RESEARCH - SPICE EXTRACTS

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006 Lemongrass Oil     Lemongrass essential oil is extracted from Cymbopogon flexuous (a.k.a. Andropogon flexuous, Andropogon flexuosus, Cymbopogon flexuosus - East Indian, Cochin, British India or ative lemongrass) from the Poaceae family.   Chemical Constituents The main chemical components of Lemongrass oil are: Citral, Farnesol,  Nerol, Citronellal and Myrcene. Andropogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon flexuous has far higher Citral content than that of cymbopogon citrates.   The therapeutic properties of lemongrass oil include Analgesic Anti-depressant Antiseptic, Astringent Carminative Diuretic Fungicidal Galactagogue Tonic.  Most vegetarian capsules of Vitamin A are made of this oil Also this oil reduces puffiness in skin and is good hair tonic.    Monday, August 07, 2006 Bay Leaf ( Laurus nobilis )     The bay tree is indigenous to Asia Minor, from where it spread to the Mediterranean and then to other countries with similar climates. According to legend the Delphi oracle chewed bay leaves, or sniffed the smoke of burning leaves to promote her visionary trances. Bay, or laurel, was famed in ancient Greece and Rome. Emperors, heroes and poets wore wreaths of laurel leaves. The Greek word for laurel is dhafni, named for the myth of the nymph Daphne, who was changed into a laurel tree by Gaea, who transformed her to help her escape Apollo’s attempted rape. Apollo made the tree sacred and thus it became a symbol of honour. The association with honour and glory continue today; we have poet laureates (Apollo was the God of poets), and bacca-laureate means “laurel berries” which signifies the completion of a bachelor degree. Doctors were also crowned with laurel, which was considered a cure-all.   Attributed Medicinal Properties Bay leaves and berries have been used for their astringent, carminative, diaphoretic,digestive, diuretic, emetic and stomachic properties. Bay Oil, or Oil of Bays (Oleum Lauri) is used in liniments for bruising and sprains. It was once used to keep moths away, owing to the leafs lauric acid content which gives it insecticidal properties.    Sunday, August 06, 2006 Oregano Oil: Nature's Super Germ Fighter     by James South, M.A With the advent of widespread antibiotic usage in the late 1940s, doctors began to vanquish the bacterial germ diseases that had ravaged mankind since ancient times. By the 1960s such ancient enemies as diphtheria, scarlet fever, syphilis, bubonic plague and tuberculosis were easily treatable with modern antibiotics. Yet by the 1990s, antibiotics were no longer hailed as the miracle they had seemed just 40 years earlier. By the 1990s many bacteria had developed a resistance to most antibiotics. Widespread overuse of antibiotics also seemed to promote a new plague: the development of fungal infections especially Candida albicans in the young, the elderly and the immunocompromised.1-3   Ironically, research beginning in the 1950s (the  golden years  of antibiotic usage)4 continuing to the present day, has provided a remedy for both bacterial antibiotic resistance and fungal infestation: oregano oil. Oregano oil is produced by distillation from the leaves and flowers of wild Mediterranean oregano (Origanum Vulgare).1 Oregano oil is rich in phenolic compounds, including carvacrol and thymol, 6,7 which have been shown to be powerfully germicidal against a wide range of bacteria, fungi and protozoal parasites, even at minute concentrations of the oil.3-11   Although modern science has verified the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of oregano oil, oregano has been used for medicine and food preservation for thousands of years. According to oregano expert Dr. Cass Ingram, ancient Greek physicians routinely used oregano to treat a myriad of conditions, including open wounds, lung disorders, venomous bites and narcotic poisoning. When Islamic civilization flourished in the Middle Ages, its doctors used oregano and its oil to treat germ diseases. Powdered wild oregano was then used as a food preservative, keeping unrefrigerated vegetables unspoiled for up to two weeks. Medieval Europeans used wild oregano to prevent milk spoilage. In the 1600s British herbalist Gerard promoted oregano as the ideal treatment for head colds.1

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