Sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii) Root, Cut and Sifted, Wild Harvested

INDIA. Sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii) Root, Cut and Sifted, Wild Harvested Common names: Sarsaparilla, Anantamoo, Jupicanga, Khao Yen, Liseron Epineux, Wild LicoriceFamily: SmilacaceaeSarsaparilla (Smilax regelii or S. ornata) is a perennial trailing and climbing vine with prickly stems, native to tropical Central America and southern Mexico. Sarsaparilla gained fame among Europeans in the 1500s as a cure for syphilis, and its use for that disease by Eclectic physicians is noted in their textbooks as recently as the early 20th century. It is also used to brew the popular soft drinks known as sarsaparilla and root beer. It contains flavonoids, phytosterols, and steroidal saponins with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions that makes it useful for conditions involving the skin, joints, and connective tissue, including psoriasis, gout, arthritis (osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis) with heat and swelling, as well as bursitis and colitis. Although the herb does not contain testost