Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
XVII. Internationales Hippocrateskolloquium. Das Corpus Hippocraticum - Einheit in der Viefalt?, Munich, Almanya, 14 - 17 Ekim 2021, ss.6-7
Silphion is a medicinal gum-resin produced by silphion plant that
is most likely a Ferula species based
on the descriptions provided by Theophrastus of Eresus, Pliny the Elder,
Pedanius Dioscorides and other ancient scientists as well as numismatic figures
on the ancient Cyrenaic coins. Ancient physicians, including Hippocrates, used
silphion to treat numerous diseases and medical conditions. According to Pliny the uses of silphion would
be “an endless task to record.” In addition to the medicinal uses, silphion was
an important spice in both Greek and Roman cuisine. Some medicinal historians believe that
silphion was also used as an aphrodisiac and was a potent contraceptive. Being
a medicinal plant and spice with so many desired properties naturally increased
its value and demand for the silphion that consequently led to over harvesting
and destruction of the silphion plant populations. Furthermore, the leaves of
silphion plant was important as cattle fodder, Pliny mentioned in his “Natural
History” that the sharecroppers who rented pastures in Cyrene stripped it clean
by grazing sheep, and the only remaining stalk of silphion was sent as a
curiosity to the Emperor Nero. Pliny’s account about the last stalk of silphion
in Cyrene suggests that the regional extinction event happened in the 1st
century AD. Nevertheless, there were
reports about the existence of cultivated silphion plant well into the 5th
century AD. Synesius, a Cyrenian bishop of Ptolemais, claimed that he had seen
the cultivated silphion and sent silphion juice to his friend Tryphon in
Constantinople.
Ferula drudeana Korovin, a rare and endemic species, was described
from Central Anatolia in the early 20th century. This species was
found only three locations all associated with the former Greek village sites. The
morphological and organoleptic characteristics of F. drudeana comply with the descriptions of aforementioned ancient
scientists, and closely resemble to those of numismatic figures of silphion
plant found on the Cyrenaic coins suggesting a close relation between silphion
plant and F. drudeana. Furthermore,
several novel and known secondary metabolites were isolated from the roots of F. drudeana, the pharmacological
activities of known metabolites support the reported medicinal use of silphion
and corroborate the identity of F.
drudeana as the silphion plant (1). Since only a limited number of
individual plants exist in the nature, a conservation study has been initiated
to preserve and propagate this precious Ferula
species.
1. Miski, M. Next
Chapter in the Legend of Silphion: Preliminary Morphological, Chemical,
Biological
and Pharmacological Evaluations, Initial Conservation Studies, and
Reassessment of the Regional Extinction
Event. Plants 2021, 10, 102.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10010102