Cypress Rotundus, a perennial plant that originated in Southeast Asia, is proved by researchers to have spread to various parts of the world about 2000 years ago. Various parts of this medicinal plant have been used as food, medicine, and perfume for centuries by ancient peoples living in the Nile Valley, Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and China.
There is evidence that Pliocene hominins ate a portion of this starchy tuberous plant as a staple food. And C. Rotundus has been the staple food of indigenous peoples living in Central Australia during the Renaissance.
In 500 AD, references to these species of plants were first found in a Chinese medicine book (Nekpi, 1992). Microbial and biomarkers of the Cyperus Rotundus plant have been found in the human dental calculus of the Meroitic pre-Islamic Kingdom (300–400 AD) on display at the Al Khiday archaeological complex in central Sudan.
Nut Grass contributed to a relatively low frequency of tooth decay and their ability to effectively prevent mutants. This is the reason Nut Grass consumption was so high among Al Khiday Meroitic people.
Cyperus Rotundus was used as an excellent water purifier and perfume in ancient Mycenaean Greece, Egypt, and various parts of the world. Renowned ancient Greek physicians Pliny the Elder, Theophrastus, and Dioscorides considered Cyperus Rotundus to be the best medicine and recommended its use.
Evidence suggests that the Nut Grass plant was accidentally introduced to the United States in the 1800s and is still cultivated and used by people living in the West Indies to this day.
Cyperus Rotundus is a perennial herbaceous plant that is closely related to the botanical families Cyperus Esculentus and Chufa. This herbaceous plant is native to southern Europe, Central Europe, France, Africa, South Asia, and Austria.
Known by various names such as Nut Grass, Red Nut Sedge, Purple Nut Sedge, Java Grass, Coco Grass, Khmer Kravanh Chruk, and Musta, Cyperus Rotundus is one of the most invasive plants in the world.
The botanical name of this Nut grass plant is derived from the Greek word κύπερος> kyperos> rotundus (Latin = “round“). This perennial plant can grow up to 140 cm in height. Growing mostly in arid lands (barren lands and crop fields), these plants have the characteristics of growing in moist soil.
The leaves of the nut grass plant, like other Cypress plants, are 2 to 8 inches long at the base. Its glossy dark green leaves, which form from the base of the plant, have three tiers of leaf blades.
The stems of the flowers are triangular, bisexual, and have a triangular pistil with a triangular cross-sectional appearance. The inflorescence has 3 to 8 unequal spikes. The most rarely produced fruit on this plant has a three-pronged axis.
This perennial, herbaceous, colonial plant is widely propagated by its tubers and rhizomes. Its young plants produce colored fleshy rhizomes up to 25 mm in size. The main product of this plant is its rhizomes which can grow in any direction (top, bottom, horizontal) in the soil.
Some plants that grow in arid areas form tubers that grow upwards in the soil, forming a bulb-like structure and then forming new roots and shoots from them. New rhizomes will start to grow from the new roots thus formed and this production will continue.
Other plants produce rhizomes that grow downward or horizontally, forming dark reddish-brown tubers. That is, downward-growing tubers form individual tubers or chains of tubers. These rhizomes are more succulent and fibrous as they grow.
A mature tuber is dark reddish-brown in color, about 10-35 mm long and 12 mm thick.
Its tubers have a bitter taste but have various nutritional values and medicinal properties. In famine-stricken areas, these tubers are often stapled food.
In all the traditional medicines around the world, it has been confirmed that the parts of the Nut Cross plant are used to make medicines to cure diseases.
They are used to improve the function of the nervous system and cure stomach ailments and also act as a diuretic. Besides, the roots of this plant are used as perfume in India.