**2. Rose hip in food and folk medicine**

Throughout history, the fruits of the wild roses have been gathered and consumed as food by many different cultures worldwide, especially in the colder regions [2, 3, 6–12]. For example, in North America, rose hips were an important food source during starvation in the winter, where many fruits and berries were no longer available. Specifically, the indigenous people of Canada consumed the raw fruits, as well as boiled them to make tea. Further up north in Alaska, the Inuits mixed rose hip fruits with water, seal oil, and a sweetener to make a pudding [7]. In Europe, many countries with a long history of using rose hips include Portugal, where rose hips were consumed raw as snacks [9]; Turkey, as tea [10]; Hungary, where people made rose hip wine or dried and ground the fruits and used them as substitute for wheat flour during famine [11]; Russia, where fresh rose hips were

added directly to pies, dessert fillings, compote, and brandy, or used roasted fruits of *Rosa canina* as substitutes for coffee [3]. Indeed, according to findings from old Swiss pile buildings, the rose hip fruits were gathered along with other wild foods and used in the younger stone age by people in Switzerland (3710–3677 BC) [8]. In China, some types of rose hips were important ingredients of fermented beverages [12].

Though modern agricultural and health practices have reduced the need for harvesting wild food in large parts of the world, rose hips still play a role in many food cultures. In several European countries, rose hips collected from natural sources are commonly consumed in the form of tea, jam, drinks, wine, and jelly [13]. In Sweden, "Nypon Soppa," a traditional Swedish rose hip soup, has been popular for centuries, and in Poland, people use rose hips as filling in their traditional cake "paczki," a doughnut cake with fruit jam filling. In Turkey, the fruits can be found in juice [14] and food products such as rose hip marmalade and syrup [2]. In Portugal, they are used as children's snacks [9]. Rose hips are also some of the most gathered fruits in Russia, where they are consumed as tea and as ingredients in bread [3].

Besides their culinary use in food products, rose hips can be found as an ingredient in different health supplements [15]. Rose hips from different *Rosa* species have been widely used in traditional folk medicine. The native Americans in North America used rose hips from *Rosa pratincola* for eye- and stomach problems [16], and in China, fruits from *Rosa roxburghii* have been eaten for their detoxifying and heatclearing effects [12]. In Europe, the fruits from *R. canina* and other species have been commonly consumed to strengthen the immune system and thereby prevent or treat the common cold, flu, and minor infectious disease [10, 17]. In Turkey, a rose hip decoction was used as remedy against diabetes [18] and bronchitis [19], while dried rose hips are used in the treatment of diseases in the liver, bladder, and kidneys in Poland [6]. In Romania and Italy, people have used the fruits from *R. canina* against diarrhea [20], and in Spain, the fruits have been consumed as an astringent and antianemic [21]. In the Middle East, rose hips have been utilized as diuretic [10, 17] and as a remedy against high blood pressure and kidney stones [17]. Apart from the abovementioned applications, rose hips have also been consumed to treat constipation [10]; chronic pain and ulcers [6]; fever and bloody cough [17]; menstrual pain and discomfort [10, 17]; dyspnea [22]; as well as for several anti-inflammatory diseases [23], including rheumatism [22].

Currently, standardized and cultivated rose hips form the basis of an herbal remedy, which consists mainly of powdered dried fruits from *Rosa canina* that is widely sold and consumed to reduce pain associated with arthritis [6]. Rose hips are also used in cosmetics [15] and skin care products. Although this chapter focuses on the fruits of the *Rosa* species, it is worth mentioning here that other parts of the plants such as the roots, petals, and flowers have also been used in traditional medicine [17].
