JOANNE HOWDLE: Medieval 'saviour' was used to heal many conditions
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Beautiful Botanicals by Joanne Howdle
Common sage (Salvia officinalis) is an attractive, perennial, sub-shrub growing up to 1 metre tall and wide. The botanical has aromatic, evergreen greyish-silver leaves that are soft and downy.
Its leaves are an important source of an incredibly aromatic oil containing thujone – a ketone and a monoterpene, best known as the chemical used to manufacture the spirit Absinthe.
The plant has a woody stem and produces pretty flowers ranging in colour from light blue to purple during mid-to-late summer. The flowers of common sage are both ornamental and wildlife friendly, providing nectar for pollinating insects.
Common sage is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae and is native to the Mediterranean region. The botanical has a long history of use due to both its culinary and medicinal uses and its botanical name Salvia derives from the Latin "salvare" – meaning "salvation" or "welfare".
During the Medieval period sage was known as salvatrix – "the saviour" – as it was considered to have many healing properties and was used as a cure for headaches and nervous conditions; as a treatment for toothache, insect bites and wasp stings; to ward off the plague and reduce fevers, and as an oral preparation for inflammation of the mouth, throat, and tongue.
The specific epithet officinalis refers to the botanical’s medicinal use – the officina was the building, usually an out-building, in Medieval monasteries where monks prepared medicaments and pharmaceutical preparations to heal the sick. Dried extracts, infusions, decoctions, tinctures, and distillates were prepared and stored in the officina.
In Ancient Rome common sage was known as the "holy herb", as it was used in religious rituals since the botanical was believed to possess qualities that could ward off evil spirits.
Roman author and natural historian Gaius Plinius Secundus, more usually known as Pliny the Elder (circa 23/24-79AD) who wrote the encyclopaedic Naturalis Historia – Natural History, notes that sage was considered to have substantial healing properties and was used by Roman physicians as a diuretic and local anaesthetic, was particularly helpful in the digestion of the ubiquitous fatty meats of the time, and was deemed a part of the official Roman pharmacopeia.
The Romans also used the herb to heal ulcers, to help stop the bleeding of wounds, and to soothe a sore throat.
In Ancient China, physicians used common sage to treat colds, joint pain, typhoid fever, and kidney and liver diseases.
Today common sage is used in the manufacture of hair care products and is promoted in traditional medicine as a cure for a sore mouth or throat, memory loss, diabetes, and as an aid to reducing high cholesterol levels.
Common sage has a robust, peppery flavour that can be used in many dishes and drinks, not just in traditional sage and onion stuffing. In the past the French produced bountiful crops of common sage which they used to make a tea.
The Chinese became enamoured with French sage tea, trading four pounds of Chinese tea for every one pound of sage tea. In 812 AD, common sage was one of the plants deemed so important that the Emperor Charlemagne (April 748-January 814) ordered it planted on German Imperial farms, no doubt due to the lucrative trade business as well as for its medicinal uses.
Since the 14th and 15th centuries in Great Britain, common sage has for generations been listed in recipes and cookbooks as one of the essential culinary herbs, along with parsley, rosemary, and thyme.
In the production of gin, common sage is used to add slightly piney flavours to the spirit, along with a camphor and menthol aroma.
- Joanne Howdle is interpretation and engagement manager at the multi-award-winning Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd.
