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Spices and herbs: Uses and innovations

Source:Food Bev Asia Release Date:2017-04-25 1223
Food & Beverage
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With their contributions to changing consumer tastes, spices and herbs may be considered the life-blood of food and beverage, writes DR. MIFLORA M. GATCHALIAN* 

THERE is an increasing and expanding international demand for spice and herb extracts. Society demands continuous diversification in taste of food and beverages particularly relative to flavors. Most fresh and processed food products require spices, condiments and aromatic herbs in their preparations to ensure diversity in taste sensations. Thus, demand for spices and herb extracts is expected to continue to increase through time. In view of this situation, many researches are continually generated to ensure more scientific approaches to obtain the best from spices and herbs at the least cost. Aside from their major usefulness as food and beverage ingredient, spices and herbs extracts have also shown great potential and actual value in the medicinal world. Innovations toward improvement in yield and quality of extracts are continuing in parallel with in-depth researches on their medicinal value and applications.

The difference between spices and herbs

“The term spice means any aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken, or ground form, except for those substances which have been traditionally regarded as foods, such as onions, garlic and celery; whose significant function in food is seasoning rather than nutritional” (21CFR101.22, 2016). Spices may be derived from many parts of the plant: bark, buds, flowers, fruits, rhizomes, roots, seeds, stigmas and styles or the entire plant tops. Every other part of the plant, including dried bark, roots, berries, seeds, twigs, or anything else that isn’t the green leafy part, is considered a spice. Cinnamon is the bark of a tree. Cardamom is a seed pod. Allspice is a dried berry. Cloves are dried flower buds. These are all examples of spices. Note that spices are used in dried form while herbs can be used either fresh or dried.

Spice are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems from plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Generally, herbs are plants valued for their medicinal and aromatic properties and are often grown and harvested for these unique properties (Peter, 2012).  

Spices and herbs are the life-blood of the food and beverage industry (Photo © Erwin Purnomo Sidi | Dreamstime Stock Photos)

Innovations have tapped the many ways to apply spices and herbs in the food industry and the medical world (Photo © Erwin Purnomo Sidi | Dreamstime Stock Photos)

Nature of extracts

Extracts are highly concentrated flavors taken from spices and herbs by the process of extraction and distillation using an alcohol base. In general, pure extracts contain about 33-35% alcohol, an amount very necessary for its preservation. The high alcohol content makes pure extracts extremely shelf-stable. Placed in  a closed, airtight bottle, an extract can be preserved for many years. When the extract is added in food or beverage preparation, the alcohol is burned off, by the heating or cooking process, intensifying the extract’s rich flavor. For beverages taken fresh, like a freshly squeezed lemon juice drink, mixing lemon extract can greatly enhance its flavor.

The average volatile oil content of spices and herbs varies from a low of 0.4% for basil to a high of 15% for nutmeg; the volatile oil content of cinnamon, thyme, and dill falls between 1% and 3%. Oleoresins are viscous, complex mixtures of the volatile and nonvolatile flavor components derived by extraction. (Peter, 2004). It is actually the Oleoresins and essential oils in the extracts that make them an excellent means to add natural concentrated flavors to many food and beverage systems.

Spice extracts

Unlike their powdered counterparts, spice extracts represent the true essence of the source spices retaining equal or better flavor characteristics. The spice extracts have consistent, natural and pure flavor in an easy-to-handle form that makes them excellent to add as natural concentrated flavor to many food and beverage products. They are especially useful when applied in marinades and beverages since they give respectively, a quicker flavor absorption or distribution.

Herb extracts

Herb extracts are produced by extraction and distillation of a wide range of herb varieties and results provide an excellent means to add natural concentrated flavors as food ingredient or used for medicinal purposes.

Uses of spices and herbs

For many human generations, spices and herbs have been used not only to enhance the flavor of food and beverages but also to preserve them. These are major ingredients of food and beverage preparations in almost every home, restaurants and food processing plants. Major uses of spice and herbs in food and beverages include: (a) flavoring; (b) coloring; (c) aroma enhancing; and (d) preservation. Some of their major functions are presented in Table 1.

Innovations in spice and herb extracts

Spices and herbs may be considered the life-blood of food and beverages, considering their many contributions to the ever-changing consumer taste sensations in a highly competitive market. In the last decade, many innovations were focused not only on the uses of spices and herbs for food but also on their many proven applications in the medicinal field. Three useful innovations currently given much attention include: (a) improvement in extraction technology through “solvent-free microwave extraction” (SFME); (b) anti-inflammatory activity of extracts; and (c) antimicrobial and chemo-preventive properties of spice and herbs.

 Table 1. Basic uses of spices and herbs (Ravindran, et. al. 2002)              

Basic Functions

Name of spices and herbs

Flavoring

parsley, cinnamon, allspice, dill, mint

 

tarragon, cumin, marjoram, star anise

 

basil anise, mace, nutmeg, fennel, sesame,

 

 vanilla, fenugreek, cardamom, celery

Deodorating/masking

garlic, savory, bay leaves, close, leeks

 

thyme, rosemary, caraway, sage, oregano

 

onion, coriander

Pungency

garlic, savory, bay leaves, close, leek

 

thyme, rosemary, caraway, sage, oregano

 

onion, coriander, Japanese pepper,

 

mustard, ginger, horseradish, red pepper

Coloring

paprika, turmeric, saffron

Solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME)

The natural concentrated flavors from extracts of spices and herbs, which are important ingredients in many food and beverage systems, are attributed to their Oleoresins and essential oils content. Currently, a new technology to further process selected herb and spice oleoresins to produce a ‘super-soluble’ range had been developed as an improvement over the conventional extraction process by hydro-distillation. The specialty extracts derived from the new process retain all the flavor qualities of an oleoresin, but with improved water-solubility. Solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) was developed as a green method for the extraction of essential oil from aromatic herbs which are extensively used in the food industry. This technique is a combination of microwave heating and dry distillation performed at atmospheric pressure without any added solvent or water. The isolation and concentration of volatile compounds is performed in a single stage. The SFME process done on “rosemary” herb progressed initially from the laboratory scale then to pilot and lately to commercial scale. (Filly, et. al. 2014). The SFME methodology is a great boon to the food industry.

Anti-inflammatory activity

Extracts from fruits, spices and herbs were found to have anti-inflammatory activities particularly when applied among people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis and asthma according to Mueller, et. al (2010). They demonstrated the anti-inflammatory activity of various fruits, herbs and spices in a lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophage model. They found that the highest anti-inflammatory potential was detected with chili pepper. Other plants that helped in inflammatory reduction were allspice, basil, bay leaves, black pepper, licorice, nutmeg, oregano, sage and thyme. Their findings support the stand that a diet rich in fruits, herbs and spices may contribute to the prevention or reduction of the inflammatory response and related diseases.

Anti-microbial and chemo-preventive properties.

Through the years, spices and herbs had been used not only for food but also for medicinal purposes. Cumulative scientific evidences show that many spices and herbs have properties that reduce symptoms of illnesses or prevent diseases. According to Lai and Roy (2004) researches proved that herbs and spices such as garlic, black cumin, cloves, cinnamon, thyme, allspices, bay leaves, mustard, and rosemary, possess antimicrobial properties that, in some cases, can be used therapeutically. They mentioned that spices, such as saffron, a food colorant; turmeric, a yellow colored spice; tea, either green or black, and flaxseed contain potent phytochemicals, including carotenoids, curcumins, which provide significant protection against cancer. In particular, they mentioned that a 70% extract from rosemary herb at a concentration of 50 mg/mL inhibited tumor activity.

Summary

Traditionally, spice and herb extracts had been considered a necessary component of food and beverage preparations. They serve as the major ingredient that enhances flavor diversification, increasingly demanded by customers. Because of their importance in the food industry, they are the subject of continuing research and innovation among research institutions that seek the latest technologies for refining the extraction processes. Not only are spice and herb extracts very important in the food industry, they have also been discovered to be very good sources of immense medicinal value. To date, herbs and spices have been identified to be effective in their anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial activities. Recently, some spice and herb extracts have been validated as an anti-cancer agent.

*Dr Miflora Gatchalian is the CEO, Quality Partners Company Ltd. and also the Founding President of the Philippine Association of Food Technologists, Inc. 

 

Literature cited

Filly, A; Fernandez, X;  Minuti, M;  Visinoni, F;  Cravotto, Giancarlo. 2014. Food Chemistry, vol. 150. Elsevier Ltd.Publishing

Lai, P. K. and Roy, J. 2004. Current Medicinal Chemistry. Vol. 11. Bentham Science            Publisher

Mueller, M; Hobiger, S. Jungbauer, A. 2010. Food Chemistry. Vol.122 Issue 4. Elsevier  Ltd. Publishing

Peter, K.V. Ed. 2004. Handbook of herbs and spices. Vol. 2. CRC Press, Boca Raton Boston New York Washington, DC  

Peter, K.V. Ed. 2012. Handbook of herbs and spices. Vol. 1. Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing.

Ravindran, P. N; Johny,A.K; Nirmei, B.K. .2002. Spices in Our Daily Life. Satabdi Smaramha. Vol.2       

21CFR101.22. 2016. Code of Federal Regulations. Title 21, Volume, USA

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