| 1. |
- Ahnfelt, Nils-Otto, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing sensory properties of the early modern medicine “Elixir amarum Hiaernei”
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- IntroductionWe are reworking the early modern medicine with focus on products, today known as Swedish Bitters or similar names, and historically as “Elixir amarum Hiaernei”. The history of the recipe dates back at least to mid-18th century. It was probably one of the Hiaerne-brothers, Ulrik Leonhard (1712-1758) or Christian Henric (1709-1794), who invented this universal medication. From a number of Linnaeus sources from later 18th century it is well known that odor, flavor and taste were used to assess pharmacological potential of medicinal herbals.The purpose of this study was to assess ingredients of “Elixir amarum Hiaernei” from a sensory perspective. MethodsThe ingredients in “Elixir amarum Hiaernei” according to the 18th century recipes: agarikon, aloe, gentian, myrrh, rhubarb, saffron, Theriac Andromachalis, zedoary together with alcohol and sugar.These ingredients were assessed by a trained sensory panel using a slightly modified version of the Flavor Profile Method®. Each ingredient was evaluated with respect to odor, taste and flavor.ResultsAll ingredients were intense in taste, flavor and odor. The ingredients could be described due to its sensory characteristics, in which they differed largely. However, they had in common that they were high in bitterness.DiscussionThe ingredients of this historic medication had intense tastes, flavors and odors in line with historical sources. It points for example out that the senses, especially olfaction, was of high importance for the apothecary during the 18th century. In order to find the right blend of ingredients the sensory profiles were of highest importance, both ingredients and blended medication were valuated due to this by physicians as well as patients. Sensory evaluation was also of major importance in the quality assessment of medical herbals by the early modern apothecary. Sensory profiles of the medical ingredients will be presented at the Eurosense symposium.
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| 2. |
- Ahnfelt, Nils-Otto, et al.
(författare)
-
Assessing sensory properties of the early modern medicine “Elixir amarum Hiaernei”
- 2018
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction We are reworking the early modern medicine with focus on products, today known as Swedish Bitters or similar names, and historically as “Elixir amarum Hiaernei”. The history of the recipe dates back at least to mid-18th century. It was probably one of the Hiaerne-brothers, Ulrik Leonhard (1712-1758) or Christian Henric (1709-1794), who invented this universal medication. From a number of Linnaeus sources from later 18th century it is well known that odor, flavor and taste were used to assess pharmacological potential of medicinal herbals. The purpose of this study was to assess ingredients of “Elixir amarum Hiaernei” from a sensory perspective. Methods The ingredients in “Elixir amarum Hiaernei” according to the 18th century recipes: agarikon, aloe, gentian, myrrh, rhubarb, saffron, Theriac Andromachalis, zedoary together with alcohol and sugar. These ingredients were assessed by a trained sensory panel using a slightly modified version of the Flavor Profile Method®. Each ingredient was evaluated with respect to odor, taste and flavor. Results All ingredients were intense in taste, flavor and odor. The ingredients could be described due to its sensory characteristics, in which they differed largely. However, they had in common that they were high in bitterness. Discussion The ingredients of this historic medication had intense tastes, flavors and odors in line with historical sources. It points for example out that the senses, especially olfaction, was of high importance for the apothecary during the 18th century. In order to find the right blend of ingredients the sensory profiles were of highest importance, both ingredients and blended medication were valuated due to this by physicians as well as patients. Sensory evaluation was also of major importance in the quality assessment of medical herbals by the early modern apothecary. Sensory profiles of the medical ingredients will be presented at the Eurosense symposium.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Ahnfelt, Nils-Otto, et al.
(författare)
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Historical Continuity or Different Sensory Worlds? : What we Can Learn about the Sensory Characteristics of Early Modern Pharmaceuticals by Taking Them to a Trained Sensory Panel.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 0170-6233 .- 1522-2365. ; 43:3, s. 412-429
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early modern medicine was much more dependent on the senses than its contemporary counterpart. Although a comprehensive medical theory existed that assigned great value to taste and odor of medicaments, historical descriptions of taste and odor appears imprecise and inconsistent to modern eyes. How did historical actors move from subjective experience of taste and odor to culturally stable agreements that facilitated communication about the sensory properties of medicaments? This paper addresses this question, not by investigating texts, but by going straight to the sensory impression, which certain substances convey. The aim is not to overwrite or rectify historical descriptions but to investigate whether modern methodologies for sensory assessment can be enlisted to understand the past. We draw on history of science for framing and research questions, pharmaceutical science for knowledge of pharmaceuticals and preparations, and food and meal science for assaying procedures and protocols. We show that sensory evaluation can yield precise descriptions that would not have been alien to early modern medicine makers. However, there are problems with translating descriptions of taste between different historical contexts. By comparing contemporary descriptions of sensations with eighteenth-century ones, the article discusses how sensory descriptions are highly dependent on context, and subject to historical change.
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| 5. |
- Ahnfelt, Nils-Otto, et al.
(författare)
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Making and taking theriac : An experimental and sensory approach to the history of medicine
- 2022
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Ingår i: British Journal for the History of Science. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0007-0874 .- 1474-001X. ; , s. 1-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores historically used medicaments by making them, or rather reworking them, in a modern laboratory and assessing them for taste, flavour and odour using sensory analysis and a trained panel of sensory assessors. Our test subject is the famous panacea theriac andromachalis, which is subjected to the methods of experimental history of science to create experimental data. We emphasize the importance of the sensory experience, in both the making and the taking of theriac. From antiquity and well into the nineteenth century, medical practitioners and patients held that the sensory qualities of medicaments were of significance. But sensory information is notoriously difficult to transmit textually, and today we know very little about the sensory characteristics of theriac, and other medicines of the past. This is a problematic lacuna in our knowledge of how actors perceived and used them. By choosing the reworking and sensory framework, we can approach early modern pharmacy both as a craft and as a creative process. Thus our study emphasizes the artisanal, or craft, aspect of medicine making. It indicates how the art of medicine making was integrated with and connected to a medical practice which relied heavily on direct sensory assessments of medicaments, disease and patients. Our purpose is, however, not to try to find out how historical medicine makers and patients ‘really felt’ when they experienced the act of smelling and tasting medicines. Our aim is rather to discuss what the sensory experience of making and tasting adds to the investigation of textual sources. Thus, by attempting to access information about the experience of medicine through experimental means, we aim to enrich and complement historical understanding of the medicines and medical theories of the past.
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| 6. |
- Ahnfelt, Nils-Otto, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Making Early Modern Medicine : Reproducing Swedish Bitters
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ambix. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0002-6980 .- 1745-8234. ; 63:2, s. 162-183
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Historians of science and medicine have rarely applied themselves to reproducing the experiments and practices of medicine and pharmacy. This paper delineates our efforts to reproduce "Swedish Bitters," an early modern composite medicine in wide European use from the 1730s to the present. In its original formulation, it was made from seven medicinal simples: aloe, rhubarb, saffron, myrrh, gentian, zedoary and agarikon. These were mixed in alcohol together with some theriac, a composite medicine of classical origin. The paper delineates the compositional history of Swedish Bitters and the medical rationale underlying its composition. It also describes how we go about to reproduce the medicine in a laboratory using early modern pharmaceutical methods, and analyse it using contemporary methods of pharmaceutical chemistry. Our aim is twofold: first, to show how reproducing medicines may provide a path towards a deeper understanding of the role of sensual and practical knowledge in the wider context of early modern medical culture; and second, how it may yield interesting results from the point of view of contemporary pharmaceutical science.
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