Babylonians and Assyrians used willow
Ancient texts show that Babylonians and Assyrians used willow (Salix sp.), a medicinal plant, for several medicinal purposes. Centuries ago, Asians, Americans and Greeks also used willow bark and leaves to relieve pain for women during childbirth and to cure aches and fevers. Later, it was acknowledged as SA, which is originated from the Latin word Salix (Cleland and Ajami, 1974; Sharp, 1915). In 1763, the Royal Society had also shown the importance of willow relieving malarial fever and ague effectively. Until the 19th century, the willow’s working principle was not identified, but later the salicylates, methyl salicylate, saligenin, and their glycosides were isolated from willow and other plants. After the SA was purified from willow and meadowsweet plants (Leroux, 1830), and in 1860, it was chemically synthesized (Kolbe and Lautemann, 1860). In 1828, a German scientist, Johann Buchner, for the first time isolated from willow bark in the name of “salicin”, the major salicylate in willow bark (Weissmann, 1991). Germany commercially introduced synthetic SA in 1874, afterwards, it rapidly reached worldwide with the trade name Aspirin, introduced by the Bayer Company in 1879. In the 20th century, the uses of SA became very common in the medical field because of scientific advancement. However, it has long been known for its usage as medicine, rather than for its application in plants. Only in the early 1990s, plant biologists introduced SA as the sixth phytohormone in plant (Raskin, 1992).