BEAUTIFUL BOTANICALS: Rhubarb’s ancient medicinal qualities were used to cure all ills
Rhubarb is one of the most ancient and important botanicals in the world with thick roots, hollow and erect stems and small white-green or purple-red flowers clustered on its branches. It includes approximately sixty species of herbaceous perennial plants in the Polygonaceae flowering plant family.
The species waxy-leaved rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) and common rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum) have been used in Asia and Europe for centuries as ingredients in traditional medicine.
The botanical origin of rhubarb is unknown with scholars suggesting that rhubarb originated in China, reaching Europe in the 13th century after travelling along the Silk Road.
However, others believe the botanical originated in Russia. This is because the Ancient Greeks named the botanical rhabarbarum as they knew it came from the east namely ‘Rha’ which is an old name for the River Volga - where the botanical grows along the banks of the river – and ‘barbarum’ meaning the barbarian lands beyond Greece.
Rhubarb is mentioned as a medical plant in ‘The Divine Farmer’s Herb Root Classic’ (circa 1 – 199 AD) attributed to the mythical Chinese ruler, and god of agriculture, Shennong.
In traditional medicine the Chinese dried and powered rhubarb roots to use as a purgative to treat constipation and other ailments of the stomach.
The botanical was also in traditional medicine for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and cardio-protective properties.
According to one of the oldest Polish books devoted to medicinal plants, ‘Herbarz Polski’ (1595) by Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz and Kasper Niesiecki the roots of waxy-leaved and common rhubarb were used to treat gastrointestinal pain, gastritis, liver and spleen disorders, heartache and pain in pericardium, pulmonary system dysfunctions as well as disorders related to the reproductive system, including uterine and breast pains.
In traditional medicine rhubarb was also used to stop bleeding and to alleviate fever as well as to cure injuries, trauma after falls from a height and vein disorders.
When rhubarb was imported and reached British shores, the botanical continued to be used as medicine and is even mentioned as being a purgative drug by William Shakespeare (circa April 23, 1564 – April 23, 1616) in ‘Macbeth’ (1623).
By the mid-1600s the demand for the botanical as a medical ingredient was so high that it pushed up the price of rhubarb to almost three times the cost of opium, a powerful pain reliever. This encouraged Europeans to try and grow rhubarb for medical purposes closer to home.
The precise origin of the edible type of rhubarb (Rheum x hyrbidum) a cultivar developed for human consumption is unknown.
While technically the edible stem of rhubarb classifies the botanical as a vegetable, Rheum x hybridum is treated in the kitchen like fruit.
Perennial, the botanical flourishes without too much attention, bearing delicious stalks to stew and eat with porridge at breakfast, or to use as an ingredient in crumbles, jams, sauces, tarts, or as a filling in pies or other desserts such as rhubarb fool.
The botanical also works well as an accompaniment to savoury foods including mackerel paired with rhubarb sauce.
Rhubarb can also be used to make alcoholic drinks, such as fruit wines or Finnish rhubarb mead. In cocktails the sharp, bright flavour of rhubarb can be used in place of lemon and will bring a tartness and hint of fruit to the drink.
In gin manufacture rhubarb is cooked prior to distillation, so the botanical will have a sweeter taste and lose its acidity. Rhubarb can be found not only in regionally distilled gins, but also in pink gins.
In gin production rhubarb adds an earthy, tart taste to the spirit.
Joanne Howdle is Interpretation and Engagement Manager at the multi-award winning Dunnet Bay Distillers.