Marshmallow: From Medicinal Plant to Sweet Treat (2023)

Althaea Officinalis

Originally, marshmallows were made from the root sap of the marsh mallow (Althaea officinalis) plant. It is a genus of herbs that is native to parts of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Marshmallows grow in marshes and other damp areas. The plant has a fleshy stem, leaves, and pale, five-petaled flowers. The first marshmallows were made by boiling pieces of the marshmallow root pulp with sugar until it thickened. After it had thickened, the mixture was strained and cooled. As far back as 2000 B.C., Egyptians combined the marshmallow root with honey. The candy was reserved for gods and royalty.

This plant actually has a very long medicinal history that started with the Egyptians and moved to Charlemagne who promoted its cultivation in Europe. Hypocrites used it as a wound healer. Its generic name Althaea comes from the Greek Altho to heal and Malake “soft” because of its special softening and healing qualities. The Chinese, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Armenians, in times of famine or failure of their crops, subsisted on wild herbs, the Marshmallow being one of these.

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Use the flowers as an excellent expectorant in cough syrups. The leaves of Marshmallow are used for healing bronchial and urinary disorders. The Marshmallow root is for healing mucous membranes as in gastritis, esophagitis, enteritis, and peptic ulceration.

Doctor John R. Christopher in his book “Every Woman’s Herbal” cites the case of one of his students who treated a woman who had burned one foot and had gone gangrene in the foot with infection to her knee. She was advised at the hospital where she was being treated that the only cure was amputation at the ankle. Under Doctor Christopher’s advice, the student prepared a tea using the entire Marshmallow plant and soaked the woman’s leg in it at a temperature as hot as she could stand, then soaked it in cold water and back into a fresh batch of tea throughout the day. The next day the pain was gone. They repeated the procedure and within 48 hours, the gangrene had left the ankle and foot.

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Every part of the plant is used. Astringent, Absorbent-soothing, Demulcent, Diuretic, Emollient, Expectorant, Galactagogue, Laxative, Lithotriptic, Mucilant, Nutritive, Tonic, Vulnerary. Marshmallows will also increase flow and enrich nursing mother’s milk.

Today Marshmallow is still known as a confectionary, as in the marshmallows we roast in campfires at picnics. But they do not roast like they used to, read the label to see why. The label on a bag of marshmallows today no longer lists any marshmallows. Today’s marshmallows are mostly sugar.