Dear Editor:
We read with much interest the article by Marie-Luise Puhlmann and Willem M de Vos, Back to the roots: revisiting the use of the fiber-rich Cichorium intybus L. taproots (1). We appreciate the efforts made by the authors to raise such an important subject. We intend to congratulate the authors for their successful review article and make some contributions.
Generally, in the study of medicinal properties of plants and their application in medicine and pharmacology, it is necessary to consider the historical context of the opinions of physicians and pharmacologists from different periods to add richness to the material. This historical journey begins in ancient Greece with the work of outstanding figures such as Dioscorides (40–90 AD) and Galen (210 AD), and reaches the opinions expressed by the most important physicians and pharmacologists of the Middle Ages (2).
Although the authors of the discussed article have mentioned Rhazes (865–925 AD) and explained his findings, they have ignored other physicians like Avicenna (980–1037 AD) as 1 of the most important scientists of the Middle Ages (3), as well as other physicians such as Heravi (10–11th centuries AD), Jorjani (12th century AD), and Tabari (9th century AD) (4). All these physicians have presented precious and important descriptions of the nutritional and medical effects of Cichorium (5). Additionally, they have named a medieval physician living in Andalusia, Ibn al-Baya. To the best of our knowledge, no physician by the name of Ibn al-Baya exists. Nevertheless, based on the comments of Ibn al-Baya explained by the authors, it seems that they have mistaken Ibn al-Baya for Ibn al-Baytar (?–1248 AD), author of the Comprehensive Book of Medicinal and Alimentary Simples, which is 1 of the most important books of pharmacology in the Middle Ages. Ibn Baytar, as 1 of the most famous pharmacologists and physicians of the 13th century, wrote various books on pharmacology, and in this book, he described 1400 plants, foods, and drugs, and their different uses.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors’ contributions were as follows—MA-K: design; JGS: final content; S-TT: writing; RM: design and writing; and all authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Notes
The authors reported no funding received for this work.
Author disclosures: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Contributor Information
Mostafa Araj-Khodaei, From the Department of Persian Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Javad Ghazi-Sha'rbaf, Department of Islamic History & Civilization, Faculty of Theology, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran.
Somaiyeh Taheri-Targhi, Aging Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Reza Mohammadinasab, Department of History of Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
References
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