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Nature’s Pharmacy: The New Medicinal Garden at MBGNA
Food of the Month: Maple Syrup
photo via wikimedia
Nature’s Pharmacy: The New Medicinal Garden at MBGNA
Courtesy of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum
Click here to see the garden plans: Matthaei Medicinal-Garden-map
Throughout history, plants have played a critical role in health and medicine. Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum will celebrate this connection in the new medicinal garden, scheduled to open in 2015 at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The first documented botanical garden on campus was at least in part a pharmaceutical garden; since that time there have been various iterations of gardens on the U-M Campus and greenhouse collections focused on ethnobotany and the study of medicinal herbs.
Interest in the practical and medical value of plants was central in the early history of the University as well as in the development of pharmaceutical industries in the state. The naturalist Douglas Houghton, for instance, named as the University’s first professor of geology, was also trained as a physician and established a flourishing medical practice in Detroit in the early 1830s. In his travels across the Michigan territory with Henry Schoolcraft, he did extensive botanical collecting, looking for plants of medicinal and economic value. Many of these plant specimens are now part of the collections of the University of Michigan Herbarium. Other local physicians studied and popularized the use of plants in medicine. The physician Dr. Alvin W. Chase, for instance, began publishing a series of books of medical and household recipes in 1859. In 1899, Dr. Julius O. Schlotterbeck of the Department of Pharmacy together with Dr. V. M. Spalding of the Department of Botany created a botanical garden of economic and medicinal plants on Central Campus. Traditionally, students in medicine and pharmacy had rigorous coursework in botany as a routine part of their training. In addition, Michigan developed a long track record of pharmaceutical companies such as Upjohn, Parke- Davis and Pfizer with a history of testing various plants for potential medicinal value.
The new medicinal garden at Matthaei will celebrate this colorful history and share the connection between plants and modern medicine in the development of new drugs, dietary supplements, and the field of integrative medicine. Plants will be arranged by human organ system (e.g., cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal) and by condition (e.g., infectious disease, diabetes, cancer). It will feature plants that serve as the basis for current medicines and treatments as well as those used historically or in different cultures. For each group of plants, at least one poster child related to a well- known medicine will be included. These include such medications as Taxol, derived from the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), or aspirin, originally derived from the bark of the white willow (Salix alba). Only plants or the medicines derived from them with strong clinical evidence for effectiveness will be included. There will also be a section devoted to wellness featuring plants often recommended for their health benefits such as blueberries, cherries, green vegetables and the like. Interpretive signage and related web-based educational resources will bring together current themes of pharmaceutical research, integrative medicine, and an emphasis on health and well-being in a way that can be used effectively in teaching and for sharing with the general public.
photo via wikipedia
Food of the Month: Maple Syrup
Michele Worden
Latin Name: Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) , red maple (Acer rubrum), or black maple (Acer nigrum) ) trees, although it can also be made from other maple species.
Botanical Family: Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae.
Description: Acer saccharum is a deciduous tree normally reaching heights 82–115 ft. tall. The leaves are deciduous, up 8 in. long and equally wide, with five palmate lobes. The fall color is often spectacular, ranging from bright yellow through orange to fluorescent red-orange. Sugar maples also have a tendency to color unevenly in fall. In some trees, all colors above can be seen at the same time. They also share a tendency with red maples for certain parts of a mature tree to change color weeks ahead of or behind the remainder of the tree.
Origin: Acer saccharum (sugar maple) is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas. This is the area where maple syrup is produced. Indigenous peoples living in the northeastern part of North America were the first groups known to have produced maple syrup and maple sugar. Tribes developed rituals around sugar-making, celebrating the Sugar Moon (the first full moon of spring) with a Maple Dance.
The practice of sugaring was adopted by European settlers, who gradually refined production methods. Technological improvements in the 1970s further refined syrup processing. The Canadian province of Quebec is by far the largest producer, responsible for about three-quarters of the world’s output, exceeding $145 million per year. Vermont is the largest producer in the United States, generating about 5.5 percent of the global supply.
Cultivation (how and where grown): A maple tree needs to be about 40 years old before it can be tapped for maple syrup production. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Sap production is favored by warm spring days followed by cold nights. The first sap produced is light in color and gradually darkens until the sap is no longer palatable when the tree buds out and the sap turns green. The differences in color over time (and taste) result in the different maple syrup grades. Maple syrup is graded according to the Canada, United States, or Vermont scales based on its density and translucency. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup. In Canada, syrups must be at least 66 percent sugar and be made exclusively from maple sap to qualify as maple syrup. In the United States, syrup must be made almost entirely from maple sap to be labeled as “maple”.
Maple trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap. Sap used to be collected in buckets, but now systems of tubing runs downhill to a collection tank on most farms. The sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water in an evaporator, leaving the concentrated syrup. Some farms use reverse osmosis filter system to remove the water without heating the sap to save energy.
Farms that make maple syrup are called “Sugarbush” and the building where the evaporation takes place is the “sugar shack”.
Fun Facts: 30-50 gallons of sap are needed to make 1 gallon of syrup!
Michigan has two Maple Syrup festivals. Both are held in the third or last weekend of April. In northern Michigan, a festival is held in Shepard Michigan. In southern Michigan, it is held in Vermontville.
Maple Syrup is the only sap that humans eat.
Nutrition: Maple syrup is a good source of calcium, iron, and thiamine and has many trace minerals that are important for health.
Culinary Uses: In colonial times, maple syrup was used instead of cane sugar or salt. Maple syrup is often eaten with pancakes, waffles, French toast, or oatmeal and porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in baking, and as a sweetener or flavoring agent. It is also used to make maple sugar candies. I like to use it to make a glaze for vegetables.
Medicinal Uses: Canadian researchers have identified several bioactive compounds in maple syrup that are believed to be anti-oxidant and anti-cancer agents.
Where can we find local maple syrup?: We have several maple syrup producers in Northern Michigan. A
directory can be found at http://www.mi-maplesyrup.com/directory/producers.htm
Impact on Culture: Maple syrup had a strong impact on native peoples’ culture through ritual and legend. It also became an important part of the early northern American colonist’s diet since cane sugar was expensive and scarce. Maple syrup and maple sugar were used during the American Civil War and by abolitionists in the years prior to the war because most cane sugar and molasses were produced by Southern slaves. Because of food rationing during the Second World War, people in the northeastern United States were encouraged to stretch their sugar rations by sweetening foods with maple syrup and maple sugar, and recipe books were printed to help housewives employ this alternative source.
Maple products are considered emblematic of Canada, in particular Quebec, and are frequently sold in tourist shops and airports as souvenirs from Canada. The sugar maple’s leaf has come to symbolize Canada, and is depicted on the country’s flag. Several US states, including New York, Vermont and Wisconsin, have the sugar maple as their state tree. A scene of sap collection is depicted on the Vermont state quarter, issued in 2001.
Today, it is part of the All-American breakfast of pancakes! A family staple and treat. Would there be waffles and pancakes without maple syrup to put on them? Also, there are maple syrup festivals throughout the region in which the maple tree grows and has cold weather.
The maple tree itself has come to embody fall, with its bright colors. “Color tours” are common in the northeastern US and Canada as people travel to enjoy the changing leaves in the fall.
Appearance in Literature: Maple syrup and sugaring are favorite topics for children’s books. There are too many books to name! One is “Sugar Snow, a Laura Ingalls Wilder Book”.