Lemon Thyme

Thymus citriodorus, commonly known as LemonThyme, originated in southern Europe and northern Africa, but the Romans are credited with its spread. It has been regarded since Ancient Greek times as a symbol of bravery, as well as an expectorant and pleasantly aromatic herb.

Lemon thyme plants grows to a height of approximately 20-40 cm and has hairy leaves and stems, opposite leaves, and half-grained white flowers that are small and pink in color.

The stems are woody at the base, flowering stems are erect to 10 cm and hairy on 4 sides. Leaves are linear toelliptic about 8 mm long and sessile. The inflorescence is headlike with purple flower corolla about 5mm long.

The essential oil is rich in geraniol (60%); other constituents include geranyl acetate (1.0%), geranyl butyrate (0.8%), nerol (2.8%), The main compound of Lemon Thyme essential oil is acyclic monoterpene alcohol geraniol with the chemical formula C10H18O, MW = 154.25).

This commercially important terpene alcohol with sweet rose aroma is one of the most important molecules in the flavor and fragrance industries and common ingredient in consumer products produced by these industries. Geraniol is used as flavoring for beverages, ice cream, candy, baked goods, chewing gum and toppings.

Lemon Thyme has a delicious lemon scent and tastes great with fish, poultry and in marinades. Dried leaves are added to potpourris and herb pillows. Lemon thyme oil is thought less irritant than other thyme oils, and is used in aroma-therapy for asthma and other respiratory complaints, notably in children.
Lemon Thyme

Oil of oregano

Oregano (Origanum vulgare, family Lamiaceae) is a popular cooking ingredient recognized for its wide health promoting and antimicrobial effects. It is an aromatic plant with a wide distribution throughout the Mediterranean area and Asia.

Savory are aromatic plants used for production of essential oils (EOs). Essential oils can be defined as “volatile oils or essences derived from vegetation and characterized by distinctive odors and a substantial measure of resistance to hydrolysis”.

Origanum essential oil is used as a food additive and also as a fragrance component in cosmetic products. Some studies have also reported the potential of oregano essential oil to preserve food such as salmon and seaweed burgers, fish, and meat products.

Essential oil of oregano and savory showed a good antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial activity against microorganisms and tyrosinase inhibition activity.

The essential oil of oregano contains two main bioactive compounds: carvacrol and thymol.

Phenolic compounds and tocols are very important for the oxidative stability and biological activities of oregano oil. The higher radical scavenging activities of oregano oil compared to olive oils may be due the differences in the level content and profile di unsaponifiable.
Oil of oregano

Major chemical compounds in rosemary leaves

Rosemarinus officinalis L. is a spice and medicinal herb an evergreen perennial aromatic shrub belonging to the family Labiatae, commonly called Rosemary, native to the north and south coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

Of the natural antioxidants, rosemary has been widely accepted as one of the spices with the highest antioxidant activity. Rosemary contains some antioxidant phenolics that have been shown to provide a defense against oxidative stress from oxidizing agents and free radicals.

Rosemary leaves have been used in food preservation, because they prevent oxidation and microbial contamination. Rosemary extract could be useful for replacing or even decreasing synthetic antioxidants in foods.

A wealth of studies demonstrated antioxidant, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, hypoglycemic and hypolipidimic activities of rosemary. Rosemary essential oil is also used as an antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer agent.

The polyphenolic profile of rosemary plant is characterized by the presence of carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmarinic acid and hesperidin, as major components.

Many compounds have been isolated from rosemary, including flavones, diterpenes, steroids, and triterpenes. Of these, Rosemary leaves the antioxidant activity of rosemary extracts has been primarily related to two phenolic diterpenes: carnosic acid and carnosol.

The anti-inflammatory activity of rosemary has been attributed to the presence of carnosol and carnosic, rosmarinic, ursolic, oleanolic, and micromeric acids, which act synergistically.

The main compounds responsible for the antimicrobial activity are α-pinene, bornyl acetate, camphor and 1,8-cineole.
Major chemical compounds in rosemary leaves

Curry Leaves

Curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) are a popular leaf-spice used in very small quantities for their distinct aroma due to the presence of volatile oil and their ability to improve digestion. The plant belongs to the family Rutaceae. Leaves, exstipulate, bipinnately compound, 30 cm long, each bearing 24 leaflets, having reticulate venation; leaflets, lanceolate, 4.9 cm long, 1.8 cm broad, having 0.5-cm-long petiole.

The curry leaves are aromatic in nature and rich with various sources such as proteins, fibers, carbohydrates, minerals, nicotinic acid, vitamin C and carotene. Curry leaves have a great content major constituent responsible for the aroma and flavor has been reported as pinene, sabinene, caryophyllene, cadinol and cadinene.

Essential oils extracted from M. koenigii used as an important materials for manufacturing of soap, lotions, massage oils, diffusers, potpourri, scent, air fresheners, body fragrance, perfume oils, aromatherapy products, bath oils, towel scenting, spa's, incense, facial steams, hair treatments, and more.

Fresh curry leaves are the preferred form for cooking, due to the leaves lose their delicate fragrance soon after drying. Fresh leaves may be used directly after harvesting from a curry leaf tree and the leaflets are usually torn from the rib before used for cooking.
Curry Leaves

Fragrant herb of lemongrass

Lemongrass is an herb that belongs to the genus Cymbopogon of aromatic grasses and contains essential oil with fine lemon flavor. Generally, three species are identified:
*Cymbopogon flexuosus
*C.flexuosus var.flexuosus
*C.flexuosus var. albescens

Lemongrass present lemony characteristic flavor due to its main content, citral which present great importance to the industry. Citral, a combination of neral and geranial isomers, is used as a raw material for the production of ionone, vitamin A and beta-carotene.

Essential oils are natural products obtained from plants. They were formed by varied and complex volatile mixtures of chemical compounds, with predominance of terpene associated to aldehyde, alcohols and ketone which were deposited in various structure of the plant.

Essential oil and citral of lemongrass were detected to gather at parenchyma tissue cells, specifically in the adaxial surface of leaf mesophyll.

Lemongrass is commonly used in Asian cooking. When Thai food was embraced in the US, lemongrass became a household name. A little experimentation with this delightfully fragrant herb is all it takes to realize that it can be used in many more ways than just in Asian dishes. A simple syrup made by steeping lemongrass in a mix of equal parts hot water and sugar can be used to enhance fruit salads or to make home made soda by mixing it with seltzer.

Fragrant herb of lemongrass 

Flavor constituents in fennel

Fennel has anise-like, slightly licorice, camphoraceous aroma. The flavor is warm, anisic with a bittersweet aftertaste.

The dried fennel fruit contains about 3-6% of volatile oil. The principal flavor constituents are anethole (50-60%), fenchone (20%), and various terpenes.

There are several varieties of fennel; both common and sweet fennel are grown for their fruits’ essential oil. Sweet fennel is also grown for the thickened bulb-like base of the leaf stems (often called anise), a 3- or 4- inch-wide structure that grows just above the ground.

Sweet fennel oil contains fenchone 1 -25% and anethole 30 -75%. While bitter fennel oil contains fenchone 12 - 25% and anethole 55 - 75%. Fenchones can be regarded as a character –impact of bitter fennel oil.

Fennel oils may contain up to 30% monoterpene hydrocarbons, among which limonene is dominant.
Flavor constituents in fennel

Citrus aurantium in herbal medicine

Citrus aurantium has enjoyed a rich history of uses in food, cosmetic and medicine. Citrus aurantium is a form a fruit commonly known as “bitter orange” and is often use as an Asian herbal medicine to treat digestive problem.

It is also a mild stimulant and is thought to contribute to appetite suppression and increase metabolic rate and lipolysis.

Volatile plant oils or essential oil are used in aromatherapy and are usually applied by gentle massage.

The oil of Citrus aurantium is an effective topical treatment in treatment-resistant, superficial dermatophyte infection. Citrus aurantium contains synephrine, which has ephedrine-like effects on the cardiovascular system.
Citrus aurantium in herbal medicine

Dill seed and dill weed

Dill (Anethum graveolens) is an annual or biennial herb with a smooth and erect stem; up to I m high; native to Mediterranean region and Asia (southern Russia).

Dill seed and dill weed are available whole or ground but are usually sold in the whole form. It has pungent and faintly aromatic flavor. Dill seeds are generally added in cooking as they require some time for their flavor to permeate the dish.

American dill weed has a strong, fresh, somewhat spicy, aromatic odor and a warm, slightly burning taste. Dill seeds yield an essential oil that is an important flavoring in the pickle industry.

Dill seed oil is obtained by steam distillation of the crushed dried fruits, and dill weed oil is obtained by steam distillation of the freshly harvested herb. Dill seed oil has caraway –like odor and flavor because of the higher carvone content as compared to dill weed oil.

The spice is used as a flavoring for meat, fish, sauces, and pickles: it is a component of meat seasonings. The principle flavor constituents of dill are carvone (40-50%), D-limonene and terpene.
Dill seed and dill weed

The health benefits of cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice, derived from the bark of several trees belonging to the Cinnamomum genus that is well-known among kitchens and chefs around the world.

It is small evergreen tree 10-15 m tall with greenish flowers and has been known since antiquity.

Among the health benefits of cinnamon are:
*Cinnamon help blood sugar control. Cinnamon is showing promise as a way to prevent and counteract the symptoms of type 2 diabetes, having a beneficial effect on glucose levels and insulin sensitivity.

*Can have favorable effects on brain function and memory

*Cinnamon can prevent the spread and growth of cancer cells

*Soothes the stomach, and may help prevent ulcers

*Suppresses the bacteria that causes urinary tract infections and the fungus associated with yeast infections

*Reduces cholesterol levels – in particular, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides without affecting HDL cholesterol. These all reduce risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The studies show that as little as a quarter teaspoon per day can significantly lower the cholesterol.

*Cinnamon improves circulation, thins blood and aids in weight control

*It helps arthritis by improving blood circulation and has a warming effect that people with arthritis feel eases their symptoms. It was said that one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one table spoon of cinnamon powder, if taken regular even chronic arthritis can be cured.

More studies demonstrated that compounds found in cinnamon improve the function of insulin, functions as antioxidants, anti –inflammatory agents an may be neuroprotective.

Cinnamon’s unique health benefits come from three basic constituents in the essential oil in its bark. The main constituent of cinnamon bark is cinnamon oil, which contain mainly cinnamic acid, cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic alcohol.
The health benefits of cinnamon

Herb of cumin (Cuminum cyminum)

Scientific name is Cuminum cyminum. The plant can be described as lax, slender, fine leafed, annual herb to 15cm tall. Small white or deep pink flowers are followed by the pungent aromatic seeds for which the plant is grown.

Cumin possesses a unique aroma and taste. It contains 2.3 – 5% of essential oil, which consist predominately of aldehydes and ketones (50-70%), hydrocarbon (30-50%), alcohols (2-5%), and ethers less than 1% depending on the cultivar.

Cumin believed to be native of Egypt and Syria; Turkestan and eastern Mediterranean region. It is one of the oldest species known since biblical times, valued mostly for their digestive properties and for flavoring bread and other dishes during the periods of ceremonial fasting.

Cumin is one of the important seed species commonly used in food, beverages, liqueurs, medicines, etc.

Ground roasted cumin seed is a vital ingredient in many curry powders and curry dishes. It is used in Mediterranean, Arabian, Indian and Mexican cuisine. It is especially good in beef curries and in lentil and bean dishes. It also used for flavoring soups, sausages, pickles etc.

The flavour also enhances vegetables such as zucchini and eggplant. It is often used for seasoning bakery products such as bread and cakes
Herb of cumin (Cuminum cyminum)

Essential Oil

Essential oils are odorous components of plants and plant materials that are the characteristic odors of the materials from, which they are extracted.

By strict definition, essential oils are always a product of steam distillation.

Essential oils are mixtures of hundred components. For example, it has been found that orange oil contains 34 alcohols, 30 esters, 20 aldehydes, 14 ketones, 10 carboxylic acids and 36 varieties of terpenes.

Essential oils are volatile liquid.

Essential oils are found in all distinctly aromatic plants. These constituents can be effected by a vast number of variables including: the parts of the plant from which the oil was produced, soil condition, fertilizer, geographical region, climate, altitude, harvest season and methods and titillation process.

The volatile nature and strong aroma distinguishes essential oil from fatty oils.

Fruit extracts have been used as flavorings, but these are relatively weak when compared to essential oils and oleoresins. An oleoresin is a solvent extract of spices from which the solvent, usually a hydrocarbon, has been removed by distillation.

Among the necessities of today’s world are perfumery products, several of which are based on essential oils and aromatic chemicals, obtained from different plants species. Many of these herbs and essential oil plants have long been the basic ingredients t ancient perfumery and still hold an important place in the modern flavoring field.

Other names for essential oils include “volatile oil”, “etheric oils”, “ethereal oils,” “aromatic oils,” and “essences”.
Essential Oil

Black and White Pepper

Black and White Pepper
The pepper of commerce is produced from unripe fruits of the perennial climbing vine and is available in two distinct forms – black pepper and white pepper.

The former consists of the whole dried fruits picked while still green and sun dried.

During drying they turn to a brownish black color with the individual peppercorns having a much wrinkled outer skin.

White pepper is the dried kernel of the fruits which are gathered when they are just turning slightly yellow.

The fruit are subsequently soaked in water to soften and loosen the outer skin which is then removed by friction, white peppercorns are smooth surfaced.

Pepper originated in the Western Ghats of India from where it has spread to many parts of tropical Asia, notably Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

As a seasoning and condiment, pepper is second to none, and its use is ubiquitous.

The distinctive odor and flavor of pepper overlie its pungency due to its essential oil content which varies both quantitatively and qualitatively between sources and varieties.

The chemical composition of the oil is complex and is present from 1 to 3%.

The oil from white pepper contains similar components to that from black pepper are markedly different from that of the spice stored in a ground condition as regular users of the domestic pepper mill will readily attest.

Not only does the ground material soon lose it pleasing freshness but it also develops an obvious and insistent ammoniacal note which detracts from its true peppery character.

The profile of essential oil distilled directly from freshly crushed peppercorns has a most attractive nuance much appreciated in blending of high quality, spicy fragrances.
Black and White Pepper

Spanish Sage

Spanish Sage
Botanic name for Spanish Sage is Salvia lavandulaefolia, L.
Sage grows wild throughout the arid mountain slopes of southern Spain and often in closer proximity o the cultivation of Spike Lavender, particularly in the provinces Granada, Jaen and Murcia. Little of the herb reaches the market as it is usually harvested and distilled locally to give about 0.7% of the yellowish essential oil. Because of the market similarity of odor, this oil is often used as an extender of the much more expensive oil of Spike Lavender.
Components of the essential oil
Alpha-pinene
cineole (25-35%)
d-camphor (20%)
1-linalool (20%)
Linalyl acetate
Sabinyl acetate
Alpha-terpinyl acetate
Spanish Sage

Bay Laurel

Bay Laurel
Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis, Lauracae) also known as Sweet Bay is a tree which is cultivated throughout Turkey, Israel, Russia, Italy and France although, increasingly, commercial crops of leaves is being exported from Greece and Mexico. A similar crop is found in China but the variety is different and the leaves contain an essential oil having a marked phenolics odor not unlike that of West Indian bay.

The leaves yield about 2% essential oil when steam distilled. The leaves are 6–12 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, with a characteristic finely serrated and wrinkled margin. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants; each flower is pale yellow-green, about 1 cm diameter, borne in pairs together beside a leaf (Herb). The fruit is a small black berry about 1 cm long, containing a single seed.

Component of the essential oil
Alpha–pinene
cineole (45 – 50%)

Beta–phellandrene
1- linalool
1-alpha-terpineol
geraniol
euogenol
methyl eugenol
geranyl and eugenyl esters

Bay Laurel

Classifications of Herbs

Classifications of Herbs
In studying a range of aromatic materials, such as the herbs, it is desirable to classify them into groups having some character in common. A botanical classification is of interest but the system which gives the most meaningful comparative grouping is one based on sensory attributes related to the prime constituents of the essential oil.

Although the essential oil is important and is responsible for the characteristic odor and flavor of the plant, it does not represent the total flavor complex; nonvolatile constituents may play a significant part in rounding off the profile and contributing taste elements, particularly sharpness and bitterness.

Herbs can be classified as:

• Herbs containing cineole: bay laurel, rosemary, spanish sage.

• Herbs containing thymol/carvacrol: thyme, origanum, wild marjoram, sweet savory, Mexican sage, oregano.

• Herbs containing sweet alcohols: sweet basil, sweet marjoram, tarragon

• Herbs containing thujone: Dalmation sage, Greek sage, English sage.

• Herbs containing menthol: peppermint, corn mint, spearmint, garden mint.

Classifications of Herbs

Variability of Odor and Flavor Strength of Spices

Variability of Odor and Flavor Strength of Spices
Spices posses the variation characteristics of all natural products. With few exceptions, spices depend for much of their value upon the essential oil content. It is the quantity present which determines the flavoring power; and its composition determines the flavoring quality of the spices essential oil is a product of the plant’s metabolic processes and is particularly subject to seasonal and climatic changes in the growing area; to the nature of the soil in each region; to the care taken in planting, husbandry and harvesting; and, finally, to the care taken during the preparation of the spice for marketing – which often may be after long periods of storage under adverse conditions in tropical warehouses. At all stages the essential oil content is at risk, giving rise to commercial samples of wide flavoring differences.

Whereas one would expect flavor differences between related plants of different species, perhaps it is not so widely realized that there can be even more significant differences in aromatic profiles between plants of the same species but grown in different regions. This becomes obvious when one compares the flavor profile of ginger grown in Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cochin, China, Australia or New Guinea. All are derived from Zingiber officinale, L; but one certainly cannot transpose one source for another without endangering the flavor profile of end-product.

The needs for the good working knowledge of the source of herbs and spices and the aromatic profiles of the commercial grades available are obvious.
Variability of Odor and Flavor Strength of Spices