Scurvy grass

What is Scurvy grass?

Scurvy grass is a small coastal plant, Cochlearia officinalis. It grows on shores, cliffs and salt marshes across northern Europe. The fresh leaves are thick, spoon-shaped and taste sharp and peppery, like cress.

People ate it to prevent and treat scurvy, the disease caused by too little vitamin C. The leaves do hold real vitamin C. That part of the old story holds up well.

In Norwegian it is skjørbuksurt; in Icelandic, skarfakál. It was a winter and early-spring green in places where fruit and vegetables ran out.

Beyond scurvy, the claims thin out fast. There are almost no human trials of the plant itself. Long use in a tradition is not proof that something works, and it is not proof that it is safe.

How does Scurvy grass work?

The one clear action is simple. The leaves supply vitamin C, and vitamin C prevents and treats scurvy.

Your body needs vitamin C to make collagen. Collagen is the protein that holds skin, gums, blood vessels and healing wounds together. Without enough of it, gums bleed, bruises appear and wounds stop closing.

The sharp taste comes from mustard oils, the same family of compounds found in cress and horseradish. In laboratory tests, mustard oils from related plants slow the growth of some bacteria. Whether eating the leaves does anything like that inside a person is not established.

Folk users also called it a spring tonic, a "blood cleanser" and a diuretic (something that makes you pass more urine). None of these ideas has been tested properly in people.

What forms does Scurvy grass come in?

Fresh raw leaves are the main form. They are eaten in salads, chopped into butter, or chewed on their own.

Dried herb for tea is also sold. Drying and hot water destroy most of the vitamin C. A tea is therefore a poor source of it.

Some makers offer a tincture (an alcohol extract) or a pressed juice. Older pharmacies once sold a distilled "spirit of scurvy grass". These concentrated forms are much stronger-tasting than the fresh leaf.

Seeds are sometimes sprouted indoors for winter greens. Capsules exist but are uncommon.

Labels rarely state how much vitamin C a product contains. Strength varies a great deal between batches and brands.

Where it comes from:

Coastal people in Norway, Iceland, the Faroes and Greenland ate scurvy grass through winter and early spring. It was one of the few fresh greens available when stores ran low.

From the 1500s onward, northern European ships carried it, and sailors were given the leaves, the juice or an ale brewed with it. Dutch and English sailors knew it as spoonwort. Medical writers of the day listed it among the standard antiscorbutics, meaning remedies against scurvy.

James Lind's shipboard experiment of 1753 pointed to citrus fruit as the treatment that worked. Scurvy grass stayed in use on northern coasts, where lemons were hard to get.

It also picked up broader folk roles as a spring tonic, a mouth rinse for sore gums, and a remedy for sluggish digestion. These uses were recorded in herbals rather than tested.

What does Scurvy grass help with?

• Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency): This is the one use with a solid basis. Vitamin C prevents and treats scurvy, and the fresh leaves contain useful amounts of it. The plant itself has not been tested in modern trials. The link runs through its vitamin C content, not through studies of the herb. Scurvy is a serious medical problem. It should be diagnosed and treated by a doctor, not self-managed with a foraged plant.
• Low vitamin C intake in winter: Historically the leaves filled a real gap when no other fresh greens were around. Eaten raw, they add vitamin C to a meal, much as any fresh salad green does. In a modern diet with fruit and vegetables, this gap is rare. No study shows the plant beats ordinary greens for this purpose.
• Sore or bleeding gums: Folk practice used chewed leaves or a rinse for sore gums. Where the gum problem comes from a lack of vitamin C, fixing that lack does help. For gum disease from plaque and bacteria, there is no human evidence that scurvy grass helps. Bleeding gums should be checked by a dentist or doctor.
• Spring tiredness and low appetite: Scandinavian tradition treated it as a spring tonic after a long winter. The sharp taste was thought to wake up appetite and digestion. No trials have tested this. Any benefit may simply come from eating fresh food again.
• Sluggish digestion: Bitter, peppery greens have long been eaten before meals to stir the appetite. Scurvy grass was used this way in old herbals. There is no human evidence for the plant here. Strong extracts may irritate the stomach rather than settle it.
• Fluid retention (folk use as a diuretic): Some herbals listed it as a diuretic, meaning something that makes you pass more urine. This claim rests on tradition alone. No human study supports it. Fluid retention can signal heart, liver or kidney trouble, so it needs a doctor's assessment.

Which foods are rich in Scurvy grass?

1. Fresh scurvy grass leaves, raw
2. Scurvy grass sprouts grown from seed

Practical Tips:

Scurvy grass is itself a food plant, eaten raw as a sharp salad green.

If you simply want vitamin C, ordinary foods do the job and are easier to source. Peppers, blackcurrants, citrus fruit, kiwi, broccoli and potatoes are all reliable sources.

Cooking and drying destroy much of the vitamin C in any green, including this one.

What are the side effects of Scurvy grass?

• Burning or peppery feeling in the mouth and throat
• Heartburn or stomach discomfort
• Nausea after large amounts
• Loose stools
• Skin or eye irritation from the fresh juice
• Allergic reaction in people sensitive to cabbage-family plants (uncommon)
• Illness from contaminated or misidentified wild plants

Good to know:

Eaten as a salad green in normal food amounts, scurvy grass is generally well tolerated. Most reported problems are mild and come from the sharp mustard oils.

Concentrated forms, such as tinctures and pressed juice, are more likely to irritate the mouth, gullet and stomach.

The bigger risks are not really about the plant. They come from picking the wrong species, or from gathering near roads, drains or sprayed land.

How much Scurvy grass should you take?

• Recommended daily: There is no established dose, because the plant has not been studied as a medicine. As a food, a small handful of fresh leaves is a normal culinary serving, the kind of amount a salad recipe would use. Dried herb and tincture labels carry their own stated amounts, which differ widely between brands. These are label figures, not advice for you. For context, adult vitamin C needs are set around 40 mg a day in the UK and 75 to 90 mg a day in the US. Treating a real deficiency is a job for a doctor, who will use measured doses of vitamin C.
• Best time of day: Timing does not matter much. Vitamin C from food is taken up well at any hour. Some people find the peppery taste easier earlier in the day. That is preference, not science.
• With or without food: It is a salad green, so most people eat it with a meal. That is also the gentlest way to take it. The mustard oils can sting an empty stomach. Tinctures and juices are more likely to cause burning or heartburn if taken alone.
• Time to effect: For genuine scurvy, vitamin C acts fast. Bleeding gums and tiredness often improve within days to a few weeks of getting enough, though this is usually done with measured vitamin C under medical care. For every other traditional use, there is no reliable timeline. It may do nothing at all.
• How long to take it: Traditionally it was eaten seasonally, through late winter and spring, then dropped when other greens arrived. No study has looked at long-term daily use of the leaves or of concentrated extracts. So no safe long-term period can be stated. If you are using it in the hope of treating a symptom, and nothing changes within a few weeks, it is worth asking a doctor instead.