Unlocking the Health Secrets of Sweet Flag Plant

The sweet flag plant is native to Asia and was brought to Europe in the 13^th century by the Tartars. It has a pleasant smell, which resembles mandarin oranges; however, it has a sour taste. In Arabic countries, its essence is used as an aphrodisiac.

Sweet Flag Scientific Facts

1. Other names: Calamus, grass myrtle, myrtle flag, sweet grass, sweet myrtle, sweet rush.
2. French: Acore.
3. Spanish: Calamo aromatico.
4. Environment: It grows along the borders of marshes and river banks in Europe, North America, and Argentina. Widespread, but not very common.
5. Description: Water plant of the Araceae family, which grows from 60 to 150 cm high, with lanceolate, narrow leaves, and flowers growing in cylindrical spikes.
6. Parts of the plant used medicinally: The rhizome (underground stem).

Healing Properties and Warning

Sweet flag rhizome contains an essential oil, Oleum calami, to which the plant owes its medicinal properties. These are as follows:

1. Appetizer: It increases appetite.
2. Eupeptic: (Promotes digestion). It is helpful for a bloated stomach, a lack of gastric juice (hypochloridria), and chronic gastritis.
3. Carminative: Sweet flag eliminates gas in the digestive tract.
4. Muscular relaxing and mildly sedative in the nervous system, when externally applied, adding its decoction to hot bathwater. It alleviates rheumatic pain and aids sleeping.
5. Eases skin itching for rashes and nettle rash. A bath with a decoction of sweet flag root relieves itching and soothes the skin.

WARNING! The continuous administration of cis-isoasarone (one of the components of the essential oil of the sweet flag) to experimental animals, can produce toxic effects of a mutagenic type. As a precautionary measure, the prolonged internal use of sweet flag (for more than one month) should be avoided, or better still, pharmacological preparations of sweet flag oil, which have the cis-isoasarone removed, should be used.

How to use Sweet Flag

1. Decoction or infusion with a tablespoonful of ground rhizome (some 15g) per cup of water. Drink two or three daily cups. Do not sweeten.
2. Baths: Add to the bathwater a decoction prepared with 500g pf ground rhizome per liter of water.

DISCLAIMER: All content on this website is presented solely for educational and informational objectives. It would be best to not rely on the information provided as a replacement for advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified medical expert. If you are pregnant, nursing, or have any preexisting medical concerns, you should talk to your doctor before using any herbal or natural medicines.

REFERENCES

1. George D. Pamplona-Roger, M.D. “Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants.” George D. Pamplona-Roger, M.D. Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Ed. Francesc X. Gelabert. vols. 2 San Fernando de Henares: Editorial Safeliz, 2000. 424. Print.
2. Singh, B., & Sharma, R. A. (2015). Acorus calamus L. (Sweet flag): A review on its phytochemistry, pharmacological and toxicological aspects. Scientific World Journal, 2015, 1-14.
3. Dhingra, D., & Kumar, V. (2008). Memory-enhancing activity of palmatine in mice using elevated plus maze and Morris water maze. Advances in Pharmacological Sciences, 2008, 1-4.
4. Srivastava, S., & Lal, S. (2012). Traditional wisdom and value addition prospects of Acorus calamus Linn.: An overview. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, 6(33), 4673-4680.
5. Kumar, V., & Singh, P. N. (2018). Pharmacological potential of Acorus calamus: A review on its medicinal properties. Pharmacognosy Reviews, 12(23), 112-118.
6. Khan, R., Islam, B., Akram, M., Shakil, S., Ahmad, A., Ali, S. M., & Siddiqui, M. (2016). Antimicrobial activity of five herbal extracts against multi drug resistant (MDR) strains of bacteria and fungus of clinical origin. Molecules, 21(1), 1-11.
7. Patel, S., Sharma, V., Chauhan, N. S., & Thakur, M. (2011). Acorus calamus: An overview. Journal of Pharmacy Research, 4(10), 3050-3053.