Sweet Violet and Covid19

 
Sweet Violet (Viola odorata) is a lovely plant which can be found flowering right now in England. In the past, Sweet Violet leaves and flowers were highly regarded in Europe as medicine, often in the form of a syrup made from the strongly-scented flowers. According to Mrs Grieve (1932), Violets were grown in Shakespeare’s Warwickshire especially for this purpose. Nowadays the use of Violet syrup has largely dropped out of use among practitioners of western herbal medicine. Even in Mrs Grieve’s time the medicinal use of Violet syrup had declined to little more than that of a mild laxative.

European Herbal Medicine has its roots in Arabian medicine or Unani, through the translated writings of Avicenna 980–1037 CE and before that from Greek medical practice via the systematic translation in Baghdad of the writings of Greek physicians such as Galen and Hippocrates. So, there is still much in common between Unani medicine and European herbal medicine as practised today, especially regarding their materia medica. In Iran, where Unani medicine is practised enthusiastically to this day, the use of syrup of Violets has flourished, and new uses are being found, as an article published this year indicates. This randomised, double-blind controlled study of 108 patients with Covid19, showed that, compared with a placebo syrup, Violet syrup, used as ‘add-on’ treatment to modern medicine, is effective in helping to control symptoms of cough, muscle pain, headache and diarrhoea.

Of recent years Sweet Violet leaves and flowers have come under scrutiny as one of few botanical sources of the remarkable cycloviolacins. These are large compounds comprising 30 or so amino acids held in a ring and stabilised by sulphur bonds. They are such stable structures that they escape digestion and show up in the blood stream after consumption. The compounds have notable anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties, so there are clearly more avenues for research opening up on one of Shakespeare’s favourite flowers!

Ann Walker PhD FCPP MNIMH RNutr, Herbal Practitioner and Nutritionist,
Course Director, Discovering Herbal Medicine course