An international research team coordinated by Sapienza University of Rome identified for the first time in Europe the presence of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in medieval individuals suffering from Hansen's disease, better known as leprosy. The results were obtained thanks to the identification of micro-rests of vegetable origin trapped inside dental tartar taken from skeletal remains from the English leper colony of Peterborough.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is the result of the collaboration between the DANTE laboratory - Diet and Ancient Technology of the Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial of Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the English universities of Durham, Warwick and Nottingham, and is part of the research strand of the MEDICAL project - Medical treatments in medieval leprosaria. Exploring healing remedies through dental calculus analysis - funded by the EU and undertaken with the support of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Programme.

"Ginger", says Elena Fiorin, principal investigator of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie project and currently a researcher at the Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, "is a spice of exotic origin that in the past was difficult to find and therefore particularly expensive, and was used in the composition of medicinal preparations as it was believed to possess therapeutic properties useful in curing various diseases and leprosy in particular. Until now, however, no archaeological evidence had ever been found of the use of ginger in association with leprosy, a truly iconic disease in medieval Europe".

"These results", says Emanuela Cristiani, supervisor of the MEDICAL project, "are further confirmation of how tartar, a deposit of mineralised dental plaque that forms on teeth, provides us with important data that allow us to reconstruct the diet, health, and living conditions of ancient populations. In recent years, it has also provided information on past medical and curative remedies that would otherwise have remained invisible in the archaeological record".

Tartar proves to be a repository rich in plant (and animal) micro-residues, but not only. Through innovative DNA extraction and sequencing techniques, it is indeed possible to analyse the genetic material belonging to the micro-organisms that characterised an individual's oral cavity, the so-called oral microbiome.

"The mineral matrix of dental tartar represents an ideal substrate for the preservation of bacterial DNA over centuries and even millennia", says Marica Baldoni, post-doc at the Centre for Molecular Anthropology for the Study of Ancient DNA at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

"The analyses we conducted show that leprosy had not altered the oral microbiome of individuals, however, the use of medicinal herbs such as ginger may have favoured antibiotic resistance processes by bacteria in the oral flora,'' concludes Claudio Ottoni, head of ancient DNA analysis and associate professor of Molecular Anthropology and Palaeogenomics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

The discovery not only potentially represents the oldest archaeological evidence in Europe of the use of ginger as a medicinal ingredient, but also helps to fill in some historical gaps. It is indeed very rare to find records of the medical preparations that were administered to people suffering from leprosy who were housed in medieval leper hospitals.

"The presence of ginger in the dental tartar of individuals buried in St Leonard's leper colony in Peterborough," Fiorin adds, "opens up new perspectives in the archaeological research of medieval and ancient medicine".

References:

First archaeological evidence for ginger consumption as a potential medicinal ingredient in a late medieval leprosarium at St Leonard, Peterborough, England - Elena Fiorin, Charlotte A. Roberts, Marica Baldoni, Erin Connelly, Christina Lee, Claudio Ottoni & Emanuela Cristiani - Scientific Reports (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52422-8

Further Information
 

Elena Fiorin
DANTE - Diet and Ancient Technology laboratory, Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome
elena.fiorin@uniroma1.it

Emanuela Cristiani
DANTE - Diet and Ancient Technology laboratory, Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome
emanuela.cristiani@uniroma1.it