[3][19][20] Aminosalicylic acid is used to induce remission in ulcerative colitis, and has been used as an antitubercular agent often administered in association with isoniazid.

[21] Sodium salicylate is a useful phosphor in the vacuum ultraviolet spectral range, with nearly flat quantum efficiency for wavelengths between 10 and 100 nm.

[citation needed] Salicylic acid modulates COX-1 enzymatic activity to decrease the formation of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins.

Dioscorides, whose writings were highly influential for more than 1,500 years,[30] used "Itea" (which was possibly a species of willow) as a treatment for "painful intestinal obstructions", birth control, for "those who spit blood", to remove calluses and corns and, externally, as a "warm pack for gout".

William Turner, in 1597, repeated this, saying that willow bark, "being burnt to ashes, and steeped in vinegar, takes away corns and other like risings in the feet and toes".

[32] Hippocrates, Galen, Pliny the Elder, and others knew that decoctions containing salicylate could ease pain and reduce fevers.

[37] In 2014, archaeologists identified traces of salicylic acid on seventh-century pottery fragments found in east-central Colorado.

[38] Edward Stone, a vicar from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, reported in 1763 that the bark of the willow was effective in reducing a fever.

[42] Raffaele Piria, an Italian chemist, was able to convert the substance into a sugar and a second component, which on oxidation becomes salicylic acid.

[45] Their extract caused digestive problems such as gastric irritation, bleeding, diarrhea, and even death when consumed in high doses.

In 1874 the Scottish physician Thomas MacLagan experimented with salicin as a treatment for acute rheumatism, with considerable success, as he reported in The Lancet in 1876.

[49] In 1987, salicylic acid was identified as the long-sought signal that causes thermogenic plants, such as the voodoo lily, Sauromatum guttatum, to produce heat.

[51] High-salicylate beverages and foods include beer, coffee, tea, numerous fruits and vegetables, sweet potato, nuts, and olive oil.

[19] Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, sugar, breads and cereals have low salicylate content.

[19][52] Some people with sensitivity to dietary salicylates may have symptoms of allergic reaction, such as bronchial asthma, rhinitis, gastrointestinal disorders, or diarrhea, so may need to adopt a low-salicylate diet.