The ancient Greeks loved to chew the resin of the "lentisco" plants ( Pistacia lentiscus L.) grown on the Hellenic island of Chios.
The Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides described the medicinal uses of this resin in De Materia Medica, which is useful for gastrointestinal disorders. In addition to cooling the breath, lentisk gum was also chewed to preserve the whiteness of the teeth and cure stomach pains and gum problems.
Some researchers have investigated the potential antibiotic effects of this gum against Helicobacter pylori . A preliminary study in 1998 produced encouraging results, highlighting the resin's ability to cure peptic ulcers and kill the bacterium. However in 2003 further investigations concluded that the resin is not able to eradicate the Helicobacter pylori infection .
Recently (2010) a new study has rekindled enthusiasm for this gum, obtaining the eradication of the infection in about one third of the subjects undergoing treatment. An even more recent study (2014) has isolated the components of the essential oil (extracted from the resin) responsible for the in vitro bactericidal action against Helicobacter pylori ; among the ten substances endowed with a certain antibacterial activity, Î ± -terpineol and (E) -methyl isoeugenol stand out for their efficacy.
