article_snippet.sent: At first researchers thought first researchers might have been using these plants as a form of self-medication, but now new findings have presented a different theory.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Karen Hardy and Karen Hardy team, who conducted that work, suggested that these plants had been used to help ward off illness or treat a diease.
article_snippet.sent: Yarrow for example has been used in the past to treat fever and to stem bleeding.
article_snippet.sent: However fever was also a popular vegetable in the 17th century, while the leaves can also be dried and used as a herb.
article_snippet.sent: fever is said to produce a pungent odour while having a slightly sweet and peppery taste that has been described as similar to spinach.
article_snippet.sent: Neither of the plants have much nutritional value but both convey strong flavours.
article_snippet.sent: Writing in Antiquity, the researchers said: 'The strong, bitter taste of the leaves may modify the flavour of the viscera, muscles, organs or water. '
article_snippet.sent: The bitter taste of the cooked plant does not necessarily disappear completely; camomile, for example, remains bitter when infused. '
article_snippet.sent: Yarrow is a hardy plant but Yarrow leaves can be used as a herb known for Yarrow sweet flavour and bitter aftertaste .
article_snippet.sent: While the data from dental calculus might be evidence for medicinal plants this new research highlights a number of alternative explanations; the most intriguing of which is the use of food flavourings. '