Editing Spruce (section)

===Food and medicine===
[[File:SpruceEssentialOil.png|thumb|Spruce (''Picea mariana'') essential oil in a clear glass vial]]

The fresh shoots of many spruces are a natural source of [[vitamin C]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/treebook/sitkaspruce.htm |title= Tree Book - Sitka spruce (''Picea sitchensis'') |publisher=British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations |access-date=29 July 2006}}</ref> [[Captain Cook]] made alcoholic sugar-based [[spruce beer]] during his sea voyages in order to prevent [[scurvy]] in his crew.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1Oy7Qz1tewC&q=Spruce+beer+Captain+Cook&pg=PA39 |title=A social history of medicines in the twentieth century: to be taken three times a day |first=J. K. |last=Crellin |page=39 |location=New York |publisher=Pharmaceutical Products Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0789018441}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=12810402 |title=Captain Cook's beer: the antiscorbutic use of malt and beer in late 18th century sea voyages |first=Brett J. |last=Stubbs |journal=Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=12 |issue=2 |date=June 2003 |pages=129–137}}</ref> The leaves and branches, or the essential oils, can be used to brew spruce beer.

In Finland, young spruce [[bud]]s are sometimes used as a spice, or boiled with sugar to create spruce bud syrup.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kadoksissa ollut juomaresepti löytyi – kuusenkerkästä tehdään muutakin kuin siirappia|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/kadoksissa_ollut_juomaresepti_loytyi__kuusenkerkasta_tehdaan_muutakin_kuin_siirappia/8926774|access-date=2021-08-08|website=Yle Uutiset|date=6 June 2016|language=fi}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Jyske T, Järvenpää E, Kunnas S, Sarjala T, Raitanen JE, Mäki M, Pastell H, Korpinen R, Kaseva J, Tupasela T |title=Sprouts and Needles of Norway Spruce (''Picea abies'' (L.) Karst.) as Nordic Specialty-Consumer Acceptance, Stability of Nutrients, and Bioactivities during Storage |journal=Molecules |volume=25 |issue=18 |pages=4187 |date=2020 |doi=10.3390/molecules25184187 |pmid=32932686 |pmc=7570650|doi-access=free }}</ref> In survival situations spruce needles can be directly ingested or boiled into a tea. This replaces large amounts of vitamin C. Also, water is stored in a spruce's needles, providing an alternative means of hydration {{Clarify|date=June 2009}}. Spruce can be used as a preventive measure for [[scurvy]] in an environment where meat is the only prominent food source {{Clarify|date=June 2009}}.