Editing Sassafras (section)

==Uses==
All parts of sassafras plants, including roots, stems, twig leaves, bark, flowers, and fruit, have been used for culinary, medicinal, and aromatic purposes, both in areas where they are [[endemic]] and in areas where they were imported, such as Europe. The wood of sassafras trees has been used as a material for building ships and furniture in China, Europe, and the United States, and sassafras played an important role in the history of the [[European colonization of the Americas]] in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sassafras twigs have been used as [[toothbrush]]es and fire starters.<ref name="Small2013" />

===Culinary===
{{Hatnote|See [[Sassafras albidum#Culinary use|''Sassafras albidum'' § Culinary use]] for more information on culinary use specific to the extant North American species, and legislation in the United States restricting the use of products derived from sassafras.}}

''Sassafras albidum'' is an important ingredient in some distinct foods of the US. It has been the main ingredient in traditional [[root beer]]s and sassafras root teas, and the ground leaves of sassafras are a distinctive additive in Louisiana's [[Cajun cuisine]]. Sassafras is used in [[filé powder]], a common thickening and flavoring agent in Louisiana [[gumbo]]. Methods of cooking with sassafras combine this ingredient native to America with traditional North American and European culinary techniques; they contribute to the unique [[Creole cuisine]], which is heavily influenced by the blend of cultures in Louisiana and other states along the [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf]] coast.<ref>{{citation|last=Nobles|first=Cynthia Lejeune|chapter=Gumbo|title=New Orleans Cuisine: Fourteen Signature Dishes and Their Histories|editor-last=Tucker|editor-first=Susan|editor2-last=Starr|editor2-first=S. Frederick|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2009|page=110|isbn=978-1-60473-127-9|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/neworleanscuisin00tuck_0/page/110}}</ref>

Sassafras, once a key ingredient in commercial American root beers, is no longer used, as its oil was banned in 1960 by the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) in all commercially mass-produced foods and medications. The FDA's directive was in response to health concerns about the carcinogenicity of safrole, a major constituent of sassafras oil, in animal studies.<ref name=Dietz2007>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/tx7000527 | pmc = 2504026 |date=Apr 2007 |author1=Dietz, B |author2=Bolton, Jl | title = Botanical dietary supplements gone bad. | volume = 20 | issue = 4 | pages = 586–90 | issn = 0893-228X | pmid = 17362034 | journal = [[Chemical Research in Toxicology]] }}</ref><ref name=":0">Safrole: Human Health Effects. Toxnet: Toxicology Data Network. https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+2653 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029065409/https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+2653 |date=2017-10-29 }}</ref>

Sassafras leaves and flowers have also been used in salads, and to flavor fats or cure meats.<ref name = Duke2002>{{cite book |last=Duke |first=James |date=September 27, 2002 |title=CRC Handbook of Medicinal Spices |publisher=CRC Press |page=274 |isbn=978-0-8493-1279-3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Weatherford |first=Jack |date=September 15, 1992 |title=Native Roots: How the Indians Enriched America |publisher=Ballantine Books |page=52 |isbn=978-0-449-90713-9 }}</ref> The young twigs can also be eaten fresh or dried. Additionally, the subterranean portion of the plant can be peeled, dried and boiled to make tea.<ref>{{Cite book |author=United States Department of the Army |author-link=United States Department of the Army|chapter=Sassaras |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]]  |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xhc6TnJzA4EC&pg=PA89 |pages=89 |language=en-US |oclc=277203364}}</ref>

===Traditional medicine===
{{missing information|scientific evidence for or against effectiveness|date=July 2023}}
Numerous [[Indigenous peoples in the United States|Native American]] tribes used the leaves of sassafras to treat wounds by rubbing the leaves directly into a wound and used different parts of the plant for many medicinal purposes such as treating acne, urinary disorders, and sicknesses that increased body temperature, such as high fevers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duke |first=James |date=December 15, 2000 |title=The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: Your Comprehensive Reference to the Best Herbs for Healing |publisher=Rodale Books |page=195 |isbn=978-1-57954-184-2 }}</ref> East Asian types of sassafras such as ''S.&nbsp;tzumu'' (chu mu) and ''S.&nbsp;randaiense'' (chu shu) are used in Chinese medicine to treat [[rheumatism]] and [[Trauma (medicine)|trauma]].<ref>[[b:Traditional Chinese Medicine/From Sabal Peregrina To Syzygium Samarangense]]</ref> Some modern researchers conclude that the oil, roots and bark of sassafras have [[analgesic]] and [[antiseptic]] properties. Different parts of the sassafras plant (including the leaves and stems, the bark, and the roots) have been used to treat [[scurvy]], skin sores, kidney problems, toothaches, [[rheumatism]], swelling, [[menstruation|menstrual]] disorders, [[sexually transmitted diseases]], [[bronchitis]], [[hypertension]], and [[dysentery]]. It is also used as a [[fungicide]], [[dentifrice]], [[rubefacient]], [[diaphoretic]], [[perfume]], [[carminative]] and [[sudorific]].<ref name="Leptuck">Tiffany Leptuck, "Medical Attributes of 'Sassafras albidum' – Sassafras"], Kenneth M. Klemow, Ph.D., Wilkes-Barre University, 2003</ref> Before the twentieth century, Sassafras enjoyed a great reputation in the medical literature, but became valued for its power to improve the flavor of other medicines.<ref name=Keeler>Keeler, H. L. (1900). ''Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them''. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.</ref>

Sassafras root was an early export from North America, as early as 1609.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lyle|first=Katie Letcher|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/560560606|title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them|publisher=[[FalconGuides]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-59921-887-8|edition=2nd|location=Guilford, CN|pages=155|oclc=560560606|orig-year=2004}}</ref>

Sassafras wood and oil were both used in dentistry. Early toothbrushes were crafted from sassafras twigs or wood because of its aromatic properties.<ref name=Small2013 /> Sassafras was also used as an early dental anesthetic and disinfectant.<ref name="Barceloux">{{cite book |last=Barceloux |first=Donald |date=March 7, 2012 |title=Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances: Foods, Fungi, Medicinal Herbs, Plants, and Venomous Animals |publisher=Wiley |asin=B007KGA15Q }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dental Protective Association of the United States |date=June 7, 2010 |title=Dental Digest |volume=6 |publisher=Nabu Press |page=546 |isbn=978-1-149-86231-5 }}</ref>

=== Wood ===
''Sassafras albidum'' is often grown as an [[ornamental tree]] for its unusual leaves and aromatic scent. Outside of its native area, it is occasionally cultivated in [[Europe]] and elsewhere.<ref name=usfs>U.S. Forest Service: [http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Sassafras%20albidum.pdf ''Sassafras albidum'' (pdf file)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004213702/http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Sassafras%20albidum.pdf |date=October 4, 2012 }}</ref> The durable and beautiful wood of sassafras plants has been used in shipbuilding and furniture-making in North America, in Asia, and in Europe (once Europeans were introduced to the plant).<ref>{{cite book |last=De-Yuan |first=Hong |date=June 30, 2015 |title=Plants of China: A Companion to the Flora of China |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=313 |isbn=978-1-107-07017-2 }}</ref> Sassafras wood was also used by Native Americans in the southeastern United States as a fire-starter because of the flammability of its natural oils found within the wood and the leaves.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bartram |first=William |date=December 1, 2002 |title=William Bartram on the Southeastern Indians (Indians of the Southeast) |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=270 |isbn=978-0-8032-6205-8 }}</ref>

=== Oil and aroma ===
[[Steam distillation]] of dried root bark produces an [[essential oil]] which has a high safrole content, as well as significant amounts of varying other chemicals such as [[camphor]], [[eugenol]] (including 5-methoxyeugenol), [[asarone]], and various [[sesquiterpene]]s.  Many other trees contain similarly high percentages and their extracted oils are sometimes referred to as sassafras oil,<ref name="safroleContent">{{cite book |last=Abel |first=G. |author-link=<!--G. Abel--> |year=1997 |title=Adverse Effects of Herbal Drugs |volume=3 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |pages=123–127|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-60367-9_11 |chapter=Safrole – Sassafras Albidum |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeHVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT175 |isbn=978-3-540-60181-4 }}</ref> which once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food and for [[aromatherapy]].  Safrole is a precursor for the [[Clandestine chemistry|clandestine manufacture]] of the drugs [[3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine|MDA]] and [[MDMA]], and as such, sales and import of sassafras oil (as a safrole-containing mixture of above-threshold concentration) are heavily restricted in the US.<ref name="diversionDEA">{{cite act |title=Code of Federal Regulations |type=Title |number=21 |pages=a.h.1, f.1.i |quote=... the threshold is determined by the weight of the listed chemical in the chemical mixture |date=January 27, 2012 |article=§&thinsp;1310.04 |article-type=Article |url=http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/cfr/1310/1310_04.htm |access-date=2016-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417093716/http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/cfr/1310/1310_04.htm |archive-date=April 17, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sassafras oil has also been used as a natural insect or pest deterrent, and in [[liqueur]]s (such as the opium-based [[Godfrey's Cordial]]), and in homemade liquor to mask strong or unpleasant smells.<ref name=Small2013 /><ref name = Duke2002 /> Sassafras oil has also been added to soap and other toiletries.<ref name="Barceloux" />  It is banned in the United States for use in commercially mass-produced foods and drugs by the [[U.S. Food and Drug Administration|FDA]] as a potential [[carcinogen]].<ref name=Dietz2007 />

===Commercial use===
For a more detailed description of uses by indigenous peoples of North America, and a history of the commercial use of ''Sassafras albidum'' by Europeans in the United States in the 16th and 17th centuries, see the article on the extant North American species of sassafras, ''[[Sassafras albidum]]''.

In modern times, the sassafras plant has been grown and harvested for the extraction of sassafras oil.  It is used in a variety of commercial products or their syntheses, such as the insecticide synergistic compound [[piperonyl butoxide]].<ref name=Ullmann>[[Robert L. Metcalf|Metcalf, Robert L.]] (2002). "Insect Control", ''Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry''. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. {{doi|10.1002/14356007.a14_263}}</ref> These plants are primarily harvested for commercial purposes in Asia and Brazil.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tni.org/archives/blickman_harvestingtrees |title=Harvesting Trees |last1=Blickman |first1=Tom |date=February 3, 2009 |website=Transnational Institute |access-date=April 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411024601/http://www.tni.org/archives/blickman_harvestingtrees |archive-date=April 11, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>