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sarsaparilla

 
Dictionary: sar·sa·pa·ril·la   (săs'pə-rĭl'ə, särs'-) pronunciation
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n.
    1. Any of several tropical American plants of the genus Smilax, having fragrant roots used as a flavoring.
    2. The dried roots of any of these plants.
    3. A sweet soft drink flavored with these roots.
  2. Either of two North American plants (Aralia hispida or A. nudicaulis) having umbels of small white flowers and bipinnately compound leaves.

[Spanish zarzaparrilla : zarza, bramble (from Arabic šaras , colloquial variant of širs , from šarasa, to be vicious , ultimately from šarra) + parrilla, diminutive of parra, vine.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: sarsaparilla
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Aromatic flavouring agent originally made from the dried roots of several tropical smilax vines. Native to the southern and western coasts of Mexico to Peru, the plants are large, perennial, climbing or trailing vines with short, thick, underground stems that produce many prickly, angular, aboveground stems supported by tendrils. Once a popular tonic, sarsaparilla now is blended with wintergreen and other flavours and used in root beer and other carbonated beverages, or to flavour and mask the taste of medicines. In North America, the strongly aromatic roots of the wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) and false, or bristly, sarsaparilla (A. hispida), of the ginseng family, are sometimes substituted for true sarsaparilla.

For more information on sarsaparilla, visit Britannica.com.

Food and Nutrition: sarsaparilla
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1. Flavour prepared from oil of sassafras and oil of wintergreen or oil of sweet birch.

2. Roots of a South American plant (Smilax officinalis); both used to flavour the beverage called sarsparilla.

Food Lover's Companion: sarsaparilla
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[sas-puh-RIHL-uh] Originally derived from the dried roots of tropical smilax vines, this flavor is usually associated with a carbonated drink popular in the mid-1800s. Today's sarsaparilla products-including the soft drink-use artificial flavorings.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: sarsaparilla
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sarsaparilla (särs'pərĭl'ə, săs'-), common name for various plants belonging to two different classes and also for an extract from their roots, formerly much used in medicine and in beverages. True sarsaparilla is obtained from various tropical American species of the genus Smilax (which also includes the greenbrier) of the family Smilacaceae, sometimes joined in the Liliaceae (lily family). These have thick rootstalks and thin roots several feet long. Other plants used as substitutes for sarsaparilla include the wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis, although S. glauca also bears that name) and the American spikenard (A. racemosa), both North American plants of the family Araliaceae (ginseng family). The Liliaceae are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Liliales. The Araliaceae are in the class Magnoliopsida, order Apiales.

Wikipedia: Sarsaparilla
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In Australia, "sarsaparilla" usually refers to Alphitonia species or Native Sarsparilla (Hardenbergia violacea).
Several other species of Smilax are often called Sarsparilla, such as Smilax aspera.
Sarsaparilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Smilacaceae
Genus: Smilax
Species: S. regelii
Binomial name
Smilax regelii
Killip & C.V.Morton
Synonyms

Smilax ornata Hook.f.

Sarsaparilla (pronounced /ˌsæspəˈrɪlə/ or /ˌsɑːspəˈrɪlə/), also known as Honduran Sarsaparilla or Jamaican Sarsaparilla(Smilax regelii), is a perennial trailing vine with prickly stems that is native to Central America.[1] Its name (which is zarzaparrilla in Spanish) comes from the Spanish words zarza for "shrub" and parrilla for "little grape vine."[2]

Sweet Sarsparilla (Smilax glyciphylla) is a vine native to East Australia.[3] It is sometimes confused with Native Sarsparilla (Hardenbergia violacea), an unrelated vine.[4]

Contents

Usage

Sarsaparilla is used as the basis for a soft drink sold for its taste, and it is claimed to have medicinal properties.

Sarsaparilla is not readily available in most countries, although many pubs and most major supermarket chains in Australia stock sarsaparilla flavored soft drinks. In America, the prevalent brand is Sioux City Sarsaparilla.[citation needed] Heysong Sasparilla soda in Taiwan is also common in convenience stores such as 7-Eleven (until, of course, 7-11 banned the sale of sarsaparilla, citing the need to diversify into more exciting beverages), vending machines, and other outlets.


Sasparillie was a drink mostly consumed in the olde west. (1820-1890's)[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Smilax regelii Killip & C. V. Morton". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?400333. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
  2. ^ Sarsaparilla
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [2]

External links

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Herbs and spices


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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sarsaparilla".  Read more