- sarsaparilla
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/sas'peuh ril"euh, sahr'seuh peuh-, sahr'speuh-/, n.1. any of various climbing or trailing tropical American plants belonging to the genus Smilax, of the lily family, having alternate leaves, umbels of flowers, and a root that has been used in the treatment of psoriasis.2. the root.3. an extract or other preparation made of this root.4. a soft drink flavored with an extract of this root, as root beer.[1570-80; < Sp zarzaparrilla, equiv. to zarza bush + parrilla (parr(a) vine + -illa dim. suffix)]
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Aromatic flavouring agent originally made from the dried roots of several tropical smilax vines.Native to the southern and western coasts of Mexico to Peru, the plants are large, perennial, climbing or trailing vines with short, thick, underground stems that produce many prickly, angular, aboveground stems supported by tendrils. Once a popular tonic, sarsaparilla now is blended with wintergreen and other flavours and used in root beer and other carbonated beverages, or to flavour and mask the taste of medicines. In North America, the strongly aromatic roots of the wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) and false, or bristly, sarsaparilla (A. hispida), of the ginseng family, are sometimes substituted for true sarsaparilla.* * *
aromatic flavouring agent made from the roots of several tropical vines belonging to the Smilax genus of the lily family (Liliaceae). Once a popular tonic, sarsaparilla is now used to flavour and mask the taste of medicines. In combination with wintergreen and other flavours it is used in root beer and other carbonated beverages.The sarsaparilla plants (Spanish zarza, “bramble,” and parrilla, “little vine”) are native to the southern and western coasts of Mexico to Peru. They are large, perennial, climbing or trailing vines with short, thick, underground stems producing many prickly, angular, aboveground stems. These are supported by tendrils springing from the bases of large, alternate, stalked leaves.The commercial species providing sarsaparilla are principally Smilax aristolochiaefolia, S. regelii, and S. febrifuga, respectively known as Mexican, Honduran, and Ecuadorian sarsaparillas. Other commercial Smilax species include Ecuadorian (Guayaquil) and Central American (Jamaican or Guatemalan). After drying in the sun, the roots are gathered loosely into bundles or bound tightly into cylinders, depending on the place of origin, and then exported.Several sterols and a crystalline glycoside, sarsaponin, which yields sarsapogenin on hydrolysis, have been isolated from the root. Sarsapogenin is related to steroids such as progesterone and is used in their synthesis.In North America the strongly aromatic roots of the wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) and false or bristly sarsaparilla (Aralia hispida) are sometimes substituted for true sarsaparilla.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
