Nigella

:: Latin Name :

Aplum graveolens, Fam. Umbelliferae

:: Sensoric quality :

Main constituents: volatile oils, terpinine, and polysaccharides

:: Uses:

Celery seed can be used to add a Celery taste to dishes, particularly in soups and pickles, or added to tomato and vegetable juices. Try some sprinkled into a glass of Bloody Mary and Medicinal uses.

:: Availability : Leaves, Seeds

:: Latin Name :

Calendula officinalis L.

:: Sensoric quality :

Somewhat bitter and salty.

:: Main constituents :

The commercial drug consists of the entire or partly broken up flower-heads (diameter 5-7 cm), especially of double varieties with numerous regulate florets and few tubular florets, and of individual florets free of the receptacle and involucral bracts

:: Uses:

coloring agents and in medicinal use

:: Availability : Flowers and Petals

:: Latin Name :

Coriandrum sativum

:: Sensoric quality :

Aromatic, selective.

:: Main constituents :

In the ripe fruits, the content of essential oil is comparably low (typically, less than 1%); the oil consists mainly of linalool (50 to 60%) and about 20% terpenes (pinenes, ?-terpinene, myrcene, camphene, phellandrenes, a-terpinene, limonene, cymene).

The taste of the fresh herb is due to an essential oil (0.1%) that is almost entirely made up of aliphatic aldehydes with 10 to 16 carbon atoms. One finds both saturated (decanal) and a,ß unsaturated ( trans -2-tridecenal) aldehyds; the same aldehyds appear in the unripe fruits. Similar compounds occur in a few other spices and herbs, all of which share coriander's flavour: Examples include long coriander long coriander, Vietnamese coriander and the Japanese chemotype of chameleon plant.

:: Uses:

Added to stews and marinades for a Mediterranean flavor, very famous spice for most oriental dishes.

:: Availability : Seeds, Leaves