Friday, December 02, 2005

Indian Spices : Spices and Medicine : Anti-microbial Functions of Spices

Anti-microbial Functions of Spices

In all medical systems of Asia and Europe, spices have been used both as therapeutic foods and as medicines. Despite the contrasting opinions of different experts who insisted on their indications, there is little evidence of any specific benefit from most spices. Many pungent spices are unattractive to animals (excepting most, humans, many birds and some rodents), and they do have some antimicrobial, gastrointestinal, and mucus-loosening properties.

Billing J, Sherman PW. an evolutionary biologist and professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell, in his article (Rev Biol. 1998 Mar;73(1):3-49), "Antimicrobial functions of spices: why some like it hot" describes a study on this subject. The study addressed the facts - the varied approach in food preparation throughout the world, patterns of spice usage among various cultures and countries - What factors underlie these differences? Why are spices used at all? To investigate these questions and to establish the bacteria-spices connection, a study was conducted.

Sherman credits Billing, a Cornell undergraduate student of biology at the time of the research, with compiling many of the data required to make the bacteria-spices connection: A total of 4,578 recipes from 93 cookbooks representing the frequency of use of 43 spices in traditional cuisines of 36 countries; the temperature and precipitation levels of each country; the horticultural ranges of 43 spice plants; and the antibacterial properties of each spice.

These data were used to investigate the hypothesis that spices inhibit or kill food-spoilage microorganisms. In support of this is the fact that spice plant secondary compounds are powerful antimicrobial (i.e., antibacterial and antifungal) agents.

"The proximate reason for spice use obviously is to enhance food palatability," says Sherman, . "But why do spices taste good? Traits that are beneficial are transmitted both culturally and genetically, and that includes taste receptors in our mouths and our taste for certain flavors. People who enjoyed food with antibacterial spices probably were healthier, especially in hot climates. They lived longer and taught their offspring and others. We believe the ultimate reason for using spices is to kill food-borne bacteria and fungi."

In general it is claimed, Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano were found to be the best all-around bacteria killers - the most potent antibacterial and antifungal agents;(they kill everything), followed by thyme, cinnamon, tarragon and cumin (any of which kill up to 80 percent of bacteria). Capsicums, including chilies and other hot peppers, are in the middle of the antimicrobial pack (killing or inhibiting up to 75 percent of bacteria), while pepper of the white or black variety inhibits 25 percent of bacteria, as do ginger, anise seed, celery seed and the juices of lemons and limes.

However, there is lack of uniformity in findings, and this may reflect non-uniformity in source material. Furthermore, some fungi and bacteria use spices as supportive media for their growth. Although it is often claimed that exotic spices were sought as valuable food preservatives, this is not correct. Thus, simple pickling with common-place vinegar, garlic and mustard can preserve and flavor food almost as well as dehydrating and salting can. Honey and strong sugar soultions can also be used as food preservatives.

There is little evidence that pepper, cloves, nutmegs, ginger and other expensive spices were used as alternatives to garlic, etc. to preserve food or to delay the spoilage of cooked dishes. Their use in their countries of origin is not related to spices serving as an alternative to refrigeration, since they are usually added to fresh foods as flavors. In particular, they add zest to a bland diet based on rice and other high-carbohydrate vegetable staples. Indeed, the concentrations of spices that would be needed to significantly retard food spoilage by microorganisms would result in an overwhelming flavor, that may be worse than that of the decaying food.

However the micronutrient hypothesis - that spices provide trace amounts of anti-oxidants or other chemicals to aid digestion - could be true and still not exclude the antimicrobial explanation, Sherman says. However, this hypothesis does not explain why people in hot climates need more micro-nutrients, he adds. The antimicrobial hypothesis does explain this.

Top 30 Spices with Antimicrobial Properties:

* 1. Garlic
* 2. Onion
* 3. Allspice
* 4. Oregano
* 5. Thyme
* 6. Cinnamon
* 7. Tarragon
* 8. Cumin
* 9. Cloves
* 10. Lemon grass
* 11. Bay leaf
* 12. Capsicums
* 13. Rosemary
* 14. Marjoram
* 15. Mustard
* 16. Caraway
* 17. Mint
* 18. Sage
* 19. Fennel
* 20. Coriander
* 21. Dill
* 22. Nutmeg
* 23. Basil
* 24. Parsley
* 25. Cardamom
* 26. Pepper (white/black)
* 27. Ginger
* 28. Anise seed
* 29. Celery seed
* 30. Lemon/lime
Indian Spices

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