Taro Mediterranean map.

<p>Map of taro distribution in the Mediterranean, based on sources reported in the Appendix 1 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0198333#pone.0198333.s001" target="_blank">S1 Appendix</a>].</p

Literary evidence for taro in the ancient Mediterranean: A chronology of names and uses in a multilingual world

<div><p>Taro, <i>Colocasia esculenta</i> (L.) Schott, is a vegetable and starchy root crop cultivated in Asia, Oceania, the Americas, Africa, and the Mediterranean. Very little is known about its early history in the Mediterranean, which previous authors have sought to trace through Classical (Greek and Latin) texts that record the name <i>colocasia</i> (including cognates) from the 3rd century BC onwards. In ancient literature, however, this name also refers to the sacred lotus, <i>Nelumbo nucifera</i> Gaertn. and its edible rhizome. Like taro, lotus is an alien introduction to the Mediterranean, and there has been considerable confusion regarding the true identity of plants referred to as <i>colocasia</i> in ancient literature. Another early name used to indicate taro was <i>arum</i>, a name already attested from the 4th century BC. Today, this name refers to <i>Arum</i>, an aroid genus native to West Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean. Our aim is to explore historical references to taro in order to clarify when and through which routes this plant reached the Mediterranean. To investigate Greek and Latin texts, we performed a search using the <i>Thesaurus Linguae Graecae</i> (<i>TLG</i>) and the <i>Thesaurus Linguae Latinae</i> (<i>TLL</i>), plus commentaries and English and French translations of original texts. Results show that while in the early Greek and Latin literature the name <i>kolokasia</i> (Greek κολοκάσια) and its Latin equivalent <i>colocasia</i> refer to <i>Nelumbo nucifera</i> Gaertn., after the 4th century AD a poorly understood linguistic shift occurs, and <i>colocasia</i> becomes the name for taro. We also found that <i>aron</i> (Greek ἄρον) and its Latin equivalent <i>arum</i> are names used to indicate taro from the 3rd century BC and possibly earlier.</p></div

Textual sources for <i>arum</i>/<i>colocasia</i>.

<p>Textual sources for <i>arum</i>/<i>colocasia</i>.</p

Taro timeline.

<p>Timeline for the use of the names <i>Arum</i> and <i>Colocasia</i> from Herodotus (5th century BC) to the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature (1913).</p

Colocasia in Rauwolf’s IVth herbarium.

<p>(A) Annotated text and (B) dried sample of <i>C</i>. <i>esculenta</i> collected by Rauwolf in Lebanon during his journey in the Middle East. Pictures by Naturalis Biodiversity Center.</p

Lysosomal Acid Lipase Activity Is Reduced Both in Cryptogenic Cirrhosis and in Cirrhosis of Known Etiology - Fig 1

<p>DBS-determined LAL activity in cryptogenic cirrhotics, cirrhotics of known etiology and healthy subjects (Panel A). Percentages of cirrhotic patients and healthy subjects with normal (≥0.8 nmol/spot/h), mildly reduced (range 0.4–0.8 nmol/spot/h), or severely reduced LAL activity (<0.4 nmol/spot/h) (Panel B).</p

Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis to LAL activity according to the three study subgroups and in the cirrhotic population as a whole.

<p>Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis to LAL activity according to the three study subgroups and in the cirrhotic population as a whole.</p

Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis to LAL activity in the entire study population.

<p>Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis to LAL activity in the entire study population.</p