126 Handbook of herbs and spices
8.1 Introduction
Herbs and spices have both been used as sources of flavour enhancers and
pharmaceuticals since antiquity and their use continues undiminished today. The
distinction between the two sources is blurred but it has been suggested that herbs
tend to be of leaf origin and spices of stem, bark and seed origin. Full details of their
origin, plant source, and culinary and medical properties can be found in the many
past and also more recent herbals (Grieve, 1998; Bellamy, 2003). Currently, researchers
in the pharmaceutical industry are aware of the fact that many of the remedies quoted
in these books do have value in combating disease and are now analysing and testing
the individual compounds present in a wide range of herbs and spices. Their aim is
to be able to isolate single compounds that have specific roles in disease prevention.
The attraction of such compounds is that they could be marketed under the heading
of ‘natural’, which is seen as being more attractive than ‘synthetic’ by the potential
customer.
However, plants are complex mixtures and where a pharmaceutical role has been
identified, it is most likely to be achieved through a mixture rather than a single
compound. This mixture of compounds may be a factor in giving individual herbs
and spices a cure-all reputation. As an example, traditionally the herb thyme has been
considered as an anthelmintic, antispasmodic, carminative, emmenagogue, expectorant,
rubifacient, sedative, stimulant and tonic. The plant has been used in folk medicine
against asthma, artheriosclerosis, colic, bronchitis, coughs, diarrhoea and rheumatism
(Grieve, 1998). However, not all herbs are effective against cardiovascular disease,
which would include atherosclerosis, hypertension and myocardial infarcation or
heart attack. A literature search of those herbs and spices that do have a role in
combating this disease revealed that rosemary, oregano, ginger, basil, cumin, tumeric,
parsley, thyme and garlic are important.
In a health-conscious society, these plants are being advertised now for their
medical as well as their flavour-enhancing properties (Rice-Evans, 2001) and in
support epidemiological studies have suggested a positive association between the
consumption of phenolic-rich foods and beverages and the prevention of disease
8Herbs, spices and cardiovascular disease.............................................
H. Collin, University of Liverpool, UK