The title this week relates to the love ballad “Scarborough Fair”, probably best known from sixties recordings by Simon & Garfunkel. Wikipedia provides agreat history of the traditional origins of the song and its popularization. It seems likely that the refrain “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” evolved for itslyrical sound, possibly by corruption of earlier lyrics. This has not stopped people from speculating on the symbolism of the herbal quartet.
Interms of botany, rosemary, sage and thyme are all members of the Lamiaceae, the mint family. (From now on we'll exclude parsley as it is in completely different botanical order.) Besidesmint itself, other relatives include basil, catnip, hyssop, lavender, marjoram, oregano and salvia (chia). The common culinary herbs in the list are used because of their highly aromatic phytochemicals. Themolecular contents include camphor, limonene, thymol with many other terpenes and phenolics. The seemingly unique flavor of each herb is a function of itsparticular molecular profile.
Many of the Lamiaceae also find use in herbal medicines and cosmetics, with studies showing their anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities (reviewed by Ramos da Silva et al, 2021). Here I want to mention another member of the family, Scutellaria baicalensis (baical skullcap) well-known in Traditional Chinese Medicine where it goes by the name Huang in (黄芩). Much of its bioactivity is attributed to the glycosylated oxyflavone Baicalin (Hu et al, 2022). I am also proud to mention that S. baicalens is root extract is one of the extracts produced by @Green Mountain Biotech; it is a component of our Botaniplex™ CLEAR and CALM4 blends and used in dermo cosmetic brands in market for treating eczema, skin irritation and acne. It is unfortunate that “skullcap” doesn’t sound right for the lyrics of a love ballad.
Further reading
🌿 Wikipedia contributors. (2023). Scarborough Fair (ballad). Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scarborough_Fair_(ballad)&oldid=1186947853
🌿 Ramos da SilvaLR et al. (2021). Lamiaceae Essential Oils, Phytochemical Profile, Antioxidant, and Biological Activities. Evidence-basedcomplementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2021, 6748052. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6748052
🌿 Hu Z et al (2022).An overview of pharmacological activities of baicalin and its aglyconebaicalein: New insights into molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways. Iranianjournal of basic medical sciences, 25(1), 14–26.https://doi.org/10.22038/IJBMS.2022.60380.13381
