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The Russian Pharmacopoeia comes to life
The new translation of the USSR’s State Pharmacopoeia gives English speakers insights into Russia’s traditional herbal remedies, while sparking pharmacological research into adaptogens, writes Larissa Fedunik.
There’s an old Russian proverb that goes something like this: “nettles are born stinging, but boil down in cabbage soup.” [1] It hints at the Russian ability to transform unexpected vegetation into a hearty meal — or a herbal remedy.
These wild plants form the bridge between food and traditional medicine, as documented in the USSR’s State Pharmacopoeia, an extensive compilation of medicinal drugs. Only recently translated into English, this previously untapped resource gives us a growing insight into Russia’s food and cultural heritage, a field of research known as ethnobotany. The Pharmacopoeia is even providing inspiration for ethnopharmaceuticals, in line with a renewed worldwide interest in traditional medicine. Several prominent Russian and English scientists, including Dr Andrey Tsitsilin of the All Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and Professor Michael Heinrich of the University of London’s School of Pharmacy, have recently authored a paper on the traditional and current use…
