On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 757

HerbsandSpicesasGeneralMedicinals
Theideathatherbsandspiceshavemedicinal
valueisanancientone,andgroundedinfact:
plantsarevirtuososofbiochemicalinvention,
andhavebeentheoriginalsourceofmany
importantdrugs(aspirin,digitalis,quinine,
taxolarejustafew).Thehealtheffectsof
plantfoodsingeneralarediscussedabove,p.
253.Herbsandspices,withtheir
specializationinphenolicandterpene
compounds,arenotableforthreebroadly
helpfultendencies.Phenoliccompoundsoften
haveantioxidantactivity;oregano,bayleaf,
dill,rosemary,andturmericareamongthe
mosteffective.Antioxidantsareusefulbothin
thebody,topreventdamagetoDNA,
cholesterolparticles,andotherimportant
materials,butalsoinfoods,toslowthe
deteriorationintheirflavor.Terpenesdon’t
preventoxidation,buttheydohelpreducethe
body’sproductionofDNA-damaging
moleculesthatcancausecancer,andhelp


controlthegrowthoftumors.Andsome
phenoliccompoundsandterpenesare
antiinflammatoryagents;theymoderatethe
body’soverreactiontocelldamage,whichcan
otherwisecontributetothedevelopmentof
bothheartdiseaseandcancer.
TheRelativeStrengthsofPungent

ChemicalsinBlackPepper,Chillis,and
Ginger
In this list, the pungency of piperine, the
active ingredient in black pepper, is
arbitrarily set at 1. The ingredients in
gingerandgrainsofparadisearesimilarin
strength,whilethecapsaicinsinchillisare
much stronger. The actual pungency of a
givenspicedependsbothontheidentityof
the active ingredient and its concentration
inthespice.
Pungent
Compound

Spice

Relative
Pungency