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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004
Coriander - Coriandrum sativum
Pungent, enticing, alluring, sensual, complex, surprising and a little estoteric. Smells bad, tastes good.
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Other common names - Cilantro, Chinese Parsley
The Old Ways
Coriander is another ancient spice that has a part to play in modern medicine. It is also another medicinal plant that is found in our food, on the kitchen spice rack or at the least accessible to all.
Coriander really did circumnavigate the world and its routes can be traced in the literature. From 1400 B.C. in Egypt through Western Europe, England to the Americas in one direction to India and the Far East in the other.
Coriander is mentioned in many ancient and modern texts from the writings of Hippocrates, in Sanskrit literature and a 1550 B.C. papyrus by Ebher.
Named after 'koris', a bedbug because of the smell of its fresh leaves and seeds, it might just as well have been named after the green vegetable bug that frequents our gardens in the late summer and the cause for my ‘love/hate' relationship with this plant. ‘Hate' for the first 25 years and ‘love' for the rest. A delicious Thai soup bought me to my senses!
Its vices and virtues are many: aphrodisiac; love potion (A Tale of a Thousand and One Nights); hallucinogenic incense; cordials and toilet waters ( See recipes); and a reliever of flatulence and migraines. 1
The New Ways
Continuing the theme of sensory investigation (a friend of mine believes we only have one sense, that of touch as all sensory triggers ‘touch' the sensory organ in some way), the wholistic picture of the plant is one of change. The leaf shape changes from strap-like to rounded to linear and divided as the plants grow. The pungent leaves and equally pungent fresh seeds change to a sweet spicy aroma in the dried seeds. Quite a transformation which conveys much about the uses of the plant. Combine this with the cooling aromatic bitterness of the leaf and the warming, transporting, fragrant and sensory delight of the dried seed (the shock of this is akin to ones first bite of a truly traditional Turkish Delight) and you can begin to build the medicinal picture.
My experience is that tasting the seed is uplifting almost serenely pleasant, that the leaf, while bitter in taste, is warming and comforting. Translating this into medicinal actions the seed should be incorporated into formulas to change mood, improve taste and promote a sense of well-being. The leaf will improve digestion and assimilation particularly in those who do not digest food well or have chronic ill health. The leaves will also increase diuresis.
See Recipes for the famous eau de Carmes. Used both as a cordial and a toilet water.
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What Plant?
A member of the Apiaceae formerly the Umbelliferae family, this annual plant is delicate, producing pale pink flowers in the typical umbel shape that all members of this family possess. It is unusual in that the outer petals are much enlarged.The dried brownish ridged seeds develop from green berries.
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What Part?
Both leaves and dried seeds are used and are quite different in their medicinal uses. (See The New Ways).
How and When to use?
The leaves are best used fresh, can be added to salads, to soups and casseroles at the end of cooking or as a garnish.
They combine well with yoghurt and lentil dishes (see Recipes).
The seeds are used in Indian dishes (as an important ingredient in curry) and Indian drinks or added to desserts, cakes and biscuits and in gin. The volatile oil is extracted and used in aromatherapy and in some perfumes.
The powdered seed used to be added to purgative medicines to prevent griping.
So how did such a valuable medicinal plant get left out of modern Material Medica's?
I am not sure of the answer to this but that there are only a few research papers indicates that it is not a popular focus for investigation.
Writing this has inspired me to make oils, tinctures and the eau de Carmes.
In Ayurveda the fresh juice of the herb is used to treat people with allergies, hay fever and skin rashes and the seeds for digestive upsets and urinary infections or inflammation.3 The crushed and roasted seeds, infused in hot water were used to treat oral thrush.
How To Prepare - Recipes
Coriander seed oil
Cover the powdered seed with a good quality oil, mix well and add more oil to cover with a depth of 3 cms. Shake daily for 10 days and strain well.
Eau de Carmes
“Balm in flower, freshly gathered and freed from the stalks, 2 lb; lemon peel, fresh, 4oz; coriander seeds 8oz; nutmegs, cloves, cinnamon, each bruised, 2 oz; angelica roots, dried, 1 oz; spirit of wine, highly rectified, 10 pints.” 1
Linda's Lentil, Squash and Coriander soup
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 cup brown lentils
1 butternut or buttercup squash
1 tin of Moroccan tomatoes
1 bunch of coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
Stock
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
Finely chop the onion and garlic and sauté in the oil and butter for a few minutes, add the lentils and continue to sauté for a further few minutes. Add the chopped squash, turn over and coat in the butter and oil, add enough stock to well cover the vegetables, the tomatoes and simmer until all vegetables are soft. At this point I mash the squash. Serve and sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of chopped coriander over each plate.
Simple Coriander and Tomato salad
6 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 bunch of coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Combine all together and leave to marinate for 30 mins mixing
occasionally.
How Much to Use
If you were to use the seed as a carminative (to reduce wind and bloating) you would need to infuse 1g of the powdered seed in ˝ cup of boiling water.
An alcohol tincture could be made by adding 50g of powdered seed to 250mls of Blue Label Vodka, leave for 1 month to six weeks and strain.
Dose: 0.5 to 2 mls before food.
Fresh juice
1 tsp 3 times daily.
Recent Research Reviews
This is not exactly a Research Review but James Duke in ‘The Green Pharmacy', says that Coriander has 20 chemicals with anti-bacterial action (2.2% on dry weight). He also says that it is fungicidal and a muscle relaxant.
As a free radical scavenger…
Coriander seed oil and its fractions exhibited the strongest Radical Scavenging Activity compared to black cumin and niger seed oils.8
As a chelation treatment for Mercury deposits…
Mercury deposits which commonly occur when people have their amalgams removed were successfully eliminated by the oral intake of 100mg tablet of Coriander 4 times daily for 3 weeks during and after the removal.11
(Note: This was diagnosed by electroacupunture.)
Other studies show that Coriander has an effect on both blood sugar levels and blood lipid levels but unfortunately these are on animals and not people. (9,10)
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References
1. Redgrove H.S. Spices and Condiments 1933
2. Sharma PV Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants, Chaukhambha Bharati Academy, Varanasi, 1996.
3. Frawley D., Vasant Lad, The Yoga of Herbs, Lotus Press, 1986.
4. Burgess IM Weeds Heal. A Working Herbal. Viriditas Publishing.NZ 1998.
5. Swahn JO The Lore of Spices Nordbok, 1991.
6. Patnaik Naveen, The Garden of Life, Aquarian, 1993.
7. Wren R.C., Potters New Cycolpaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations, Daniel 1988.
8. Ramadan MF, Kroh LW, Morsel JT. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Nov 19;51(24):6961-9.
9. Gray A. M., Flatt P.R., Br J Nutr. 1999 Mar;81(3):203-9.
10. Chithra V., Leelamma S. Hum Nutr. 1997;51(2):167-72
11. Omura Y., et al. Significant mercury deposits in internal organs following the removal of dental amalgams.Acupunct Electrother Res 21(2): 133-60.
Reflections
To change from a pungent (almost foetid) fresh seed to the highly perfumed dry one means that the volatile oil imparting the 'koris' aroma must be highly volatile and evaporate off during the drying process.
Another transformation.
Perhaps it could be used for the person that wishes to change the way they view the world at a more fundamental level, shedding the layers of life that confuse, restrict and confine.
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