Ruta graveolens#Culinary use

The specific epithet graveolens refers to the strong-smelling leaves.J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney {{google books|8Tq7UcPMwacC|Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary|page=1150}}

File:Gardenology.org-IMG 2800 rbgs11jan.jpg

Rue is a woody, perennial shrub. Its leaves are oblong, blue green and arranged bipinnately with rounded leaflets; they release a strong aroma when they are bruised.{{cite web |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b714 |title=Ruta graveolens |date=2022 |website=Plant Finder |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=16 December 2022 }}

The flowers are small with 4 to 5 dull yellow petals in cymes. The first flower in each cyme is pentamerous (five sepals, five petals, five stamens and five carpels. All the others are tetramerous (four of each part). They bear brown seed capsules when pollinated.

{{missing information|effectiveness and safety of traditional medical uses|date=October 2021}}

In the ancient Roman world, the naturalists Pedanius Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder recommended that rue be combined with the poisonous shrub oleander to be drunk as an antidote to venomous snake bites.{{cite book| title=Natural History Book| author=Pliny the Elder| page=Book 24, 90}}{{cite book| title=De Materia Medica| author=Pedanius Dioscorides| page=Book V, 42}}

File:Tacuin Rue35.jpg

The refined oil of rue is an emmenagogue{{cite web | url = https://www.drugs.com/npp/rue.html | title = Rue | publisher = drugs.com}} and was cited by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder and Soranus as an abortifacient (inducing abortion).Natural History Book XX Ch LI{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Sarah E. |title=Persephone's Seeds: Abortifacients and Contraceptives in Ancient Greek Medicine and Their Recent Scientific Appraisal |journal=Pharmacy in History |date=2009 |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=57–69 |jstor=41112420 |pmid=20853553 }}

File:Ruta graveolens MHNT.BOT.2005.0.973.jpg]]

Rue has a culinary use, but since it is bitter and gastric discomfort may be experienced by some individuals, it is used sparingly. Although used more extensively in as a culinary herb in former times, it is not typically found in modern cuisine. Due to small amounts of toxins it contains, it must be used in small amounts, and should be avoided by pregnant women or women who have liver issues.

It has a variety of other culinary uses:

• It was used extensively in ancient Near Eastern and Roman cuisine (according to Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq and Apicius).
• Rue is used as a traditional flavouring in Greece and other Mediterranean countries.
• In Istria (a region spanning Croatia and Slovenia), and in northern Italy, it is used to give a special flavour to grappa/rakia and most of the time a little branch of the plant can be found in the bottle. This is called grappa alla ruta.
• Seeds can be used for porridge.
• The bitter leaf can be added to eggs, cheese, fish, or mixed with damson plums and wine to produce a meat sauce.
• In Italy in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the young branches of the plant are dipped in a batter, deep-fried in oil, and consumed with salt or sugar. They are also used on their own to aromatise a specific type of omelette.{{cite journal|display-authors=3 | doi = 10.1186/1746-4269-3-22 | title = The importance of a taste. A comparative study on wild food plant consumption in twenty-one local communities in Italy | year = 2007 | last1 = Ghirardini | first1 = Maria | last2 = Carli | first2 = Marco | last3 = Del Vecchio | first3 = Nicola | last4 = Rovati | first4 = Ariele | last5 = Cova | first5 = Ottavia | last6 = Valigi | first6 = Francesco | last7 = Agnetti | first7 = Gaia | last8 = MacConi | first8 = Martina | last9 = Adamo | first9 = Daniela | last10 = Traina | first10 = M | last11 = Laudini | first11 = F | last12 = Marcheselli | first12 = I | last13 = Caruso | first13 = N | last14 = Gedda | first14 = T | last15 = Donati | first15 = F | last16 = Marzadro | first16 = A | last17 = Russi | first17 = P | last18 = Spaggiari | first18 = C | last19 = Bianco | first19 = M | last20 = Binda | first20 = R | last21 = Barattieri | first21 = E | last22 = Tognacci | first22 = A | last23 = Girardo | first23 = M | last24 = Vaschetti | first24 = L | last25 = Caprino | first25 = P | last26 = Sesti | first26 = E | last27 = Andreozzi | first27 = G | last28 = Coletto | first28 = E | last29 = Belzer | first29 = G | last30 = Pieroni | first30 = A | journal = Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | volume = 3 | pages = 22 | pmid = 17480214 | pmc = 1877798 | doi-access = free }}
• Used in Old World beers as flavouring ingredient.{{cite book |last=Spencer Hornsey |first=Ian |date=December 2003 |title=A History of Beer and Brewing |url=https://archive.org/details/historybeerbrewi00horn |url-access=limited |chapter=Chapter 3|publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry|page=[https://archive.org/details/historybeerbrewi00horn/page/n120 103] |isbn=978-0-854-04630-0}}
• The rue that is widespread in Ethiopian culture is a different species, R. chalapensis.{{cite web|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:775099-1|access-date=21 June 2023|title=Ruta graveolens|work=Kew Plants of the World Online}}; {{cite web|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:775070-1|access-date=21 June 2023|title=Ruta chalepensis|work=Kew Plants of the World Online}}, compare distribution maps.

Rue is also grown as an ornamental plant, both as a low hedge and so the leaves can be used in nosegays.

Most cats dislike the smell of it, and it can, therefore, be used as a deterrent to them (see also Plectranthus caninus).{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Caterpillars of some subspecies of the butterfly Papilio machaon feed on rue, as well as other plants. The caterpillars of Papilio xuthus also feed readily on it.{{cite book|last=Dempster|first=J.P.|title=Ecology and Conservation of Butterflies |year=1995 |publisher=Chapman & Hall |location=London |isbn=0412569701 |pages=137–149 |edition=1st |editor=Pullin, Andrew S. |chapter=The ecology and conservation of Papilio machaon in Britain}}

In Sephardic Jewish tradition, ruda is believed to possess protective qualities against malevolent forces, particularly the evil eye. It is often placed near vulnerable individuals, such as newborns, children, and mothers, to ward off evil.{{Cite journal |last=Stein |first=Sarah Abrevaya |date=2022 |title=The Queen of Herbs: A Plant's-Eye View of the Sephardic Diaspora |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/849197 |journal=Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=112 |issue=1 |pages=119–138 |doi=10.1353/jqr.2022.0004 |issn=1553-0604|url-access=subscription }} Beyond its symbolic significance, ruda is valued for its medicinal properties. When combined with sugar, it is traditionally used to soothe eye discomfort and alleviate the symptoms of a mild cold. Additionally, inhaling ruda is thought to mitigate the effects of shock. Ruda's significance in Sephardic Jewish culture also extends to religious practices. During Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday marked by fasting, Sephardic synagogues often pass ruda among congregants to revitalise them.

Beyond the Sephardic tradition, Hasidic Jews also recognized the protective qualities of ruda. Hasidic Jews also were taught that rue should be placed into amulets to protect them from epidemics and plagues.This was taught by Rabbi Isaac of Komarno in his comments to Sefer Adam Yashar in the name of Rabbi Isaac Luria Other Hasidim rely on the works of a famous Baghdadi Kabbalist Yaakov Chaim Sofer who makes mention of the plant "ruda" ({{lang|he|רודה}}) as an effective device against both black magic and the evil eye.https://www.sefaria.org/Kaf_HaChayim_on_Shulchan_Arukh%2C_Orach_Chayim.301.135?lang=bi{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}}

It finds many household uses around the world as well. It is traditionally used in Central Asia as an insect repellent and room deodorizer.{{clarify|date=October 2021}}

Rue is generally safe if consumed in small amounts as an herb to flavor food. Rue extracts are mutagenic and hepatotoxic. Large doses can cause violent gastric pain, vomiting, liver damage, and death. This is due to a variety of toxic compounds in the plant's sap. It is recommended to only use small amounts in food, and to not consume it excessively. It should be strictly avoided by pregnant women, as it can be an abortifacient and teratogen.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.ajem.2023.03.005| title = Toxicities of herbal abortifacients| date = 2023| last1 = Feng| first1 = Chris| last2 = Fay| first2 = Kathryn E.| last3 = Burns| first3 = Michele M.| journal = The American Journal of Emergency Medicine| volume = 68| pages = 42–46| pmid = 36924751| pmc = 10192026}}

Exposure to common rue, or herbal preparations derived from it, can cause severe phytophotodermatitis, which results in burn-like blisters on the skin.{{cite journal | pmid = 19671699 | year = 2009 | last1 = Arias-Santiago | first1 = SA | last2 = Fernández-Pugnaire | first2 = MA | last3 = Almazán-Fernández | first3 = FM | last4 = Serrano-Falcón | first4 = C | last5 = Serrano-Ortega | first5 = S | title = Phytophotodermatitis due to Ruta graveolens prescribed for fibromyalgia | volume = 48 | issue = 11 | pages = 1401 | doi = 10.1093/rheumatology/kep234 | journal = Rheumatology| doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | pmid = 17667834 | year = 2007 | last1 = Furniss | first1 = D | last2 = Adams | first2 = T | title = Herb of grace: An unusual cause of phytophotodermatitis mimicking burn injury | volume = 28 | issue = 5 | pages = 767–769 | doi = 10.1097/BCR.0B013E318148CB82 | journal = Journal of Burn Care & Research}}{{cite journal | pmid = 17303046 | year = 2007 | last1 = Eickhorst | first1 = K | last2 = Deleo | first2 = V | last3 = Csaposs | first3 = J | title = Rue the herb: Ruta graveolens–associated phytophototoxicity |volume = 18 |issue = 1 |pages = 52–55 |journal = Dermatitis |doi=10.2310/6620.2007.06033}}{{cite journal | pmid = 10515113 | year = 1999 | last1 = Wessner | first1 = D | last2 = Hofmann | first2 = H | last3 = Ring | first3 = J | title = Phytophotodermatitis due to Ruta graveolens applied as protection against evil spells | volume = 41 | issue = 4 | page = 232 | journal = Contact Dermatitis | doi = 10.1111/j.1600-0536.1999.tb06145.x| s2cid = 45280728 }} The mechanism of action is currently unknown.{{Cite journal |last1=Naghibi Harat |first1=Z. |last2=Kamalinejad |first2=M. |last3=Sadeghi |first3=M. R. |last4=Sadeghipour |first4=H. R. |last5=Eshraghian |first5=M. R. |date=2009-05-10 |title=A Review on Ruta graveolens L. Its Usage in Traditional Medicine and Modern Research Data |url=http://jmp.ir/article-1-360-en.html |journal=Journal of Medicinal Plants |language=en |volume=8 |issue=30 |pages=1–19}}

File:Effet de la rue officinale.jpg

Image:RutaGraveolensEssentialOil.png

A series of furanoacridones and two acridone alkaloids (arborinine and evoxanthine) have been isolated from R. graveolens.{{cite journal |title=Investigation of cytotoxic activity on human cancer cell lines of arborinine and furanoacridones isolated from Ruta graveolens |last1=Rethy |first1=Borbala |last2=Zupko |first2=Istvan |last3=Minorics |first3=Renata |last4=Hohmann |first4=Judit |last5=Ocsovszki |first5=Imre |last6=Falkay |first6=George |journal=Planta Medica |year=2007 |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=41–48 |doi=10.1055/s-2006-951747|pmid=17109253 |bibcode=2007PlMed..73...41R |s2cid=260283678 }} {{INIST|18469419}} It also contains coumarins and limonoids.{{cite journal |title=New coumarins and limonoids of Ruta graveolens |last1=Srivastava |first1=S. D. |last2=Srivastava |first2=S. K. |last3=Halwe |first3=K. |journal=Fitoterapia |year=1998 |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=7–12 }} {{INIST|2179664}}

Cell cultures produce the coumarins umbelliferone, scopoletin, psoralen, xanthotoxin, isopimpinellin, rutamarin and rutacultin, and the alkaloids skimmianine, kokusaginine, 6-methoxydictamnine and edulinine.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)90269-3 | title = Coumarins and alkaloids from cell cultures of Ruta graveolens | year = 1971 | last1 = Steck | first1 = Warren | last2 = Bailey | first2 = B.K. | last3 = Shyluk | first3 = J.P. | last4 = Gamborg | first4 = O.L. | journal = Phytochemistry | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 191–194| bibcode = 1971PChem..10..191S }}

The ethyl acetate extract of R. graveolens leaves yields two furanocoumarins, one quinoline alkaloid and four quinolone alkaloids including graveoline.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1021/jf0259361 | title = Natural Fungicides from Ruta graveolens L. Leaves, Including a New Quinolone Alkaloid | year = 2003 | last1 = Oliva | first1 = Anna | last2 = Meepagala | first2 = Kumudini M. | last3 = Wedge | first3 = David E. | last4 = Harries | first4 = Dewayne | last5 = Hale | first5 = Amber L. | last6 = Aliotta | first6 = Giovanni | last7 = Duke | first7 = Stephen O. | journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry | volume = 51 | issue = 4 | pages = 890–896 | pmid = 12568545| bibcode = 2003JAFC...51..890O }}{{cite journal | doi = 10.1021/np50059a021 | title = Determination of Furanocoumarins on the Leaf Surface of Ruta graveolens with an Improved Extraction Technique | year = 1988 | last1 = Zobel | first1 = Alicja M. | last2 = Brown | first2 = Stewart A. | journal = Journal of Natural Products | volume = 51 | issue = 5 | pages = 941–946 | pmid = 21401190| bibcode = 1988JNAtP..51..941Z }}

The chloroform extracts of the root, stem and leaf shows the isolation of the furanocoumarin chalepensin.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1055/s-2006-961917 | pmid = 2748734 | title = Antifertility Principle of Ruta graveolens | year = 2007 | last1 = Kong | first1 = Y. | last2 = Lau | first2 = C. | last3 = Wat | first3 = K. | last4 = Ng | first4 = K. | last5 = But | first5 = P. | last6 = Cheng | first6 = K. | last7 = Waterman | first7 = P. | journal = Planta Medica | volume = 55 | issue = 2 | pages = 176–8| s2cid = 28529328 }}

The essential oil of R. graveolens contains two main constituents, undecan-2-one (46.8%) and nonan-2-one (18.8%).{{cite journal |title=Potential allelochemicals from the essential oil of Ruta graveolens |last1=De Feo |first1=Vincenzo |last2=De Simone |first2=Francesco |last3=Senatore |first3=Felice |journal=Phytochemistry |year=2002 |volume=61 |issue=5 |pages=573–578 |doi=10.1016/s0031-9422(02)00284-4|pmid=12409025 |bibcode=2002PChem..61..573D }} {{INIST|13994117}}

The bitter taste of its leaves led to rue being associated with the (etymologically unrelated) verb rue "to regret". Rue is well known for its symbolic meaning of regret and it has sometimes been called "herb-of-grace" in literary works. In mythology,{{cite web|last1=Walsh|first1=William Shepard|last2=Garrison|first2=William H.|last3=Harris|first3=Samuel R.|date=5 January 1888|title=American Notes and Queries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4AXAQAAMAAJ&q=rue+unaffected+by+basilisk&pg=PA41|publisher=Westminster Publishing Company|via=Google Books}} the basilisk, whose breath could cause plants to wilt and stones to crack, had no effect on rue. Weasels who were bitten by the basilisk would retreat and eat rue in order to recover and return to fight.

Rue is mentioned in the New Testament, Luke 11:42:

"But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs".

Sephardic Jewish tradition has long valued ruda for its diverse applications in health, religious practices, and spiritual well-being. It was in the Ottoman Balkans, rather than Medieval Spain, that Sephardic Jews encountered ruda and adopted its associated traditions and beliefs.

For Sephardic Jews, Ruda is believed to protect against the evil eye and is often placed near newborns, children, and mothers to ward off harm. It is also traditionally used for its healing properties; when combined with sugar, it can soothe eye discomfort. Inhaling ruda is thought to alleviate symptoms of shock. During Yom Kippur, ruda is sometimes used in synagogues to revitalize fasting worshippers.

In Sephardic culture, ruda also symbolizes affection and is incorporated into celebratory rituals such as bridal showers. This symbolism is also featured in the traditional Sephardic song "Una Matica de Ruda", a popular Ladino ballad sung by Sephardic Jews for centuries. It's a retelling of a 16th-century Spanish ballad, and depicts a conversation between a mother and daughter about love and marriage. The daughter receives a cluster of ruda from a suitor, while the mother warns her of the dangers of new love.

Rue is considered a national herb of Lithuania and it is the most frequently referenced herb in Lithuanian folk songs, as an attribute of young girls, associated with virginity and maidenhood. It was common in traditional Lithuanian weddings for only virgins to wear a rue ({{Langx|lt|rūta}}) at their wedding, a symbol to show their purity.

Likewise, rue is prominent in Ukrainian folklore, songs and culture. In the Ukrainian folk song "Oi poli ruta, ruta" (O, rue, rue in the field), the girl regrets losing her virginity, reproaching the lover for "breaking the green hazel tree".{{cite book|author=Ukrainian folk songs|url=http://www.pisni.org.ua/songs/548242.html|title=Oi u poli ruta, ruta (O, rue, rue in the field)}} (Ukrainian) "Chervona Ruta" (Червона Рута—"Red Rue") is a song, written by Volodymyr Ivasyuk, a popular Ukrainian poet and composer. Pop singer Sofia Rotaru performed the song in 1971.

Rue as heraldic charge (Crancelin) is used on the coats of arms of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

It is one of the flowers distributed by the mad Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (IV.5):

:"There's fennel for you, and columbines:

:there's rue for you; and here's some for me:

:we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays:

:O you must wear your rue with a difference..."

It is used by the clown Lavatch in All's Well That Ends Well (IV.5) to describe Helena and his regret at her apparent death:

:"she was the sweet marjoram of the salad, or rather, the herb of grace."

It was planted by the gardener in Richard II to mark the spot where the Queen wept upon hearing news of Richard's capture (III.4.104–105):

:"Here did she fall a tear, here in this place

:I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace."

It is also given by the rusticated Perdita to her disguised royal father-in-law on the occasion of a sheep-shearing (Winter's Tale, IV.4):

:"For you there's rosemary and rue; these keep

:Seeming and savour all the winter long."

It is used by Michael in Milton's Paradise Lost to give Adam clear sight (11.414):

:"Then purg'd with euphrasy and rue

:The visual nerve, for he had much to see."

Rue is used by Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (by Jonathan Swift) when he returns to England after living among the "Houyhnhnms". Gulliver can no longer stand the smell of the English Yahoos (people), so he stuffs rue or tobacco in his nose to block out the smell.

"I was at last bold enough to walk the street in his (Don Pedro's) company, but kept my nose well with rue, or sometimes with tobacco".

• Ruta chalepensis or fringed rue, popular in Ethiopian cuisine
• Peganum harmala, an unrelated plant also known as "Syrian rue"

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons|Ruta graveolens}}

{{Wikispecies}}

• [https://nunc.ch/en/an-uninviting-but-much-loved-ruta/ An uninviting but much-loved ruta] article on the ruta graveolens in the ancient Roman world by the Nunc est bibendum Association
• [http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Ruta_gra.html Rue (Ruta graveolens L.) page] from Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages

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graveolens

Category:Herbs

Category:Medicinal plants

Category:Abortifacients

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Mutagens

Category:Subshrubs

Category:National symbols of Lithuania

Category:Alcoholic drink aromatiser