# Radish (Raphanus sativus)

**Rafano**

**Known today as.** Garden radish, *Raphanus sativus* (now classed by Kew as *Raphanus raphanistrum* subsp. *sativus*): root, juice, and seed.

Kind: Plant

## What did Canale use it for?

One of the principal milder vomits, in many forms; hellebore roots are also stuck into a radish (ch. 5).

## What does modern science say?

Pliny advises radishes eaten fasting to promote vomiting.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **glucoraphasatin**: a glucosinolate
- **4-methylthio-3-butenyl isothiocyanate**: the pungency
- **sulforaphene**: 

**Mechanism.** The isothiocyanates irritate the stomach, which is the mild vomit, and stimulate bile flow, the basis of the black radish’s use for the gallbladder; they are antibacterial and induce detoxifying enzymes in cells.

**Dose.** A food; the juice in quantity irritates the gut and the thyroid in the iodine-deficient.

**Standing.** A food; black radish root has a traditional-use listing in France for digestive complaints.

## What lore surrounds it?

The Germans, Folkard writes, gave a blue-flowered wild radish the name Hederich, “and they have an old superstition that whoever wears a crown composed of Hederich is enabled to detect witches. A wreath of Hederich is sometimes placed on cows before leaving their stalls to be milked, in order to protect them from the effect of the Evil Eye.” In England “to dream of Radishes signifies the discovery of secrets, domestic quarrels, and misfortune,” and the mountain spirit Rübezahl is “the Counter of Radishes,” from the tale of the imprisoned princess who had him count his radishes while she touched one with her wand, “and it became a horse,” and rode away.

Thiselton-Dyer has the radish among the charms against the evil eye, where “the German folk wear the radish,” and notes that “in Germany, too, a species of wild radish is said to reveal witches.”

Grieve: “In the days of the Pharaohs, the Radish was extensively cultivated in Egypt,” and Linnaeus reported that the wild radish, ground with barley in wet Swedish seasons, was “eaten in barley bread, causing violent convulsive complaints, or an epidemic, spasmodic disease.”

## What did the older authorities say?

**Herodotus.** Reports an inscription on the Great Pyramid recording what was spent on radishes, onions, and garlic for the workmen.

## Sources

- Folkard, R. (1884). *Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics*, “Radish.” Project Gutenberg #44638.
- Thiselton-Dyer, T. F. (1889). *The Folk-lore of Plants*. Project Gutenberg #10118.
- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*, “Radish.” botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/r/radish01.html
- Gutiérrez, R. M. P., and Perez, R. L. (2004). “*Raphanus sativus* (radish): their chemistry and biology.” *Scientific World Journal* 4.

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*Radish.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/radish

Historical description, not medical advice.