Continuity and change in the Mediterranean medical tradition: Ruta spp. (rutaceae) in Hippocratic medicine and...

Ruta is a genus of Rutaceae family. It features mainly shrubby plants, native to the Mediterranean region and present in traditional medicine of this region since Antiquity. The three most diffused species Ruta chalepensis L., Ruta graveolens L., and Ruta montana (L.) L., are morphologically poorly differentiated and were probably interchangeably used during Antiquity.

Hippocratic and contemporary medical applications of the Ruta genus in the Mediterranean were compared to check if they result from a continuity of use from the ancient times to nowadays.

Ruta spp. was mainly employed in medical preparations by Hippocratic physicians as an abortifacient and emmenagogue. In addition to gynaecological conditions, in several treatises of the Corpus HippocraticumRuta spp. were also recommended as a specific remedy against pulmonary diseases. Ruta spp. leaves and also roots and seeds, were administered for internal use by Hippocratic physicians after having been soaked in wine or mixed with honey or its derivatives. Contemporary traditional uses of Ruta spp. have been assessed in detail in the whole Mediterranean area.

Nowadays, Ruta spp. is used to treat different conditions but, as a general rule, the external uses are preferred as the toxicity of the plant is widely acknowledged.