On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 758

Piperine Blackpepper 1
Gingerol Ginger,fresh 0.8
Shogaol Ginger,old(fromgingerol) 1.5
Zingerone Ginger,heated(fromgingerol) 0.5
Paradol Grainsofparadise 1
Capsaicin Chilli 150–300
Capsaicinvariants Chilli 85–90
Wedon’tyetknowwhetherthe
consumptionofherbsandspicescan
significantlyreducetheriskofanydisease;
butit’sarealpossibility.
Herbs, Spices, and Food Poisoning It has
been suggested that people first began to use
herbs and spices, particularly in tropical
countries, because their defensive chemicals
help control the microbes that cause food
poisoning, and thus made food safer to eat.
While some — garlic, cinnamon, cloves,
oregano, thyme — are fairly effective at
killing important disease microbes, most are


not. And many, especially black pepper and
othersthattakeseveraldaystodryintropical
climates, carry millions of microbes in every
pinch, sometimes includingE. coli and
disease-causing
species
ofSalmonella,
Bacillus, andAspergillus. This is why spices
are often fumigated with various chemicals

(ethylene or propylene oxide in the United
States) or steamed. About 10% of imported
spicesareirradiatedtoeradicatemicrobes.
HandlingandStoring
HerbsandSpices

PreservingAromaCompounds

Theaiminhandlingherbsandspicesisto
retaintheircharacteristicaromacompounds.
Thevolatilityofthesecompoundsmeansthat
theyreadilyevaporate,andtheirreactive
naturemeansthattheyarelikelytobealtered
ifthey’reexposedtooxygenandmoisturein