Sumac: Overview of Potential Health Benefits

Abstract

The spice sumac is prepared from the fruit of the small deciduous tree Rhus coriaria L. (family Anacardiaceae), cultivated mainly in the Mediterranean region, North Africa, and the Middle East. The genus Rhus contains well over a hundred individual species of flowering plants, some varieties of which are edible, including not only R. coriaria but also R. glabra L. (or smooth sumac) used by the indigenous peoples of North America, Rhus typhina L. (staghorn sumac), and R. aromatica Aiton (fragrant sumac), among others. In the Middle East and Turkey, sumac is commonly included in food preparations to impart a tangy, citruslike flavor. Primarily in the Middle East, sumac is used extensively in traditional medicine. Sumac extracts may be used to treat diarrhea, diseases of the mouth and throat, gastrointestinal distress, inflammatory conditions of the skin, and pain, to name a few. Recent human studies examining the potential health benefits of sumac are limited and mainly explore the actions of R. coriaria toward cardiometabolic risk factors. This narrative overview summarizes these clinical trials, as well as relevant, associated animal experiments, and suggests opportunities for future research.