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Disclosing the composition of unknown historical drug formulations: an emblematic case from the Spezieria of St. Maria della Scala in Rome

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Abstract

This paper reports a pioneering study of an unknown historical drug formulation preserved in the Spezieria of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome, founded at the end of the seventeenth century by the Discalced Carmelites. Due to limited literature related to pharmaceutical remedies and drugs of the Early Modern Era (between the XV and XVIII centuries) and the complexity in their formulations, the study of these drugs represents a great challenge. The untargeted nature of the selected drug required a multi-analytical approach with complementary techniques to formulate a compositional hypothesis: FT-IR spectroscopy, gas chromatography-associated/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were successfully employed to identify different organic compounds. Systematic archaeobotanical research was performed as well, allowing us to acquire data related to the possible genus of plants from which these natural compounds derive and their geographical origin. The unknown drug formulation turned out to be a complex mixture used as an ointment with an anti-inflammatory purpose. It mainly contains a mixture of Venetian turpentine; a Pine resin (colophony) from the Pinaceae family; an exudate of a plant from South America, whose identified components are triterpenic compounds such as alpha- and beta-amyrins, betulin and lupeol; and saturated fatty acids which act as carriers and/or to reduce the viscosity of abovementioned exudates and resins. The study of historical drugs is important not only in order to know the practices handed down by the speziali in the past but also to reconstruct historical recipes, which can inspire new dermatological, cosmetic, hygienic and current healing products.

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Funding

The authors would express their gratitude to Valetino Mercati, President of Aboca (Sansepolcro, Italy), for the financial support of this research. For this study, Maria Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual (Universidad de Valencia) received a fund by Aboca Coop. Agricola (Sansepolcro, Italy) titled “Antichi farmaci nell’arte degli Speziali di “De Medicamentaria Officina” di Santa Maria della Scala, Roma. Indagini Chimico-Fisiche e Studio Storico-Culturale”, 2017–2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sciences and Technologies for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155/b, 30174, Venice, Italy

    Giulia Carolina Lodi & Francesca Caterina Izzo

  2. Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155/b, 30174 Mestre, Venice, Italy

    Giuseppe Borsato

  3. Department of Art History, Faculty of History and Geography, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibañez 28, 46010, Valencia, Spain

    Maria Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual

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  1. Giulia Carolina Lodi
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Correspondence to Francesca Caterina Izzo.

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Lodi, G.C., Borsato, G., Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual, M.L. et al. Disclosing the composition of unknown historical drug formulations: an emblematic case from the Spezieria of St. Maria della Scala in Rome. Anal Bioanal Chem 412, 7581–7593 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02893-1

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