon called
chatè. This melon differs from ordinary melons in size, color
and tenderness. The plant has smaller leaves, which are
Fig. 3 - Illustration of Cyperus rotundus (nut grass) from De
Plantis Aegypti Liber (1592) by Prospero Alpini.
whiter, more round, and it produces fruit that is much different from Italian melons. Egyptians use this melon cooked
with milk with good results, to cure diseases of the kidney
and bladder. For the same purposes, they also drink the
juice they get from the melon seeds. To treat pain caused by
podagra, they use the pulp juice of the fruit, and mix it with
milk and rose oil to rub the limbs that have been hit. Egyptians also eat cucumbers cooked with milk for many days
to cure inflammations of the kidney and bladder. They use
the plant juice mixed with milk and oil of roses to ease the
pain caused by gout. Sick people drink up to a pound of the
juice obtained from the fruit to mitigate the inflammed liver,
and to heal inflamed kidneys and their stones: it has been
confirmed that this liquid is effective in such cases.
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Egyptians also have watermelons, which differ from those
in Italy only in size: They are bigger, with brighter yellow
peels, they only contain seeds, and have a very sweet
water. Nowadays Egyptians drink much of this water to
quench their thirst and to mitigate excessive heat in the
stomach, liver and kidneys. This water is much praised,
and it is used also in cases of high fever. Distillation makes
the water lighter, and they use it as a common drink, and
to cure bilious stomachs, liver ailments and kidney stones.
Turkish men and Arabs drink this watermelon juice during
heat waves in the summer, and some people add rose
water, musk and amber to it. Egyptians often greet foreigners by giving them this fruit to eat. They also keep the
watermelon in straw for 1 year, so that they can sell it for a
higher price when people who are ill need it. I have heard
of watermelons sold for a silver coin, or a gold one. Their
water is so diuretic that those who drink a large amount of
it get incredibly large hernias in their testicles. This is why
hernias are so common in these countries.
Zohary and Hopf consider the cultivated melon, Cucumis
melo L., as an important cucurbit, which was probably
brought into cultivation in Southwest Asia or in Egypt at
a relative early date (6). This is a very variable crop which
includes both (i) sweet fruited varieties (melon or muskmelons) and (ii) nonsweet green-fruited forms (chate melons) (Fig. 4). The latter are rare today, frequently bear fruits
that are bent, and they are consumed like cucumbers.
They were traditionally referred to as Cucumis melo L. var.
chate Naud. The archaeological remains of melons are
few. The only exception is Egypt, were numerous noncarbonized vegetables and tubers survived because of the
extreme dryness. Yet those remains seem to indicate that
melons were cultivated already in the Bronze Age. Illustrations of offerings of what are clearly the bent fruits of the
chate melon decorate several ancient Egyptian tombs (6).
Moreover, the different varieties of Cucumis melo overlap
and interbreed so readily that attempts to find a precise
botanical classification can never be completely successful (25).
Muskmelon and chate melons are used for the treatment
of renal disease in different African and Asian countries
(26, 27). Their seed extracts significantly increase urine
volume, and also cause increases in urinary chloride excretion, which might be due to the extract interfering with
absorption in the renal tubules (28).
The watermelon, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mats. & Nakai. (syn. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad.), was cultivated in the
Nile Valley at least since the start of the 2nd millennium bc.
Numerous seeds were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. The
cultivated watermelon is closely related to, and fully inS184
Fig. 4 - Illustration of the chate melon from De Plantis Aegypti
Liber (1592) by Prospero Alpini.
terfertile with, the wild colocynth, Citrullus colocynths (L.)
Schrad., and the crop is very probably derived from this
wild watermelon (6).
Alkaloids, antraquinone, phlobatannin, saponin, steroids,
tannin and terpenoids have been isolated from watermelon. The whole fruit contains saponins, alkaloids and flavonoids (29). Citrullus lanatus is used against kidney disorders and as a diuretic, stomachic, to purify the blood, and
to cure skin and eye infections (23). The seed extracts are
also commonly used as a home remedy for urinary tract
infections (30).
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Conclusions
The origin and evolution of numerous plant species of ecological or economic importance have come into sharp focus
only in recent years. New studies have been launched on
near relatives, their distribution, their ecological behavior
and their genetic interaction with cultivated races. The interest in screening plants for new medicines is rising also because some of these plants have for centuries represented a
source of remedies widely used in folk medicine, and about
three quarters of the biologically active plant-derived compounds presently in use worldwide have been discovered
through follow-up research to verify the authenticity of data
from folk and ethnomedicinal uses (31). However, some unresolved questions remain especially for indigenous African
plants. Indeed, contact between Mediterranean world and
sub-Sahara Africa was extraordinarily tenuous from the beginnings of recorded history until the rise of Islam, and the
Western World did not learn much about Africa until Por-
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Financial support: No grants or funding have been received for
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Conflict of interest: None of the authors has financial interest
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Address for correspondence:
Giovanni Aliotta
Via Stadera 86
80143 Naples, Italy
[email protected]
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Accepted: September 21, 2013
© 2013 Società Italiana di Nefrologia - ISSN 1121-8428