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Herbs and Herbal Remedies
Herbal
Books For a quick check list of
herbs & medicinal uses: herbal therapy
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Here is a sample of herbs you might find useful for your herbal remedies.
more on
herbal therapy
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Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, synonym C. verum) is a small evergreen tree
10-15 m tall, belonging to the family Lauraceae, and a spice obtained from the
inner bark of this species. It is native to Sri Lanka. The leaves are
ovate-oblong in shape, 7-18 cm long. The flowers, which are arranged in
panicles, have a greenish colour and a rather disagreeable odour. The fruit is a
purple 1 cm berry containing a single seed. Cinnamon is principally employed in
cookery as a condiment and flavouring material, being largely used in the
preparation of some kinds of chocolate and liqueurs, also
cinnamon quills and ground cinnamon. In medicine it acts like
other volatile oils and once had a reputation as a "cure" for
colds. The pungent
taste and scent come from cinnamic aldehyde or cinnamaldehyde.
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Cumin seeds have a distinctive bitter flavor and strong, warm
aroma due to their abundant essential oil content. Its main constituent and
important aroma compound is cuminaldehyde (4-isopropylbenzaldehyde). Important
aroma compounds of toasted cumin are the substituted pyrazines,
2-ethoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine, 2-methoxy-3-sec-butylpyrazine, and
2-methoxy-3-methylpyrazine. Their smell can also be detected in the eater's
sweat even after consuming only small amounts. Today, cumin is identified with
Indian cuisine and Mexican cuisine. It is used as an ingredient of curry powder.
Cumin can be found in some Dutch cheeses, and in some traditional breads from
France. In herbal medicine, cumin is classified as stimulant, carminative, and
antimicrobial.
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Young ginger roots are juicy and fleshy with a very mild
taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or just cooked as
an ingredient in many dishes. Mature ginger roots are fibrous and dry, and this
is what ours are. Powdered dry ginger or ground ginger is used to add spiciness to gingerbread
and other recipes. It tastes quite different from fresh ginger, and neither can
be substituted for the other. Ginger has a sialagogue action, stimulating the
production of saliva.
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Spearmint (Mentha spicata, syn M. viridis), the mint variety
most commonly used in cooking, yields an aromatic and carminative oil, referred
to as "oil of spearmint". Many people use the name "scotch spearmint" for
gingermint (Mentha x gracilis, syn M. cardiaca), a hybrid of spearmint and wild
mint (Mentha arvensis). Spearmint takes its name from its crinkled leaves, which
resemble the shape of the blade of a spear. It has oblong, lanceolate,
sub-acute, serrate leaves, and slender spikes of flowers. It grows in watery
places. In herbalism, spearmint is steeped as tea for treatment of stomach ache.
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The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees
indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for
two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace. Nutmeg is the actual seed of
the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 20-30 mm long and 15-18 mm wide, while
mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering of the seed. Several other commercial
products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted
oleoresins, and nutmeg butter (see below).
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Herbal Remedies
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