Sarsaparilla
"Wouldn't it be nice to take a Sunday walk the way we used to do, with your silk parasol and your long dress whishing along, and sit on those wirelegged chairs at the soda parlor and smell the drugstore the way they used to smell? Why don't drugstores smell that way any more? And order two sarsaparillas for us, Cora, and then ride out in our 1910 Ford to Hannahan's Pier for a box supper and listen to the brass band." -- Ray Bradbury, A Scent of Sarsaparilla (1953)
Sarsaparilla - other names: Smilax, Anantamul, Anantmul, Hemidesmus indicus (East Indian Sarsaparilla), Sariva, Zarzaparrilla, Sarsparilla, Sasparilla, Salsaparilha, Sarsaparilia, Salcepereille, Sasparilly, Sarza, Smilax officinalis.
Sarsaparilla is the name given to several plants of the Smilax genus. Indigenous to tropical parts of the Americas, Sarsaparilla is a climbing vine, with prickly stems and fruits that resemble grapes.
It was also the name given to a soft drink, popular in olden times in the USA, which included the root of the plant. The cartoon character "Yosemite Sam", who represents an old timer from the American West, asks for a "Sasparilly". The ingredient can still be found in some soft drinks in some countries, including Malaysia, Taiwan, the USA and Australia. [1] [2]
Sarsaparilla was also commonly included in root beer in old times, together with several other herbal ingredients including wintergreen. [1]
A Jamaican variety, Smilax Balbisiana, also called Chaney or Chainy root, was one of the plants included in Jamaican root tonics and aphrodisiac potions. [3] Other varieties of Smilax can be found in other countries including India.
In central America, the fragrant Sarsaparilla root, bitter if tasted on its own, was believed to have medicinal qualities. Sarsaparilla was a very popular tonic a couple of hundred ears ago - in Europe as well as in the Americas. It was used as a treatment for syphilis and was listed as such in the U.S. Pharmacopoiea between 1820 and 1910.[4] Sarsaparilla Root is still available as a herbal supplement.
[2]
History of Sarsaparilla
Sarsaparilla has been in use for at least several hundred years. The earliest mention of it I can find in Western literature is on p.675 of the 1619 De Chymicorum cum Aristotelicis et Galenicis consensu ac dissensu of Daniel Sennert and Vratislav Silesius, written in Latin, which (from what I can understand) states that Sarsaparilla, along with Sassafras and several other medicaments in use at that time, had been unknown to Hippocrates or Galen.[5]
Willem of Piso and Georg Marggraf's 1648 Historia Naturalis Brasiliae ("Natural History of Brazil"), again written in Latin, also mentions Sarsaparilla. [6]
Finally, Robert Lovell's 1661 Compleat History Of Animals And Minerals describes Sarsaparilla in English - as an ingredient in a number of medicinal preparations to assist with ailments such as "Tubercules and Pustules", Gonhorroea or hair loss. [7]
However, none of these ancient sources mentions any aphrodisiac quality ascribed to Sarsaparilla, and neither does any book in the Google Books index prior to 1800.
Is Sarsaparilla an Aphrodisiac?
The earliest mention I have been able to find of any aphrodisiac nature to Sarsaparilla, comes from Sir Robert Christison's 1842 A Dispensatory, or Commentary on the Pharmacopoeias of Great Britain. He states that "There is scarcely any subject in the Materia Medica which has given rise to more discrepant opinions among practitioners than the therapeutic actions of sarsaparilla" - however, he goes on "The most pointed observations... are those of Dr Hancock, who says that the drug used in Guiana... when taken regularly for some time acts as a restorative and aphrodisiac."[8]
Sarsaparilla does not seem to find itself listed alongside herbs that were commonly considered aphrodisiac in ancient times - and yet when we turn to the current day, it has been stated that it contains testosterone or is a male sexual rejuvenator. According to Ray Sahelian, it has been "occasionally" included in herbal formulas to this purpose.[9]
Turning to Pubmed, we find some 150 studies mentioning Sarsaparilla and Smilax varieties. However, none of these appears to investigate the aphrodisiac qualities of the plant.
East Indian Sarsaparilla, or Anantmool is included in modern-day Ayurvedic tonic formulas. It is said to have a tonic action on the sexual organs and to promote health and vigor.[10]
Another Smilax variety, Smilax glabra or Chinese Smilax, is used in Traditioinal Chinese Medicine - and some sources state that it is believed by some to have aphrodisiac action.[11]
Brigitte Mars' 2003 Sex, Love and Health: A Self-Help Health Guide to Love and Sex lists Sarsaparilla as aphrodisiac - including both the Chinese variety (Tu Fu Ling) and that it was a traditional Mexican remedy for low libido and erectile dysfunction.[12]
Summary
The jury would appear to be out on this one. There are various scattered notes hinting at some aphrodisiac action of Sarsaparilla - however these appear neither to have been universally agreed upon nor seriously investigated by science. Perhaps the fact that there are many varieties of Sarsaparilla may account for some of the discrepancies - but for now there I can reach no definite verdict.
Notes:
Sarsaparilla is listed in the AHPA's "Herbs of Commerce", p.136. et. al. [11]
The information on this website is not medical advice, is not a substitute for medical consultation, has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure any disease. Please seek advice from a medical professional if you have symptoms, are concerned about your health, or before using supplements or aphrodisiac products.
Sources:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsaparilla
[2] Oxford English Dictionary, 1971 edition
[3] http://www.boisbandebark.com/wholeherb/chainyroot.cfm
[4] http://www.answers.com/topic/sarsaparilla
[5] http://books.google.com/books?id=I-U9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA675
[6] http://books.google.com/books?id=nyZCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA22
[7] http://books.google.com/books?id=U08PAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PR14
[8] http://books.google.com/books?id=zpg-AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA822
[9] http://www.raysahelian.com/sarsaparilla.html
[10] http://www.ayurvedayogashram.com/azeve.asp
[11] "Herbs of Commerce" (AHPA) (2000 edition) - Michael McGuffin, John T. Kartesz, Albert Y Leung, Arthur O. Tucker p.136
[12] http://books.google.com/books?id=YEvN2EpQBkgC&pg=PA100
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