Caraway 285
and pleasing flavours to food products. It contains essential oil, organically soluble
resins and other related materials present in the original spices, is usually a greenish
shade of yellow, and normally contains 20–25% volatile and 60–75% fixed oil as
reported by Weiss (2002). The effects of polar solvent or modifier (methanol, ethanol,
acetone, acetonitrile, hexane, dichloromethane (methylene chloride), chloroform or
toluene)) application during extraction on essential oil yield were studied in cv.
Kepron and all modifiers significantly increased the essential oil yield. The use of
chloroform was most effective, increasing the amount of extracted essential oil by
approximately 91% compared to steam distillation (Sedlakova et al., 2003b).
Commercial samples in the USA require a minimum of 60% volatile oil with a
dispersion rate of 5%. The high fixed oil content usually requires the addition of an
antioxidant to the legal limit.
15.5 Functional properties
Caraway fruits are aromatic and are quite spicy in taste. An analysis of caraway seed
samples shows it contains small amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and
vitamins. The nutritive constituents present in caraway seed are given in Table 15.3.
The nutritive value of caraway seed if consumed as such is small but it is valued more
for the peculiar flavour and specific medicinal properties.
Caraway seeds and extractives are known to possess a number of functional properties
and are therefore valued as folk medicines for curing various ailments and as
contemporary medicine in the cosmetic industry. They are
∑ carminative, stimulant and expectorant
∑ antiflatulent and antispasmodic
Table 15.3 Proximate composition of caraway seed (100 g edible portion)
Composition Content
Farrell, 1999 Bakhru, 2001Water (g) 9.9 4.5
Food Energy (KCal) 333 465
Protein (g) 19.8 7.6
Fat (g) 14.6 8.8
Total carbohydrate (g) 49.9 60.2
Fibre (g) 12.7 –
Ash (g) 5.9 3.7
Calcium (mg) 689 1000
Iron (mg) 16 90
Magnesium (mg) 258 –
Phosphorus (mg) 568 110
Potassium (mg) 1351 1900
Sodium (mg) 17 20
Zinc (mg) 6 –
Niacin (mg) 4 801
Vitamin A (IU) 363 580
Thiamine (mg) – 3.38
Riboflavin (mg) – 0.38
Vitamin C (mg) – 12