Showing report on Seasonings
Herbs and spices are used in the diet as flavouring agents. Herbs are fresh or dried leaves and spices are fresh or dried fruits, seeds, and roots ground into powder. Herbs belong principally to the following botanical families Alliaceae (chives, garlic, onion), Apiaceae (anise, celery, coriander, dill, fennel, lovage, parsley) and Lamiaceae (basil, hyssop, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme). The main botanical families used for the infusions are the herbs such as Apiaceae and Lamiaceae but also the Asteraceae (German camomile, Roman camomile, dandelion, tarragon) and the Verbenaceae (lemon verbena, verbena, Mexican oregano). The botanical families for spices are more varied. They include Apiaceae (anise seeds, caraway, celery seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, dill seeds), Illiciaceae (star anise), Lauraceae (cinnamon), Myristicaceae (nutmeg), Myrtaceae (cloves), Piperaceae (pepper) and Zingiberaceae (cardamom, ginger, turmeric). Some species provide both “herbs” and “spices”, for example anise, celery, coriander and dill. Herbs and spices differ from the other foods (e.g. vegetables, seeds or nuts) because they are used as ingredients in small quantities to give a taste to a preparation.
The highest polyphenol contents (Folin assay) are found in spices. The highest quantities are quantified in cloves, cinnamon, capers, caraway, cumin, nutmeg and star anise which contain respectively 17.6, 9.7, 3.6, 2.9, 2.0, 1.9 and 1.8 g/100 g polyphenols. For herbs, the highest levels are found expectedly in dried herbs, especially from the Lamiaceae, which contain from 1.6 g/100 g in dried hyssop to 9.3 mg/100 g in dried pot marjoram. The highest levels for the other botanical families are found in dried sweet bay (Lauraceae), dried Roman camomile (Asteraceae), and dried fenugreek (Fabaceae) which contain 4.2, 2.5 and 2.2 g/100 g polyphenols, and in the Apiaceae coriander, parsley and dill which contain respectively 2.3, 1.2 and 1.2 g/100 g polyphenols. The contents in fresh herbs are lower and the Lamiacae contain from 81 mg/100 g in fresh chives to 1173 mg/100 g in fresh common thyme.
The nature of the phenolic compounds present in herbs is best known in the Lamiaceae family. Herbs from this family contain phenolic acids, flavones, phenolic diterpenes and flavanones. The total phenolic acid content in Lamiaceae varies between 322 and 1734 mg/100 g for dried herbs and between 103 to 165 mg/100 g for fresh herbs. Rosmarinic acid, a dimer of caffeic acid, is the major phenolic acid of the Lamiaceae family. Its content for dried herbs varies between 308 mg/100 g in sweet basil to 1734 mg/100 g in peppermint. Its content for fresh herbs varies between 92 mg/100 g in common thyme to 155 mg/100 g in Italian oregano. The Lamiaceae also contain caffeic acid. Its content for dried herbs varies between 9.7 in rosemary to 26 mg/100 g in common sage. Its content for fresh herbs varies between 2.1 in rosemary to 11.7 mg/100 g in common thyme. Low amounts of 5-caffeoylquinic acid were quantified in dried herbs of the Lamiaceae family and ranged from 6.0 mg/100 g in rosemary to 31 mg/100 g in spearmint.
The flavone content in Lamiaceae is not much documented, except in dried peppermint where luteolin 7-O-rutinoside, isorhoifolin (apigenin-7-O-rutinoside) and diosmin (diosmetin 7-O-rutinoside) predominate (respectively 1170, 125 and 95 mg/100 g). Italian oregano, common thyme, common sage and rosemary are characterised by the presence of hispidulin (6-O-methylapigenin), respectively 49, 21, 16 and 11 mg/100 g in fresh herbs. Rosemary and common sage additionally contain cirsimaritin (4',5-dihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavone), respectively 16 and 14 mg/100 g in fresh herbs. High contents of luteolin aglycone are found in common thyme and common sage, respectively 39 and 33 mg/100 g in fresh herbs. The presence of the glycosides of apigenin and luteolin in these four species is not documented, and the total flavone may be underestimated. After acid hydrolysis, the highest flavone content levels in Lamiaceae are found in fresh common thyme (51 mg/100 g luteolin and 5.0 mg/100 g apigenin) and fresh angelica (27 mg/100 g luteolin).
The Lamiaceae also contain phenolic diterpenes. These lipophilic compounds are part of the essential oils in these herbs. Carnosic acid, rosmanol and carnosol are found in fresh rosemary (respectively 672, 124 and 53 mg/100 g). Carnosic acid is also present in dried common sage (526 mg/100 g). Flavanones are found in some Lamiaceae species: eriocitrin and hesperidin in dried peppermint (respectively 8.0 and 0.48 g/100 g) and naringin in fresh rosemary (55 mg/100 g).
The Verbenaceae, taxonomically close to the Lamiaceae, also contain phenolic acids, flavones and flavanones. In fresh common verbena, verbascoside is the main phenolic acid and compared to the phenolic acids found in Lamiaceae it is present in very high quantities (1365 mg/100 g). Fresh common verbena also contains particularly high amounts of luteolin and apigenin 7-O-diglucuronides (respectively 495 and 295 mg/100 g). Dried lemon verbena contains 34 mg/100 g jaceosidin and 29 mg/100 g hispidulin. Dried Mexican oregano contains luteolin and apigenin 7-O-glucosides (respectively 297 and 28 mg/100 g), scutellarein derivatives (208 mg/100 g comprising scutellarein, cirsimaritin and hispidulin), flavanones (499 mg/100 g pinocembrin and 372 mg/100 g naringenin), flavonols (188 mg/100 g galangin and 42 mg/100 g quercetin), phloridzin (136 mg/100 g) and dihydroquercetin (128 mg/100 g).
The Apiaceae are characterised by the presence of furanocoumarins, flavones and flavonols. Parsley contains 14 mg/100 g total furanocoumarins. Flavones and flavonols have been estimated as aglycones after acid hydrolysis in the fresh herbs. High apigenin content is found in parsley (302 mg/100 g) and in celery leaves (56 mg/100 g). Flavonols are found in lovage (170 mg/100 g quercetin), dill (126 mg/100 g total quercetin, isorhamnetin and kaempferol), fennel (82 mg/100 g total quercetin, myricetin and kaempferol) and angelica (42 mg/100 g quercetin).
Few data on infusions are available and the total polyphenol content (Folin assay) range from 7.7 mg/100 ml in lemon verbena to 51 mg/100 ml in common thyme.
The phenolic compounds detected in spices include phenylpropenes, phenolic acids, flavones and flavonols. Cloves contain 458 mg/100 g gallic acid, 52 mg/100 g flavonol aglycones and 12.6 g/100 g eugenol. Dried ginger contains 187 mg/100 g gingerol. Star anise contains 5.4 g/100 g anethole and 32 mg/100 g protocatechuic acid. Cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg and dried ginger contain respectively 24, 20, 16 and 15 mg/100 g caffeic acid. Dried turmeric, which belongs to the same family as ginger, contains 2.2 g/100 g curcumin. Curcumin is also detected in curry powder (285 mg/100 g) which is a mix of spices including turmeric. Capers contain 655 mg/100 g flavonols (kaempferol and quercetin glycosides) and saffron 510 mg/100 g kaempferol glycosides. Cumin and caraway contain respectively 39 and 17 mg/100 g free kaempferol and 17 and 17 mg/100 g caffeic acid. Celery seeds are characterised by a high total flavone content (2 g/100 g) mainly represented by luteolin, apigenin, and chrysoeriol (3'-methoxyapigenin) glycosides.
Polyphenol content in many herbs or spices are high, particularly as these products are essentially used as ingredients in a dry form. However, their contribution to polyphenol intake can be most limited due to the low quantities of these ingredients used in some diets.