ABSTRACT
Salicin is a chemical defence for plants, reducing the likelihood of it being eaten, although interestingly some insects have developed strategies to ingest and store salicin so that the salicin can be used for their own defence. Gaultheria procumbens, the wintergreen or eastern teaberry, from the family Ericaceae, contains methyl salicylate, the active ingredient in Oil of Wintergreen. Salix alba, the white willow, has a native range from Europe to North China and Northwest Africa. Studies in the laboratory have demonstrated that aspirin prevents replication of many viruses, including chickenpox virus, cytomegalovirus and hepatitis C virus. Toxicity and (rarely) death have been reported from overuse. Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease presents in some people with an underlying tendency to inflammation in the nose and sinuses and/or asthma. The use of willow bark, now replaced by salicylic acid, for treating warts, corns and other skin conditions is a medicine which has truly been ‘used for thousands of years’.
