Up until last week , my knowledge of sassafras begin and ended in an unlikely place : a Green Day record album . " Sassafras Roots , " path nine of 1994 ’s " Dookie , " offer no explanation of the title and no real context for thelyrics , which read like a self - loathing love birdcall . It was one of the only references to the word I ’d hear over the next two - and - a - one-half decades , so I wrote the Holy Writ off as an obscure drug reference book and went about my dad - tough screw life .
It grow out I was kind of right , and kind of grossly uninformed , which , thanks to the net , I ’m hear to remediate on a mixed bag of topics . Sassafrashasplayed a role in the formulation of some narcotics , but it in and of itself is not the sort of street drug you might suspect sway bands to write songs about . Sassafras actually has a far more complex history than many masses may realize , and its fervent past may be part of what makes it such a great creative muse .
" TheSassafras albidumis a deciduous tree native to the U.S. , most commonly found along the eastern and southeastern regions , " says Nikki Tilley , senior editor of the websiteGardening Know How .
" It ’s well known for its medicinal use and as a spice , especially forroot beer , dating back to the 1500s , though is speculated to have been utilize long before that . "
The tree , which give rise a dark gamy or grim fruit that birds and small animals get it on , blooms in springtime and is sometimes call America ’s " only aboriginal spicery . " In the early seventeenth century , European settlerscaught on to the potentiality in the industrial plant from North American Indians who ’d been using it for a smorgasbord of medicative use . harmonise to the paper , " Sassafras and its Role in Early America , 1562 - 1662 , " writer B.W. Higinbotham declared that sassafras " has belike had more to do with the making of early American account than any other flora , " and source Lesley Bremness write , " sassafras was perhaps the first Native American herb to be exported to Europe . "
Sassafras in Food and Medicine
Members of the Cherokee tribe reportedly boil sassafras leaves to bring forth a Camellia sinensis think to purify the blood and address avariety of ailmentsincluding hide disease , joint fervor and fever . The works was also ground into a library paste ( know as a plaster ) to treat wounds and sores , and the rootage barque was used to plow digestive issues . " The leaves were often used for healing poultices and in tea preparations or as season in food , while the root barque was the main source of its medicinal properties , " Tilley says . " Root beer was also derived from the tree diagram ’s root . "
That ’s right : When root beer hit the market in the mid-19th century , recipe incorporated sassafras and another flora call sarsaparilla , along with licorice root , mint , nutmeg and more . The inclusion of these fixings was really based on toilet facility and availability . American colonists put together a collection of alcoholic and non - alcoholic drink out of whatever topically grown herbs , root andbarkswere on hired man .
The Dark Side of Sassafras
But that mixology experiment had to change by the mid-20th century when regulator understand one ingredient in peculiar had the potential to do more harm than good in its unchanged state . " Unfortunately , there is a darker side to sassafras called safrole , a toxic compound found in the plant ’s essential oils , " Tilley say . " Because of [ safrole ’s ] possible carcinogenic properties , the FDA banned its use in the sixties . "
Although safrole was prohibited because of its possible toxicity , some plant experts say the small amount once found in commercial beverages actually mystify a pocket-sized risk of harmandit ’s fairly promiscuous to excrete without throwing the sassafras tree out of the equality solely . " Sassafras as a beverage has the effect of savor beneficial and there is no reason to off the safrole , " says writer and wild plant expertSamuel Thayer . " The amount of safrole is very modest and is mostly or all eliminate through boiling . " To Thayer ’s point , Steven Foster and James A. Duke argue in the " Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs " that " the amount of the substance in a 12 - apothecaries' ounce can of old - fashioned root beer is not as carcinogenic as the alcohol ( ethanol ) in a can of beer . "
Nevertheless , it ’s tough to notice root beer that contains sassafras these twenty-four hour period ( thoughGoogleyields plenty of resultant role for homemade formula ) and it turn out safrole actually has an even more sinister reputation outside the kitchen . " Safrole and sassafras crude oil has been used in the making of psychotropic drugs like MDMA , also known as ecstasy , an illegal class A substance in the U.S. which heightens mental and excited stimulus , " Tilley allege . " Safrole is now educe from products using sassafras , like root word beer , to eliminate any possible issues link up with this chemical compound . "
All that said , sassafras in and of itself is n’t a speculative flora , despite its less than wholesome association . you could stillpurchase sassafras root bark(minus the safrole ) in teetotal or powder form at many wellness nutrient store , and it ’s a popular thickening agent in gumbos , an earthy additive to tea and an periodic flavor enhancer for stews and sauce . And still worthy of leave behind a dad - hood lyrical bequest thanks to Green Day .
memorise more about sassafras in " Foxfire 4 : Fiddle Making , Spring Houses , Horse Trading , Sassafras Tea , Berry Buckets , Gardening " by Eliot Wigginton . HowStuffWorks picks related claim based on book we think you ’ll care . Should you choose to buy one , we ’ll receive a portion of the cut-rate sale .
