Satureja thymbra, commonly known as savory of Crete, whorled savory, pink savory, and Roman hyssop (Arabic:za'atar rumi; za'atar franji),[2] is a perennial-green dwarf shrub of the family Lamiaceae. It is noted for its dark-green leaves, which grow on numerous, closely compacted branches, reaching a height of 20–50 centimetres (8–19+1⁄2in). Pink to purple flowers blossom between March and June. It is native to southeastern Europe and Libya, Africa.
The plant has a fuscous-brown bark, with many erect young shoots, somewhat tetragonal, gland-dotted and pubescent with short downy white hairs. The leaves have numerous glandular trichomes of two morphologically distinct types: glandular hairs and glandular scales.[3] The leaves are opposite, entire, smooth, and sessile; they generally extending in condensed clusters of inflorescence, consisting of a pair of sessile cymes arranged around an axis and equally spaced, with numerous lanceolate bracts measuring about 5 millimetres (1⁄4in) long and 2mm wide.[4] The pink to purple flowers grow in whorls. Its fruit pods are schizocarps. The plant is aromatic.
Chemical composition
An analysis of the plant's chemical composition reveals that the Satureja thymbra, of the kind grown in Israel, contains a very high content of the chemicals γ-terpinene (15.9%), and p-cymene (12.4%), with the highest concentration being that of carvacrol (55.2%).[5] Other independent studies revealed the main compounds of the essential oil ranging at varying levels; carvacrol (34.6%), γ-terpinene (22.9%), p-cymene (13.0%) and thymol (12.8%).[6] Air dried aerial parts from S. thymbra collected in Lebanon and which were submitted to steam distillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus to produce the essential oil were also tested. The extracted oil was dried using anhydrousmagnesium sulfate and stored at 4°C. Analysis revealed that the Lebanese Satureja thymbra oil is characterized by high amounts of γ-terpinene (34.08%), carvacrol (23.07%) and thymol (18.82%).
The pesticidal property of the plant's volatile essential oil and other constituents were tested against an adult tick (Hyalomma marginatum), the result being that high concentrations of this oil resulted in the mortality of the tick.[7]
It grows mainly in Mediterranean woodlands and scrubland, adapting well to higher elevations, but also seen on rocky limestone gullies as an undergrowth, and alongside dirt roads. In Israel, the plant is commonly found in the Mount Carmel region, south of Haifa, as well as in the mountainous district of Upper Galilee, in Samaria and in the Judaean Mountains, thriving in areas where the soils are mainly terra rossa and hard limestone, but also in chalk.[8] The plant is rarely found along the coastal plains, or in the Jordan valley.
Uses
The crushed leaves of this plant have more of a pungent taste and smell than the true hyssop (eizov), for which reason it is not commonly used today as a spice, except in Lebanon, where it is still used as a herbal tea in Lebanese traditional medicine. In ancient times, whorled savory was used as a spice in Anatolia and Greece. In Mishnaic times, the whorled savory was called sī'ah in Hebrew,[9][10][11][a] and is often mentioned in rabbinic literature along with eizov (marjoram) and qurnit (white-leaved savory), three herbal plants that grew naturally in the wild and were harvested either for firewood or for human consumption.[13] In ancient times in Israel (Palestine), water in which whorled savory had been steeped was used to flavor meats that had been skewered and placed over hot coals for roasting.[14]Dioscorides, in the Third Book of his De Materia Medica (3:44–45), alludes to the plant, saying that it was used to flavor meat, and brings down other medicinal uses in his day.[15]
Its medicinal use, when concocted into a tea, is said to aid against digestive problems, diarrhea, colic pains, flatulence, intestinal cramps and anorexia. In Israel, the plant has protected status, making it a criminal offence to harvest it.[8] In spite of these laws, the leaves of the plant are foraged by the local population between March and May.[16]
In Ottoman Palestine, the flower's pollen was harvested by honey bees in the production of honey.[17]
In culture
In ceremonial usage, although it is related to the biblical hyssop, it was considered a different species, thus invalid to be brought in the purification ritual where true hyssop (eizov) was used in the preparation of the sprinkling water to purify those defiled by corpse uncleanness.
↑ According to Israeli author, Nissim Krispil, both Satureja thymbra and Thymbra spicata were called in Hebrew sī'ah.[12] Late Spanish Jewish authorities, such as Rabbi Solomon Sirilio (1485–1554), thought that si'ah meant in Spanish poleo, which is pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
References
↑ Hassler, Michael. "World Plants - Plant List". World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
↑ Meaning, "Roman hyssop" and "European hyssop," respectively.
↑ Mouterde, Paul (1983). Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie (in French). Vol.1–3. Beirut. OCLC742432106.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Öztürk, Mehmet (September 2012). "Anticholinesterase and antioxidant activities of Savoury (Satureja thymbra L.) with identified major terpenes of the essential oil". Food Chemistry. 134 (1): 48–54. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.02.054.
↑ Cetin, H.; Cilek, J.E.; Oz, E.; Aydin, L.; Deveci, O.; Yanikoglu, A. (June 2010). "Acaricidal activity of Satureja thymbra L. essential oil and its major components, carvacrol and γ-terpinene against adult Hyalomma marginatum (Acari: Ixodidae)". Veterinary Parasitology. 170 (3–4): 287–290. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.02.031. PMID20303667.
1 2 Avi Shmida, MAPA's Dictionary of Plants and Flowers in Israel, Tel Aviv 2005, p. 349 (s.v. Satureja thymbra) (Hebrew) OCLC716569354
↑ Faran, Mina; Tcherni, Anna (1997). Medicinal herbs in Modern Medicine (ṣimḥei marpé bir'fū'ah ha-modernīt) (in Hebrew). Vol.1. Jerusalem: Akademon (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). p.142. ISBN965-350-068-6. OCLC233179155., s.v. Satureja thymbra
↑ Sī'ah (Heb. סיאה) is explained in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 128a) as having the connotation of the Aramaic word צתרי. This word, in turn, is explained by Payne Smith, J. (1903) in her Thesaurus Syriacus (p. 485, s.v. ܨܬܪܐ) as having the meaning of satureia thymbra, a view shared by Marcus Jastrow (Dictionary of the Targumim, s.v. צתרי), who, citing Immanuel Löw and William Smith, writes that the word has the meaning of Satureia (=savory).
↑ Ḳrispil, Nissim (1987). Amos Shapira (ed.). A Bag of Plants (The Useful Plants of Israel) (Yalḳuṭ ha-tsemaḥim) (in Hebrew). Vol.4 (N.-Ṣ.). Jerusalem: Ya'arah Publishing House Ltd. p.1178. OCLC21934597.
↑ Solomon Sirilio, Commentary on Jerusalem Talmud (Terumot 10:2 [52a]), s.v. מי צתרי. The discussion in the Jerusalem Talmud revolves around Terumah (heave-offering) which can only be eaten by Jewish priests in a state of ritual cleanness. In this case, whorly savory which was cultivated in one's garden and had been picked, its owner separated therefrom the designated tithes (heave-offering) meant for the priests, and when he had given the portion designated to the priests, the priest took water in which the same whorly savory had been steeped and sprinkled it over skewers of meat laid over hot coals in order to impart the plant's aroma and flavour to the meat. The question asked was whether a regular skewer of meat which lay alongside of it was permitted to be eaten by an outsider who was not of the priestly clan, although it too had absorbed the aroma of the other skewer belonging to the priest (P'nei Moshe Commentary and Sirilio's Commentary)
↑ Ibn al-Baitar (1989). Ibrahim Ben Mrad (ed.). Tafsīr Kitāb Diāsqūrīdūs (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar Algharb Al'Islami. pp.224–225. OCLC957197903., where Ibn al-Baitar explains Dioscorides' entry of Thymbra (Greek: Θύμβρα) as having the meaning of Satureia (=savory).
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