Dock Sorrel or Rumex vesicarius L. family: Polygonaceae, (a.k.a. Hummayd, Hammad) is a Middle Eastern herb traditionally used in its folk medicine for the treatment of a variety of liver, stomach, respiratory and aches. It is a shrubby annual which is used in salads or added to acidify goats milk for the preparation of Iqt which are dried milk shreds. Fresh leaves are used like spinach in soups and to accompany meat (Tukan et al., 1998).
It appears an interesting herb because a recent study identifies various active compounds extracted from leaves using ethyl acetate and n-butanol. A variety of phenolics including derivatives of apigenin, quercetin, diosmetin have been identified (El-Hawary et al., 2011) were identified using liquid chromatography with mass spectroscopy with an electrospray ionization (ESI) system. The researchers assessed both the antioxidant potential and its liver (hepatoprotective) benefits using extracts from the roots, leaves and fruits in a rat model.
An essential oil from the fruits and its lipid composition were also determined. The research builds on parallel studies of the antibacterial properties (Mostafa et al., 2011), the flavonoids and anthroquinones (Saleh et al., 1993), and the mineral composition – it appears a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium (Alfawz, 2006). Like most sorrels and docks it has a high acid content. For the various acids, the contents are, citric acid: 270-300 mg/100g leaves, malic acid: 5530-5620 mg/100g leaves and oxalic acid: 2840-3260 mg/100g.
Alfawaz, M.A. (2006) Chemical composition of hummayd (Rumex vesicarius) grown in Saudi Arabia. J. Food Comp. Analysis 19 pp. 552-555
El-Hawary, S.A., Sokkar, N.M., Ali, Z.Y., Yehia, M.M. (2011) A profile of bioactive compounds of Rumex vesicarius L. J. Food Sci. 76(8) C1195-C1202
Mostafa, H.A.M., El_bakry, A.A., Alam, E.A. (2011) Evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activieties of different plant parts of Rumex vesicarius L. (Polygonaceae). Int. J. Pharmacy Pharm. Sci. 3(2) pp. 109-118
Saleh, N.A.M., El0Hadidi, M.N., Arafa, R.F.M. (1993) Flavonoids and anthraquinones of some Egyptian Rumex species (Polygonaceae). Biochem. Systematics Ecol. 21(2) pp. 301-303
Tukan, S.K., Takruri, H.R., Al-Eisawi, D.M., (1998) The use of wild edible plants in the Jordanian diet. Int. J. Food Sci. Nutrition 49, pp. 225–235
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