Page 49 - e-Book

the diet and are used throughout the world. Spices refers to dried part of plant that contains

volatiles oils or aromatic flavors such as, buds (cloves), bark (cinnamon), root (ginger),
berries (black pepper), seeds (cumin, coriander). Spices can be used as medicine because they

are natural products easily absorbed by our bodies and generally do not have any adverse
effects. Herbal remedies are an important source for the discovery of new antibiotics

(Okpekon et al., 2004).

Spices are dried aromatic plant products used to flavour foods and beverages. They
include leaves (rosemary, sage), flowers and flower buds (clove), bulbs (garlic, onion),

rhizomes (asafoetida), fruit (pepper, cardamom), and other parts of the plant. Frequently,
blends of several spices are used. Their importance in ancient times is well documented not

only for their flavoring, but also for their medicinal, preservative, and antioxidants properties.
Over the past two to three decades many beneficial effects of the common food spices on the

health have been understood (Arques et al., 2008). Spices have been widely used as

condiments for thousands of years because of their flavour, taste and colour. Several spices
have been used as medicinal plants in folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases

because they contain many bioactive compounds and possess a lot of beneficial health
effects.

Spices are used as substances that increase the taste and variation of food. According to

world health organization (WHO), more than 80% of the world’s population relies on
traditional medicines for their primary health care needs (Jyothiprabha and Venkatachalam,

2016). The medicinal value of spices, which include leaves (coriander, mint), buds (clove),
bulbs (garlic, onion),fruits (red chili, black pepper), stem(cinnamon), rhizomes (ginger) and

other plant parts, have been defined as plant substances from indigenous or exotic origin,
aromatic or with strong taste, used to enhance the taste of foods (Chitravadivu et al., 2009).

Spices contribute very minimal nutrients to menu because they are used a very small amount

(Sunder, 2016).

Jyothiprabha and Venkatachalam (2016) focused on the phytochemical analysis of

five well known Indian spices namely clove, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and saffron.
Phytochemical compositions of spices were carried out for the methanol, ethanol, acetone,

chloroform and distilled water extracts. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of these spices

extracts confirm the presence of various phytochemicals like alkaloids, carbohydrates,
phenol, glycosides, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, proteins, steroids and tannins.

39